Questions about feeding... New snake owner

Hi I'm a new corn snake owner as of two weeks ago.

I've been talking to a breeder on experience project who's been guiding me on the feeding process.

He taught me how to feed her frozen thawed pinkies because I was so heartbroken when I fed her live. She's fine with thawed.

So he told me there's so many different mice and sizes like hoppers, juveniles all the way to retired breeders.

Right now I'm feeding her two pinkies a week. He said I could go to fuzzies but it doesn't really matter then would be hoppers.

So my question is for those who have older corns... Did you keep transitioning your snake to bigger mice? How do you know when to do so for each level?

Also, how often do you feed hoppers, juveniles etc.


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And of course I post this right before I discover the Munson chart.. Just need a gram scale


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cornsnakeaurora said:

And of course I post this right before I discover the Munson chart.. Just need a gram scale


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Glad you found it. There are many versions. The original is a little agressive. For example, my snake is 30 grams and on 5 gram small fuzzies. I will wait until she's closer to 40 grams to go to large fuzzies. I also just increased the interval to 6 days. I recommend not feeding closer than 5 days even at the beginning if you have one of the more agressive versions of the plan.

The prey should be 1.5 times the diameter of the snake or smaller. Most of us don't feed our snakes while they are in shed-- besides it is actually good for them to skip a meal occasionally. You are not in a race to grow your snake quickly. If in doubt ask, and while you may get several opinions, you can draw on those to make an informed decision. Best wishes.

Thank you. Yes I was told about the diameter issue. I just ordered a gram scale on Amazon. And yes I was told she may not eat right before she sheds. And you can tell if she's going to shed if her eyes get cloudy or turn gray. Right now I'm giving her two pinkys a week. Both maybe an hour apart though.


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cornsnakeaurora said:

Thank you. Yes I was told about the diameter issue. I just ordered a gram scale on Amazon. And yes I was told she may not eat right before she sheds. And you can tell if she's going to shed if her eyes get cloudy or turn gray. Right now I'm giving her two pinkys a week. Both maybe an hour apart though.


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No need to wait an hour between pinkies. I've never waited and never had a refusal on the second pink with my corn snake, but I've read there is about a 15 to 20 minute window and then after that they become less interested in feeding. You can place both pinkies in the feeding tub with her or if offering from tongs, you can offer one right after she's swallowed the first and starts looking around. Of course if they don't want the second one for any reason, they just won't eat it.

Congrats on getting your scale!

I didn't purposely wait an hour. I was so excited she at a frozen thawed that I emailed the herpetologist and he told me to try another one. Next week I will give her one after the other and yes I use tongs. Thanks!


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cornsnakeaurora said:

I didn't purposely wait an hour. I was so excited she at a frozen thawed that I emailed the herpetologist and he told me to try another one. Next week I will give her one after the other and yes I use tongs. Thanks!


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I love that you have a herpetologist to email. Awesome!

Lol! I searched for one because I started freaking out that I wasn't a hundred percent certain on how to care for her. He's helped so much. He taught me how to wean her to thawed pinkies but rubbing it against a live one. I just couldn't do a live one again. So I just bought frozen and hoped for the best.. Thankfully it worked. I was honestly going to have to give her up if she wouldn't.


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cornsnakeaurora said:

Lol! I searched for one because I started freaking out that I wasn't a hundred percent certain on how to care for her. He's helped so much. He taught me how to wean her to thawed pinkies but rubbing it against a live one. I just couldn't do a live one again. So I just bought frozen and hoped for the best.. Thankfully it worked. I was honestly going to have to give her up if she wouldn't.

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Wonderful that you found someone willing to help. I couldn't feed live either. Glad she took to frozen thawed so easily.

Cornsnakeaurora, how old was your snake when you switched her to frozen thawed? I'm so nervous because I just bought a yearling and he's been fed live. I'm not doing that and in a few days I will feed him frozen thawed hoppers. I'm really hoping he takes them well!! So far he's been in his hide getting used to his new home. I can't wait to hold him!! I bought him Saturday July 2nd at Repticon. ��

Hi Gette. Welcome to the forum.

Just make sure your thawed mouse is warm. I put mine in warm water, then dry it with a paper towel. Grip the rear end of the mouse with tongs and wiggle the mouse in front of the snake. With any luck, the snake will take it and constrict it as usual. Of course let go of the mouse when the snake takes it.

Hi! Thanks for the welcome & tips. I appreciate it. ��