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Best time to feed new baby

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DandelionDeity

New member
Hello! I got a corn (hatched 9-21-17) on Wednesday (March 14th). I only handled him on that first day to place him in his tank, and change his bedding after he spilled his water (I replaced the bowl right away and now he can't tip it). His breeder said that he was last fed on March 6th, and I'm concerned when next to feed him. He's fairly young and doesn't seem too fearful but I also know not to try and move him to a feeding box or feed him for several days after his arrival. Should I wait the full week before trying or since he's young and a good eater (according to his breeder he happily eats once a week) can I try and feed him this Monday? (March 19)
 
Go for it! The conventional wisdom is to wait a few days so he can settle in, and there's nothing wrong with that plan. However, I have received hatchlings via FedEx and opened the box and dropped pinkies into the little deli cups and some of the corns ate right away. If your little guy is hungry he will eat. Move him to a small container with a pinkie, cover it and check on him in 20 minutes. If he doesn't eat right away, try again in a day or two. Some people leave the corn with the pinkie overnight, but I don't.
 
I typically also feed right away. However some months ago I read a very long and compelling argument for waiting. I wish I could repeat it from memory, but the short of it was that there's always a chance a hatchling especially will refuse because of shipping stress, and that there's a chance it could set a precedent for future refusals. Of course for those of us prepared to deal with problem feeders, this is a minimal risk we can afford to take. For the average pet owner? It really doesn't hurt to wait an extra week. I have a tiny Pueblan milksnake upstairs that didn't take a meal in over 10 weeks before I acquired him. An extra 5-7 days between feeds isn't going to put a dent in a healthy baby corn snake.
 
Well, I ended up trying today and he took it no problem. Had the whole thing down in 10 minutes and happily went to go hide in his tank. I'm going to weigh him after he digests his meal. I'm not sure what weight he's supposed to be at at his age but he's still on pinkies and I was told he was fed only once a week. I'm not sure if I should increase how often he's fed until he moves to a larger prey size or not
 
Dragonling said:
I typically also feed right away. However some months ago I read a very long and compelling argument for waiting. I wish I could repeat it from memory, but the short of it was that there's always a chance a hatchling especially will refuse because of shipping stress, and that there's a chance it could set a precedent for future refusals. Of course for those of us prepared to deal with problem feeders, this is a minimal risk we can afford to take. For the average pet owner? It really doesn't hurt to wait an extra week. I have a tiny Pueblan milksnake upstairs that didn't take a meal in over 10 weeks before I acquired him. An extra 5-7 days between feeds isn't going to put a dent in a healthy baby corn snake.
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I would like to know who wrote the article you mentioned. I'm always curious about these articles, and if they actually conducted an experiment with a control group, or just surmised that such a feeding refusal was caused by shipping. Were there records of the hatchlings eating before shipping? Anything is possible, but I've never had a corn refuse to eat because it was shipped. It may be possible that the shipping box was handled roughly and the corn suffered some internal damage. But, as you stated, if there is any doubt, just wait.
 
It wasn't an article, it was a comment on facebook, hence why I'm not even going to attempt to find it. There was a hypothetical scenario posed, but I could not begin to reconstruct it.
 
Dragonling said:
It wasn't an article, it was a comment on facebook, hence why I'm not even going to attempt to find it. There was a hypothetical scenario posed, but I could not begin to reconstruct it.
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Okay, didn't mean to put you on the spot. I'm always willing to learn about snakes, especially if it is something I had not considered. But I try to draw the line at conjecture. In the scenario mentioned the person is obviously trying to be helpful.
 
I just weighed him today and my scale says he's about 7 grams. I'm not sure what weight he's supposed to be at but I figure I should be feeding every 5 days? He eats fine
 
DandelionDeity said:
I just weighed him today and my scale says he's about 7 grams. I'm not sure what weight he's supposed to be at but I figure I should be feeding every 5 days? He eats fine
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Boy, that's not much weight for a corn that's over 5 months old. I'd feed him every 4 days with a goal of moving him up to large pinkies and then peach fuzzies as soon as possible. I also dust the prey lightly with reptile vitamins and probiotics at least every 3rd or 4th feeding. But that's something I do, some feel it's unnecessary.
 
To anyone who knows more about corn snakes (my butter is my first one) is it normal to feed a little over six month old snake a large pinkie once a week? I read somewhere that they're usually on several pinkies to almost a fuzzy by then, but I'm not sure
 
DandelionDeity said:
To anyone who knows more about corn snakes (my butter is my first one) is it normal to feed a little over six month old snake a large pinkie once a week? I read somewhere that they're usually on several pinkies to almost a fuzzy by then, but I'm not sure
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Ours eats two 1.5g pinkies every 5-6 days and she is between 3-5mths old. I have to find out her exact hatch date this weekend. She isn't quit ready for the single 5g pinkies yet in my opinion.
 
DandelionDeity said:
To anyone who knows more about corn snakes (my butter is my first one) is it normal to feed a little over six month old snake a large pinkie once a week? I read somewhere that they're usually on several pinkies to almost a fuzzy by then, but I'm not sure
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You need to check out the Munson feeding plan for corn snakes. A 7 gram corn that's over 5 months old has not grown much. You will have to feed a 2-3 gram pinkie every 4-5 days to get some growth before adding a second pinkie, usually at the 15-16 gram mark. Unfortunately, some breeders keep their hatchlings, or even yearlings, on a maintenance feeding schedule to keep rodent costs down.
 
Okay, somehow something was super wrong with my scale. I messaged the breeder and he said something must have been up so I went out and bought a new one and luckily, it seems like he's actually 20g. I'm glad my scale was off and he's actually good and healthy
 
That was good news. At this stage you can indeed feed two pinkies every 4 or 5 days. At 24-25 grams your corn should be able to take small fuzzies. Good luck and enjoy your butter.
 
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