Larger meals or more often?

[flick]

I have a corn snake that is 46 inches, he is about 2 1/2 years old. Right now he is eating one larger(as big as the pet store sells) mouse every 7 days. The pet store told me I should be feeding him 2 mice every 10 days given 1 day apart. Is this accurate advice? If he need more food could I not just feed him 1 every 5 days? Any thoughts appreciated, I don't always trust the advice at the pet store.

[susang]

I have a corn snake that is 46 inches, he is about 2 1/2 years old. Right now he is eating one larger(as big as the pet store sells) mouse every 7 days. The pet store told me I should be feeding him 2 mice every 10 days given 1 day apart. Is this accurate advice? If he need more food could I not just feed him 1 every 5 days? Any thoughts appreciated, I don't always trust the advice at the pet store.

I would stick with the bigger size every 7-10 days. I would never feed two days in a row. susang

[diamondlil]

1 large mouse every week sounds fine, unless your corn isn't thriving on it?

[Nanci]

No, that isn't accurate advice. You should not be feeding an adult snake at an interval shorter than seven days. Is your snake gaining weight? Is the top of its back nicely rounded? (the snake isn't triangle-shaped, in cross section and its spine isn't sharp or promenent?)

How big is the diameter of the mouse you are feeding in relation to the largest diameter of the snake? Is the prey 1 to 1.5 times as big as the snake?

With a large snake, feeding adult mice, you will eventually reach a point where you are feeding multiple prey items. For instance, my big kingsnake who weighs over 900 grams eats two mice one week, then three adult mice the next week, seven days later. This keeps him growing very slowly. This snake could be eating single equivalent rats, but I don't have anything else that can eat rats, and I was told he didn't like rats anyway, so I haven't tried.

Unless you are in a big hurry to grow up your snake for breeding purposes, slow, steady growth is just fine. Probably healthier for the snake. You really can't judge growth accurately by length- you need to buy a gram scale to accurately weigh your snake, or just feed a prey item 1.5 times the snake's diameter and don't worry about it.

Another thing to consider when picking a prey size is how long the feeding lump is present. Do you still see a nice lump in your snake 24 hours later? Then the prey size is adequate. The lump should be gone or nearly so after 48 hours.

Nanci

[louise]

hi got a promblem with my three month lod corn snake had her ten days now and she wont eat tryed with tweezers hanging it in front of her put her in a tub with the mouse and even brained it and still nothing and im getting very worried she is still very livily and she has bright eyes want do you think i am doing wrong as i will try owt dont want to lose her

[snakewispera snr]

We feed ours a small rat every 10-14 days.
MIKE

[Rich in KY]

hi got a promblem with my three month lod corn snake had her ten days now and she wont eat tryed with tweezers hanging it in front of her put her in a tub with the mouse and even brained it and still nothing and im getting very worried she is still very livily and she has bright eyes want do you think i am doing wrong as i will try owt dont want to lose her

Louise you continue to try to feed your snake every 4-5 days. If the snake refuses a mouse wait another 4-5 days to try again.

The next thing I would try is heat some chicken broth, dip a mouse in it then put the mouse in the feeding tub with your snake. You may need to leave it overnight. Make sure the feeding tub is secure so your snake can't escape. Many people will put the feeding tub into the viv.

Keep us updated.

Create your own thread next time so more people will see it.

Rich

[flick]

His last shed measures 1 1/4 inches in diameter and the mice are about 1 1/2 inches. I can't seem to find anything bigger around here. The lump after he eats is gone at 30 hours if not sooner.(I just checked) He looks healthy to me. I am not interested in bulking him up, he is just a much loved pet and we just want him healthy. If I were to try two mice would you put them in the kill box at the same time?( I will weigh him tomorrow, I dont want to bug him as I fed him yesterday).

[Lennycorn]

His last shed measures 1 1/4 inches in diameter and the mice are about 1 1/2 inches. I can't seem to find anything bigger around here. The lump after he eats is gone at 30 hours if not sooner.(I just checked) He looks healthy to me. I am not interested in bulking him up, he is just a much loved pet and we just want him healthy. If I were to try two mice would you put them in the kill box at the same time?( I will weigh him tomorrow, I dont want to bug him as I fed him yesterday).

You can't use a shed for a measurement. I would use the snake girth instead. Get a mouse the is 1 1/2 times the snake widest point. A mouse that a little bigger the the snake. Seven to tens day feeding plan. cause like you said you just want a healthy snake. Well a fat snake might not be a healthy one.
so just do what you're doing now.

[flick]

He weighs 206.9 grams, has a girth of 2 3/4 inches and is 46 inches long. After taking a good look he might be slightly on the thin side. If two mice at once are two much for him would he just not eat one? I can't seem to find mice 1.5 times his girth.

[MerlinsPop]

He weighs 206.9 grams, has a girth of 2 3/4 inches and is 46 inches long. After taking a good look he might be slightly on the thin side. If two mice at once are two much for him would he just not eat one? I can't seem to find mice 1.5 times his girth.
Just like me sitting in front of a bowl of my wife's spaghetti, your snake will eat far more that it needs. A nice sized mouse every week to 10 days will be plenty good to sustain good health.

But that 'sketti is soooooo gooooood! :shrugs: