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Do you use any....

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Filardimarg2

New member
Supliments, i have read in a book that for snakes you don't nned to, but just read a different book that said it is advisable to supliment them on the odd time, what are your thoughts on this please.
Marg.

PS> it didn't say what supliments, but supose it would be calcium & multivits.
 
What I've read corns don't need any nutrition supplements if they're fed properly (with big enough mice) so I'm not going to give my snakes any. I guess it's a bit different if a snake is in poor health, skinny and/or anemic.
 
I used a powder supplement when my corn was tiny and on pinkies because I was advised to. He very quickly moved onto fuzzies and I stopped using it then.

I don't think there are any disadvantages so it's personal choice really - I'm starting to wonder if that's the reason mine turned into a beast now!
 
If your corn is eating (and pooping) well, you're feeding it enough on a regular basis and it is gaining weight approximately 1g per week or a bit less (if it is this year's hatchling) I don't see a reason why you'd need to use a supplement...

But then again, if it doesn't eat well (refuses sometimes to eat for example), it's digestion doesn't work properly, it keeps throwing up the food or it doesn't gain weight as it should, then some supplement would do good.

There's no need to strive for the maximum growth rate. That's not healthy for the snake. Slower but steady growth is much better.
 
There was discussion recently about if calcium supplementation in breedable females might prevent kinked babies. I think some people might try that next season.
 
Filardimarg2 said:
Hi Nanci,
Thanks for that reply but my snake is only about 5 months old.
Marg.
Click to expand...
That's not to say you wouldn't want to breed at a later date..

As you can see from the other replies, it's up to each individual to decide. It certainly won't hurt if you do use a small amount of supplement on the pinkies. I did, and my corn is the picture of health. Many others don't use supplements and their corns too are also perfectly healthy and strong.
 
Nanci said:
There was discussion recently about if calcium supplementation in breedable females might prevent kinked babies. I think some people might try that next season.
Click to expand...

It wasn't just Calcium, it was a Multi-Vitamin too. I plan on testing it out to see if I notice a difference and if it's worth the hassle. :D
 
I don't think you'd actually have to inject it into the mice. For my snake that regurged in January, I still give him Nutribac at each meal, but I just sprinkle it on the mouse or dunk the mouse in it- he doesn't care. (Although it's sticky so I do have to rinse him off before I put him away...)
 
I've understood that the ideal calcium/phosphore ratio for corn snakes is from 1:1 to 2:1
A whole mouse itself is pretty much ideal. Pinkies have the ratio of 0.9:1 - 1:1, a week old mice have the ratio of 1.1:1 and one month old mice have 1,4:1

So what I think is that IF anyone decides to use supplements it's important to make sure that the ratio between calcium and phosphore stays ideal. So the supplement should include both nutrients in the same propotion 1:1 - 2:1
 
OMG!! I wish i hadn't asked, it is so complicated, don't misunderstand me, i am very greatfull for the replies & help, but had no idea it was so difficult. I will give it some thought. I will perhaps just give him a tiny bit on the odd occasion, does it have a long shelf life??
Marg.

PS..Thank you.
 
Nah...it's not THAT complicated after all. :) I don't even know what sort of supplements there are available because I'm not using any, but when buying some just make sure the product includes either both calcium AND phosphore or neither. And just like I said earlier, the ratio should be between 1:1 - 2:1. Otherwise the snake will get too much of either one which could be causing a shortage of the other.

But as shown in my previous post, pinkies have the ratio of 1:1 and one month old mice 1,4:1. So pinkies are ideal but on the lower end of the ideal scale. Even one month old mice are only "average", but as the mice grow bigger the calcium rate increases compared to phosphore. So with younger snakes eating smaller mice a small addition of calcium is OK when the calcium amount doesn't grow too high.

Here's an example:

Pinkie 1-2 days
weight: 1,5g
Calcium: 1,6 - 1,72 % (24-26mg)
Phosphore: 1,8 - 1,6 % (24-27mg)
Ratio: 0,9:1 - 1:1

As the ratio can vary up to 2:1 (calcium two times as much as phosphore) you can add calcium approximately 22mg to a pinky and still the ratio stays inside the ideal scale.
 
Thanks for that, i am going to my daughters tomorrow & we are going to a big reptile store, i will see what they have.
Thanks for your help, I will let you know what i got.
Marg.
 
Nanci said:
There was discussion recently about if calcium supplementation in breedable females might prevent kinked babies. I think some people might try that next season.
Click to expand...
Here it is. For the record I have gone back to supplementing all my snakes. I personally think it's partially responsible for a couple of breeding situations I had this season . . . kinking, infertiles, etc. :shrugs: It never seemed to hurt using them, but there may be a link since I scaled back in the last 12 months.

D80
 
Drizzt80 said:
Here it is. For the record I have gone back to supplementing all my snakes. I personally think it's partially responsible for a couple of breeding situations I had this season . . . kinking, infertiles, etc. :shrugs: It never seemed to hurt using them, but there may be a link since I scaled back in the last 12 months.

D80
Click to expand...
You'll have to let us know what you think next season. Sorry things didn't go as well for you this season :(

If there is a link, perhaps we should all be using supplements, no matter how old the snake is..
 
I've decided to give some calcium supplement to my baby Lillan. Just to try. Of course my "examination" is pathetically narrow with just one animal and not even having a sibling of hers (one I wouldn't give supplements to) to compare with (growth rate, possible kinks in offspring etc). :D
 
wade said:
Brent, what are you doing, just dusting the mice? Every feeding?
Click to expand...
I'm going back to how I did it previously. I give a supplement once a month. I alternate between NutriBac one month and Vitamins the next. I feed every 7 days, so there are approximately 4 feedings a month.

I don't dust them because the vitamins and especially the NutriBac are extremely sticky. I feed in the cage, so I don't want extra aspen sticking to the mice. I dissolve the supplement in water and then inject it into the mice. You need a big needle for the vitamins because I have yet to find a vitamin that completely dissolves in water. I'm currently just using Reptivite by ZooMed. I don't actually measure anything out (dusting certainly doesn't measure anything out! ;) ) and just do it by "feel". I inject about 1cc of mix into the adult mice and just enough into hoppers/fuzzy/pinkies to make them feel plump.

Anything else, let me know.
D80
 
I don't supplement my snakes, but I supplement most of my breeder mice's diet with an animal specific multivitamin/mineral powder, and calcium/d3 supplement.
 
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