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Health Issues/Feeding Problems Anything related to general or specific health problems. Issues having to do with feeding problems or tips.

i need some advice help :(
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Old 11-21-2009, 11:19 AM   #1
DarkSmoke
i need some advice help :(

so , from last post when the snake regurgitate.
after how much time can i switch him back to 2 mice per week. this snake is really getting me worried.
yesterday i bought my ball python and when i asked this new petshop where i bought it from how long and wide was my snake and his age startled like the other petshops. today i got a picture of him next to my hand :



this corn is 1 year 6months old.. and his still this size. this petshops considered switching to pinky rats, the others considered switching to 2mice.
i tried the 2mice but he regurged after 2 weeks = 4mice, but that was probably my mistake for only giving 24hours between each mice.

please. somebody help me. im really getting worried about his size at 1year6months.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:23 AM   #2
LBoz
You're going to need to give him MONTHS of time to recover from this. Put his weight out of your mind and instead just think about his actual needs. He doesn't need to be fattened up overnight. If he's fed slowly AND is able to keep his food down (which is the ultimate goal) then he'll slowly gain weight.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:40 AM   #3
DarkSmoke
im really confused since every petshop here is telling me you need to feed hime 2times a week and one sugested feeding him a pinky rat instead of small mice. and eveyone here is telling me to feed him once a week just like any other snake that has growed sucesfull altough with my snake this is not the case.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:41 AM   #4
Hallie
What Lori said. Months. I have quite a few 08s that aren't much bigger than that. I like to grow my babies slow for the first year anyways, but I did have a few that had eating issues (only one that had regurge issues though). Also, I have a nearly 4 year old who is currently eating peach fuzzies (he weighs 130g or so) due to multiple regurges. He won't get anything bigger than that for at least another month, then he'll be moved to fuzzies for at least a month, then to small hoppers, etc. Take your time, he's not going to starve.

Edit: Definitely don't feed twice a week. That doesn't give the snake's system time to digest and get rid of waste between feedings. A healthy hatchling should be fed, at the most, every 4-5 days (I feed every 5 for hatchlings and some yearlings, every 7 for subadults, every 10-14 for adult females, and every 14-21 for adult males).
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:42 AM   #5
starsevol
In answer to your question when he can eat 2 mice a week again....how about NEVER.

Two mice a week is too much for any cornsnake....

If a snake has NEVER EVER regurged, maybe I would give him 1 mouse every 5 days....and only til he's a yearling....but yours has...
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:45 AM   #6
LBoz
Quote:
Originally Posted by starsevol View Post
In answer to your question when he can eat 2 mice a week again....how about NEVER.

Two mice a week is too much for any cornsnake....

If a snake has NEVER EVER regurged, maybe I would give him 1 mouse every 5 days...but yours has...
I was going to say never, but I wasn't sure what others do for breeders. I personally would never feed my snakes twice a week, but like you said, Beth, every five days is ok for some. I keep my 08s on a once a week schedule, but I'm not in a rush to breed them. I know some breeders beef up their females quickly, but never a snake that has had regurges.

Like we've already said, Dark....forget about his size. It's only an issue in your mind. Your goal now is to make sure that snake NEVER regurges again.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:45 AM   #7
whippet
Pet shops are not experts. The people on this board are experts. Pet shop owners just want to sell more stuff. I would say at his age he can take a large pinkie every 5 to 7 days. HOWEVER... because he has regured so many times. Stick with one pinkie every 7 days for a while. He won't die. He will just be smaller than other snakes his age might be. That's just fine. He will get to his adult size just fine. Many of my GF's snakes are smaller than mine even at the same age because she fed more conservitively than I did. But they are all heathy.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:45 AM   #8
wstphal
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkSmoke View Post
im really confused since every petshop here is telling me you need to feed hime 2times a week and one sugested feeding him a pinky rat instead of small mice. and eveyone here is telling me to feed him once a week just like any other snake that has growed sucesfull altough with my snake this is not the case.
Petshop folks RARELY know as much about cornsnakes as people here (excepting me who's a noobie). Maybe a reptile specific shop... Then again, maybe not, the experienced folks here are specifically expert in cornsnakes.

I'd take the advice here. Keep this snake alive, don't risk his life with more regurgs. Get him eating regularly once a week without any regurgs for months & months. THEN worry about catch up feeding. He may take an extra year to get to adult size. I don't see that it matters as long as he is healthy.

I am just recapping the advice from the genuine experts plus my non-expert opinion that preventing more regurgs is much more important than getting back to normal feeding sooner.

Edit: Regurging is not like puking is for humans. We tolerate it really well. All the evidence I've found, here & elsewhere, is that snakes don't tolerate regurging.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 11:46 AM   #9
bitsy
At the moment, your focus should be on getting him to keep his food down reliably, not on growing him. Corns that have experienced multiple regurges as youngsters will tend to be smaller and grow more slowly as a result. However, a small snake is not necessarily an unhealthy snake, once a proper feeding pattern has been established.

You should feed very conservatively. In this situation, I think that the shops are wrong and the advice you're seeing here is correct.

If you carry on trying to feed multiple items or increase the frequency of feeding, then your snake will continue to regurge and die. I'm sorry to be blunt, but this really is the decision you have to make. If you carry on doing as the shops advise, your snake will die - I know you don't want that otherwise you wouldn't still be posting here. You're very obviously caring and concerned, just misguided.
 
Old 11-21-2009, 12:04 PM   #10
DarkSmoke
ok then , so my last 2 questions. feeding every 5days is ok once he has gone some months without regurg?
also , cause nobody answered on this one , is it a good idea to switch to pinky rats ?
 

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