calcium deficiency

[cornlover221]

im no sayin my corn has it....im just wondering if its possible for corns to get it? if so, how could i prevent?

[Jrgh17]

It *could* be possible for a corn to be calcium deficient if it wasn't getting whole prey. It seems logical that a snake gets a lot of its calcium from the bones of the animals it eats. If a snake is not getting fed, it'll have much bigger problems than calcium deficiency.

You don't need to do anything to prevent it. Just feed your corn well. Some people use supplements like nutribac, but I would advise AGAINST using a calcium supplement.

[bitsy]

I give calcium supplements to my breeding females during the mating season, but they've still occasionally produced eggs with "patchy" shells, so I'm not convinced that really helps.

When I have a Corn with health problems, my vet's first move is to give them a calcium shot. It does seem to give them a real boost under those circumstances.

But as long as yours is healthy and you're feeding whole prey, it should be getting all the calcium it needs.

[cornlover221]

i do feed it whole prey now (for awhile he would only eat the head) i was just wondering cause my g/f told me her dads boa got it from not having a uvb light and i wasnt sure if that same went for corns also

[Corny Noob]

Corns don't require UVB light so thats not a problem.
Yeah...preferabbly your snake should be eatting a whole prey item, as it's not going to thrive very well on just body parts.
How big is your snake and what size mice are you feeding it?

[cornlover221]

hes 14 inches and heas eating 1 day old pinkies

[Jrgh17]

hes 14 inches and heas eating 1 day old pinkies

Okay... those are WAY too small. Day old pinks are usually around 1-2 grams. My snakes that are around that size are taking regular fuzzies every 5-6 days.

[cornlover221]

i thought they were to small, so ive been asking around and so im deff gonna try something bigger tomarrow since thats his next feeding.....thanks

[Kokopelli]

One of the most dangerous supplements that exist out there is Calcium. The bones are consisted of Calcium and phosphorous, if you add only Calcium you can cause calcium spikes to form around joints et cetera, this leads to immense amounts of pain and can prove fatal.
As long as your snake eats whole prey, that includes -some- bone tissue, he should be fine. You can easily spot the immense amounts of calcium they dispose of when urinating. They don't have need for all of it.

Whole prey is always preferable to partial prey, in short.