"Adult" Corn Weight

My corns are 3 this year. The male weighs 217g and the female weighs 132g. This seems low. The female did lay eggs both this year (about 12, I didn't incubate them) and last year (5, one of which hatched at room temp after about 70 days, the baby was kinked). I did not know it was "bad" to co-hab them. I will be getting them into their own tubs shortly, so there won't be any more "surprise" stork visits.

At any rate, how much should they really be weighing at three years? For a couple of months after Hurricane Katrina (they were a year old) their eating habits were very sporadic to say the least, but since then they have been getting a hopper once a week.

I am guessing I need to up their feeder size/frequency?

Give me some advice.

Do a search on the "Munson Plan", this should point you in the right direction.

Regards,
Steve

I second that suggestion...in fact, here is the link if you haven't already found it... The Munson Plan link

Since putting my snakes on this "plan," they've really put on some weight! My Fritz is about 2 years old now, and he's at 235 g -- though I'm sure that there are plenty other '05s that weigh more. My oldest chica, Maizie, a June '06, is 150 g now...although I'm sure that with laying eggs, that took a lot out of your female. Hopefully with her own tank & the Munson Plan, she'll put that weight back on quickly.

Thanks both of you.

OK here's what that plan lists:

-Single pinks (2-3g) every 4-5 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 4-5 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 5-6 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 5-6 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (24-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+)
-Jumbo Adults (40-50g) every 7-x days (Snake = 400g+)

No wonder my two are growing slowly, I am still feeding hoppers!

Looks like my male should be getting adult mice and my female should be getting weaned.

I am going to weigh the adult feeders I have for my king and see how much they weigh...

OK. I picked a random "adult" mouse: 32g. Random "hopper": 12g.

So... I think I'll try to offer the male an adult next time and the female 2 hoppers and see how that goes.

I don't feed as frequently as Roy does. Once my animals are off pinkies they are fed weekly until they are adults when they are fed every 10-14 days. My adults at 3 years old are still 500-700 grams. My male weighed in at 724 grams yesterday. He's fed every 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by MegF.

My adults at 3 years old are still 500-700 grams. My male weighed in at 724 grams yesterday. He's fed every 2 weeks.

WOW.

I for sure need to at least give them bigger meals!

My 12 year old king snake is only 700 grams!

Definitely up the sizes if you are still feeding hoppers to 3 year olds. Most corns should be on adult mice well before 3 years, but yours should catch up if you start feeding them more.

For breeding, the rule of thumb is "3 years - 3 feet - 300 grams".

And I would add....at least 300 grams. It's better to have more IMO. My females routinely lose 100 grams after laying. A 300 gram female is dangerously thin after laying the way I see it. I was very worried after my 330 gram female layed her eggs. She was terribly thin and took a long time to recover. I did not breed her this year, but she's now closer to 500 than 300 these days.