Cornsnake not growing
 

I got my corn about 9 months ago as a hatchling. She's a root beer, which is a cross between a corn and a great plains rat. She was as thin as a pencil, so of course, I fed her one pinky once every 5-7 days. Two months ago, at the 7 month mark, I realized she hadn't grown at all. She had shed two times, but there was no size difference. At that point, I decided to see if she'd eat twice a week, which she did easily. She has never missed a meal. I found that she was still hungry after feedings, so I started feeding her two at a time. I figured wild corns don't find a single pinky, they find nests, so she should be capable of taking at least two at a time. She'd eat another if I let her and she did once with no problem, but that's out of my comfort zone. She has had no issues whatsoever. Now, I've been feeding her approximately 2-4 pinkies a week for two months and she's grown a liiiiiittle. She has shed once or twice and is a slightly thicker pencil now. Not even sharpie-sized, or pen-sized for that matter. She's always been active and perky, just tiny. I've read about corns that stop growing for a time and then shoot up, but I haven't read anything this extreme. She's not too thin or fat. Pinkies make a sizable lump in her, so larger food items are not an option. She's been on pinkies for 9 months. Should I be worried?

Note: I'm sorry I don't have weights. I made the mistake of not weighing her consistently after I had no issues at all with my male hognose. She's also a fiesty little thing, and it's difficult doing it without thoroughly stressing her out. I got complacent with her, but she's never rejected a meal, never regurgitated, and her sheds are always good. In the beginning, I had to put her in a deli cup in the dark to get her to eat, but that only lasted about 4 feeds or so. The problem was more that she was scared, not that she wasn't hungry.

If you can get a current weight on her the will help to determine the prey size she should be eating. How long is the lump visible after she eats? The problem with pinkies is that they aren't very nutritious. Once you start bumping them up feeder sizes they really start growing fast.

Also welcome to the forum!

I just fed her yesterday, so I can't check right now, but I believe she was around 12g last I checked. I'll give you an exact number when I can. I think she was 8g when I got her. It takes about 3 days for the lump to go away. It's good to hear that larger feeders are more nutritious. She's been slowly growing the last two months, so hopefully I'll be able to bump her up soon.

Thanks! Happy to be here!

a 12 gram snake can eat about 1.2 to 2 grams of food every 5 days. Growth will be extremely slow and unnoticeable for the simple fact a snake only retains about 10% to 30% of the food weight. So if you are feeding 1.5 grams of food per week, then you could expect maybe around 3/10ths of a gram of growth per week.

You'd need a really good scale capable of fractional grams to be able to even tell.

If your snake is eating and pooping and drinking water, and seems healthy otherwise, then just keep feeding (but don't over feed that's just as bad as under feeding). Eventually you'll see a difference.

It's been 9 months, mate. It's pretty unusual to see only 4g of growth in that large a time period. Right now, my plan is to continue feeding her the 4 pinkies a week since she's growing, slowly, with them. When she gets big enough, I'll give her fuzzies with a more typical feeding schedule.

Still really weird though. Her temp is 85, though she hangs on the cooler end most of the time, and while she is perky and alert, she's not overly active. Go figure my corn is super unusual. My hognose is the same way. I get the misfits. *sigh*

Do what you want, but most people around here would strongly urge you "not" to feed a 12 gram snake 4 pinkies a week.

I find it hard to believe your snake has experienced 4 grams of growth over 9 months of time, since in your opening statement you claim you have not been weighing her regularly, and you don't even know for sure what she weighs right now. I'd be willing to guess you don't know what she weighed when you got her either. So you really have no idea how much she has or has not grown.

Babies grow very slowly. The real growth starts once they start eating Fuzzies. But "Over Feeding" can be harmful.

Again, it's your snake, do what you want.

No need to get triggered. I mentioned my plan to communicate it so that it could be altered, not to say that I know best. I don't. My intention in starting this thread was to determine if the feeding schedule was safe for my little one and if I could do anything better. I want what's best for her too. Sorry about the miscommunication.

I found my notes. I had gotten her numbers mixed. She was 12g when I got her. She is now 23g. Much less concerning than I first thought. I had gotten scared because I saw a video where a guy had a 6 month old corn that looked 3 times my girl's weight, and the guys in the video said that HIS snake was too small. Do you think I should bump her to fuzzies at this point or should I wait a bit longer?

If she is 23g then she should be ready to get bumped up to small fuzzies. In this link is a feeding chart to help guide you in what size prey you should be feeding.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=145515

The good news is that your snake is growing. I've mentioned it a few times, but I try to get my hatchlings and young corns bumped up to peach fuzzies, or small fuzzies as soon as possible. There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of nutrients in pinkies, despite the protein and fat shown on typical charts. I dust the pinkies with reptile vitamins and probiotics and the corns grow faster. Once on fuzzies you usually see a more rapid growth rate. I'm not after quick growth on the corns I'm keeping, just acceptable growth.

I'll start following that chart. Thanks guys! Sorry about the false alarm, but it was worth it to get that feeding schedule. I've never seen it in all my research.