Wild or tame eating methods

[becca anderson]

Hi, when I usually feed my corn snake, she just nudges the food gently and slowly eats it. But the other day, I was defrosting the pinky in front of her, and she could obviously smell it and was getting agitated, so when i went to give it to her, she lunged for it and wrapped her body around constricting it as she would in the wild. I was wondering if it matters which way I give the mouse to her; will constricting the prey make her more agressive, or is it good for her to imitate what would happen in the wild?
Also, when she's finished eating, she is really active and acts like she's still hungry. She's only small- a little over a foot long and about a cm wide- about 4 months old. I was wondering, if I did give her another pinky, and she ate it, could there be any problems with the meal being too big? Thanks :D

[bitsy]

Not sure it makes a difference how they take the mouse. If they give it a bit more effort it does get them some exercise, but it seems to be down to individuals as to how they go about eating. Neither method will harm them.

I have a couple of Corns who try "killing" their defrosted mice first. One is fine to handle, the other assumes that everything warm in front of her is food and bites whenever I go near her! I don't think that has anything to do with how she eats - I think how she eats, is a reflection of her individual character.

Yours sounds the right size to offer 2 pinkies at a time. Generally, if they're not ready for two at a time, then they'll just ignore the second one, rather than forcing it down then regurging later. Your will let you know what she prefers.

[becca anderson]

Ok thanks, I handle Eko all the time so I'm guessing it won't get agressive, also it's a lot more fun to watch her strike the mouse and 'suffocate' it XDD. I'll try feeding her 2 at a time then ^^- if she eats the 2 pinkies well, should I move her on to fuzzies almost straight away, or wait a bit?

[bitsy]

I'd be inclined to give her a month or two on 2 pinkies, before trying fuzzies. It's quite a big step to move up to something furry!

[becca anderson]

XD Ok then, thanks- just to check, since you have a lot of experience with corns (15 snakes!! :O ), is my snake a good size for its age?

[bitsy]

Yours sounds like she's doing about right for her age.

You don't want to feed them up too fast, as they can become overweight really easily. It shortens their lifespan and it's very difficult to get a snake to work off a spare tyre!

Best to take it nice and slow - that way you build muscle mass and not just flab. The ideal would be to get her to an adult-type weight (around 300g) by about three years of age, although they all have their own individual growth pattern.

And although I own 15 Corns, that's pretty small stuff compared to some here. Wait til you meet some of the real CornHeads - there are folks here with amazing collections.