Underweight snake

[NomadicLass]

We brought home our first corn this past weekend. When I first saw her she looked to be too thin (see pic below), but I passed it off as me being new to the snake world (her main caregiver was a corn snake owner so who was I to argue?). However, the more pictures I study and the more reading I do, the more convinced I am that she was not fed/cared for properly. I really want to turn that around and do what is best for her. A bit of history...

We found her at a locally owned shop (her former owner dropped her and a number of other snakes off at the store when he moved), and she was being cared for by an employee that has/breeds corns in his home. He estimates that she is 6 months old, and he fed her one live pink once a week. We asked to see her feed, and she ate like a champ (with three of us watching, no less).

I weighed her today, and she came in at 39 grams. I don't know her exact length, but I'd estimate it to be about 24 inches. We've been trying to remove an incomplete shed from her so between that and allowing her several days to settle into her viv we have not attempted to feed her.

My question is what type of feeding schedule would you put this little girl on? I read about the Munson plan and decided that would be our best option, but I'm not comfortable giving her a regular fuzzy immediately. My plan was to feed her a single pink for her first few feedings, every 4-5 days, since she is so new to our home and thought it would easier on her (give her the food she's used to, etc.). Then build up to double pinks and then onto fuzzies. Does that sound doable? Would I be rushing it? Taking it too slow?

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s168/kitakokoro/non%20op/lisa.jpg?t=1209013271

[Cat_Eyed_Lady]

What size pinkies are you talking about? :) There are many sizes. Since she is in a new home you will need to wait about 4 days to feed her but after that I would start to move her up in size slightly til you get to the size she should be eating. At that size I would be feeding fuzzies to small hoppers... but thats me :) But usually a snake that has been feeding well can handle a prey item that is about as big to 1.5 times as big as the largest part of its body :) Does that help?? btw... very nice looking amel you got there :)

[NomadicLass]

Thanks. :) Right now we've had her for 6 days but wanted to giver her maybe one more day before feeding since her past two days were fairly traumatic (soaking her to remove an incomplete shed - she wasn't happy at all about that).

I'm honestly not sure what size of pinkie she received at the shop, but I'm guessing similar in size to the large pinkies they sell at Rodent Pro (approx 3g). That is the size I ordered from them and have in my freezer at any rate. She was also fed live pinkies so I'm hoping she'll accept the f/t ones we offer. If she refuses I may buy one or two live ones to ease her into feeding in her new home and then move her to f/t once I know she's eating regularly. The last thing I want is for her to refuse food and drop even more weight.

[Susielea]

Sounds like you have a good plan, that's what I would do :) Start with the smaller pinks from the order for a few feedings, and if you find they are not leaving a bump in her tummy after feeding, then move up to the bigger ones for a few feedings, then you can try her with double pinks of the smaller ones from the bag again, and then onto double of the bigger ones :) I find I get a variety of sizes in a bag.

Now, when you try feeding her for the first time, seeing as she's been on live, defrost the pink thoroughly in warm/hot water, then just before offering it to your snake, dunk the pink in very hot, not quite boiling water for a few seconds. This will increase the temp of the pink and should induce a good feeding response :)

Hope that helps, if you have any problems, just come back and let us know :)

[Plissken]

I have had two underweight young snakes in my care before and they both did very well on a normal 7 day feeding schedule. If you are going to use frozen thawed I do recommend you cut the mice before offering to the snake; this helps the snake digest and I believe it may help aid growth.

[NomadicLass]

Thanks so much for all the information and tips. We had our first successful feeding at our home this evening. :dancer: I gave the pink an extra little warm up in hot water and then slit him right before putting it and Lisa into the feeding tub. The little girl gobbled up the pink within just a few minutes. She actually was quicker to eat the f/t pinkie than she was the live one I watched her eat at the shop.

I think Lisa's definitely due to move up to larger prey, as I couldn't see even the slightest lump once she had eaten. I'll keep her on singles however for a while longer, then to doubles, then to fuzzies. I want to get her weight to a nice healthy level but certainly don't want to go too quickly for her and risk a regurgitation.

[jp575]

from the pictures, it does not look like the snake is too underweight. Generally, corns are skinny when young.