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8% weight loss too much?
- Thread starter Cam5
- Start date
I'll tell Stretchy. Maybe a little peer pressure will move him along :grin01:
OFF TOPIC...We went to the harware store and got a bunch of 21/2 inch PVC stright runs and curves etc. Our 7 year old sat down and assembled a fun "play land" that will be easy to clean and provide him more climbing and surface area in and out side of the PVC. He is housed in a 55 gallon terrarium. We set the PVC in there at about 6pm last night and he went right to investigating it. Maybe he'll work up an appetite, or at least it may take his mind off "the season" :cheers:
That website you posted is fantastic...thank you again!
Colleen and family
OFF TOPIC...We went to the harware store and got a bunch of 21/2 inch PVC stright runs and curves etc. Our 7 year old sat down and assembled a fun "play land" that will be easy to clean and provide him more climbing and surface area in and out side of the PVC. He is housed in a 55 gallon terrarium. We set the PVC in there at about 6pm last night and he went right to investigating it. Maybe he'll work up an appetite, or at least it may take his mind off "the season" :cheers:
That website you posted is fantastic...thank you again!
Colleen and family
desertanimal
2003 UB313
When my males go off food I only offer them food every two weeks, sometimes 2.5-3, depending on when I remember. Once they start eating, I go back to offering them weekly feedings. That's just me, personally.
But my adult males are eating regularly and are thinner than your boy, so as others have said, don't worry about him yet!
But my adult males are eating regularly and are thinner than your boy, so as others have said, don't worry about him yet!
desertanimal
2003 UB313
Well I'm no expert, and my males have only refused for at most a month and a half. I didn't bump them down after that length of time, but your suggestion to do so might not be a bad idea if it's been a really long time.
However, while we're on the subject, I think you're feeding your boy prey items that are too small, anyway. If he's really 4 ft long and ~350g, I can't see why he shouldn't be eating adult mice by now. One of my guys is almost 400g and a hopper would be little more than a snack, and a fuzzy an amuse-bouche. He eats one jumbo mouse every week and a half to two weeks.
However, while we're on the subject, I think you're feeding your boy prey items that are too small, anyway. If he's really 4 ft long and ~350g, I can't see why he shouldn't be eating adult mice by now. One of my guys is almost 400g and a hopper would be little more than a snack, and a fuzzy an amuse-bouche. He eats one jumbo mouse every week and a half to two weeks.
I was told by the gal at the pet store that there should never be a bulge in his stomach when he is eating...that the prey item diameter should be no bigger than the diameter of his stomach.
That is why I was feeding him the 2 hoppers 1xweek. I purchased 100 weanlings right before his food strike though. Initially I thought his food strike was because the weanlings were too big.
Always something interesting between the kids and the pets :crazy02:
Thank you again!
That is why I was feeding him the 2 hoppers 1xweek. I purchased 100 weanlings right before his food strike though. Initially I thought his food strike was because the weanlings were too big.
Always something interesting between the kids and the pets :crazy02:
Thank you again!
desertanimal
2003 UB313
Well, pet stores do tend to give out misinformation.
The rule of thumb espoused by people in the know here is that for cornsnakes, you should be able to see a bulge left by the food item for 24-48 hours. Longer than 48 and your prey item is too big, less than 24 and your prey item is too small. The upper limit in prey width is 1.5 times the snake's widest point.
So, next time your boy will eat, feed him a weanling. Next time he'll eat after that, feed him two. Once you get him up to larger prey items, you can actually feed him less often as a rule.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50148&highlight=Munson+plan
Here's a link to a feeding chart that gets passed around here a fair bit. The originator of this handy dandy chart also recommends skipping feedings every once in a while, and once the snakes are solidly adult (oh, let's say 300-350g) many people slow them down to feedings every 7-??? days (10, 14, it's what you feel the snake needs).
Good luck!
The rule of thumb espoused by people in the know here is that for cornsnakes, you should be able to see a bulge left by the food item for 24-48 hours. Longer than 48 and your prey item is too big, less than 24 and your prey item is too small. The upper limit in prey width is 1.5 times the snake's widest point.
So, next time your boy will eat, feed him a weanling. Next time he'll eat after that, feed him two. Once you get him up to larger prey items, you can actually feed him less often as a rule.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50148&highlight=Munson+plan
Here's a link to a feeding chart that gets passed around here a fair bit. The originator of this handy dandy chart also recommends skipping feedings every once in a while, and once the snakes are solidly adult (oh, let's say 300-350g) many people slow them down to feedings every 7-??? days (10, 14, it's what you feel the snake needs).
Good luck!
Update! He ate!!!!
Thank you to everyone! :cheers:
Our Stretchy 3 year old male corn ate his last regular meal (3 hoppers) in April....then ate one pinky after a lot of "teasing" June 9th...
And tonight thank you to you all he chowed a weanling and a fuzzy with gusto!
The difference?
I did what you all said. I stopped putting food in there 3 times a week.
I put in a f/t fuzzy and a weanling once every 10 days and just took out the mice the next morning without checking on him 15 times and fussing.
I recently read to dip the f/t mice (can't remember who posted this to give credit) in 110* water, so I did that tonight.
We found that his temps were a bit low in the warm end about 80* at the bottom of the 55 gallon tank (although the reading I had been taking mid level was 85*).
He has been out every night for the past 4 nights at 8:00pm cruising, bathing and playing on his PVC etc. So tonight I had his mice all thawed by 8:00pm and did the hot water dip and tossed them in and Stretchy dove right in!
HE is also probably out of "breeding" season or finally just hungry enough
Thank you everyone. Hopefully he has made the turn to his "regular" pattern now.
Take care :wavey: :crazy02: :wavey:
Thank you to everyone! :cheers:
Our Stretchy 3 year old male corn ate his last regular meal (3 hoppers) in April....then ate one pinky after a lot of "teasing" June 9th...
And tonight thank you to you all he chowed a weanling and a fuzzy with gusto!
The difference?
I did what you all said. I stopped putting food in there 3 times a week.
I put in a f/t fuzzy and a weanling once every 10 days and just took out the mice the next morning without checking on him 15 times and fussing.
I recently read to dip the f/t mice (can't remember who posted this to give credit) in 110* water, so I did that tonight.
We found that his temps were a bit low in the warm end about 80* at the bottom of the 55 gallon tank (although the reading I had been taking mid level was 85*).
He has been out every night for the past 4 nights at 8:00pm cruising, bathing and playing on his PVC etc. So tonight I had his mice all thawed by 8:00pm and did the hot water dip and tossed them in and Stretchy dove right in!
HE is also probably out of "breeding" season or finally just hungry enough
Thank you everyone. Hopefully he has made the turn to his "regular" pattern now.
Take care :wavey: :crazy02: :wavey:
I hope Zee is inspired to eat soon as well.
I wanted to add another weanling in there but was afraid he would regurgitate if he ate "too much" on his first meal back.
Do you feed your group in a differnt tank than the one in which they live? We never have. We hold him during the day and feed him (usually after 10pm) at night. I keeep reading how this will make them strike at you because they associate you with their food.
Always something.
Thank you again :wavey:
I wanted to add another weanling in there but was afraid he would regurgitate if he ate "too much" on his first meal back.
Do you feed your group in a differnt tank than the one in which they live? We never have. We hold him during the day and feed him (usually after 10pm) at night. I keeep reading how this will make them strike at you because they associate you with their food.
Always something.
Thank you again :wavey: