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Brad saying Hi

B

BradMoore

New member
Howdy. Relatively new corn snake owner here who just discovered this site. Lots of great information here and I am looking forward to exploring more. Let me introduce my corn snake Hook. If you wonder why he is named Hook, you will have to ask my two cats, Tinker and Belle. We adopted Hook when he was two years old from a family where a teenage son saved up his money and bought Hook from Petco and then lost interest. His mother, who had no interest in snakes, did her best to feed him a fuzzy once a week. When we picked him up June 30th 2023, he lived in the original 10 gal tank and was maybe 2 ½ feet long and weighed 109 grams. We had set up a 40 gallon bioactive vivarium and moved him into it when we brought him home. We took him to our exotics vet who, due to his size, thought he was only a year old. He is all over his new home both burrowing and climbing.
He has had 2 full sheds during the 9 months we have had him. Both were complete.
He is now just over 3 feet, weighs 243 grams and is very active. After feeding more often at the beginning, we now feed him two hoppers or one hopper and one small mouse, about 15 to 18 grams each meal, every 10 days. I am happy with his weight, but noticed over the last 5 weeks or so, he gained 40 grams covering 3 feedings. I wasn’t expecting that quick of an increase, but have heard of growth spurts especially with snakes that were underfed. Any thoughts or concerns?
 

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Welcome! Hook looks to be in good form. He should be eating an adult mouse once a week during the summer months; which is when he should be most active. As the days shorten and the outside temps decline, you can either brumate him or simply reduce his feeding frequency. You should be able to maintain his weight in this manner. Obesity in captive animals is commonly a problem but Hook looks to be in good shape.
He has many years ahead of him, so it's best to feed him only what he needs to stay healthy.
Best of Luck,
Terri
 
Welcome to the forum. He's a pretty guy! I'm sure he appreciates the extra room to explore and the extra food! I agree with Terri, a single adult mouse would be better for him.
 
Howdy. Thanks for the warm welcome and advice. Hook is not really on the charts since he is nearly 3 years old but just broke 200 grams about a month ago. He was in too small of a cage before we adopted him, and was severely underweight for his age. In the 9 months we have had him, he went from 109 grams to 243 grams, the last 40 of that in the just over a month. The recent growth spurt didn’t seem to ring any alarm bells with anyone.
The next expo in my area is next weekend and I will pick up some medium adult mice. They should weigh about as much as the two hoppers I have been feeding him. I think I will still feed him once every 10 days, since that is what I am feeding him now and he gained weight. Any other things I should consider? Thanks again.
 
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