confussed

[maverick20649]

OK i have a ?. will corn snakes overfeed themselves if food is readily available. i bought my corn about 3 weeks ago and her last feeding was Friday. and i decided to see if she was hungry and i feed her on sunday, and she ate quickly. so i was wondering about how often to feed (pet store said every 5 days). she is about 2 to 2.5 feet long (not sure how old) and is feeding on live mice. also do i need to dust the mice with vitamins or anything in the h2o. thnc for the input

 

[Standard]

Feeding every 5-7 days on average is fine. Anything more than that is unnecessary, and will only serve to stress her digestive system. Feeding for me is about when I have the time, so sometimes they go as long as ten days without eating and they are just fine.

 

[entertheste]

i feed mine which is about 3 feet in length every 4 days on small mice. plus no you dont have to use vitamins

 

[cowboyman13]

I feed ever seven days. That was the advice i mostly got and decided to follow. I have heard the debate on the vitamin think i believe the general feeling there is you do not need to give them extra vitamins. You make sure you are getting your feeders from a good source that is feeding there mice a good diet and thats it. Another reason i have heard for not adding vitamins is there is no dosage out there for corns.

 

[maverick20649]

ok great thnx for the reply. this is the 1st big snake that we bought. so we are still trying to get it right.

 

[oldhand]

At that size (2-2.5ft) 1 or 2 fuzzies every 5-7 days really is enough, mine get fed every 5 for 1 fuzzie and 6 for 2 fuzzies/1 small mouse.

i feed mine which is about 3 feet in length every 4 days on small mice.

To me that seems a little to often, i would swap it to every 6-7 days unless you are power feeding to breed next year (and knock a few years off your snake's life), but thats just mvho.

 

[Jynx]

Always remember that snakes in general are opportunistic eaters, and will gorge themselves at any given time. I would say that at that size, 5-7 days isn't too bad, but I would feed a smaller meal than something that will really put a swell in her.

 

[Joejr14]

Feeding every 5 days while on pinkies and fuzzies is fine, but once you move up to hoppers and small mice you need to turn it back to every 7 days. Feeding small mice every 5 days is borderline powerfeeding, and feeding every 4 days is not healthy for the snake.

 

[princess]

As your snake approaches a mature size (from 3 feet onwards) you can space out the feeds to mirror the snakes reduced need for food. As babies they need more food for growth but as they mature they just need a maitenence diet.

My adults are on a one feed every 2 weeks schedule as they've finished growing and this suits them well. They gain around 5-15 grams a month on this diet which is manageable and stable for a snake that has passed puberty.

Of course it's all individual, I have a very active male who gets fed about every 10 days. If I feed him every 14 days, he loses a little weight each month, so I try to keep him stable by feeding him a little bit more often.

Of course in the future if you breed her it's important to let her eat well until she's full with eggs and doesn't feel like eating any more, but that's another thread for another time.

 

[maverick20649]

OK thnxs for all the advice. no i do not want to power feed and i am not in this for breeding so i just want a healthy critter. so 1 mouse 6 - 7 days seems logical. thnx all