• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

How soon to feed after shed?

B

brittbritt

New member
The day after bringing home our three month old corn snake Lady Ivana she ate three frozen/thawed out pinky mice. Last week she ate only one pinky mouse. Monday of this week when holding her we noticed her eyes and coloring were different and realized she was going to be shedding soon.

I had read some people don't feed their corn snakes during this time as they may be feeling vulnerable. I went ahead and offered her a pinky mouse Tuesday just in case she may eat but she didn't.

When I looked in on her this morning I noticed her shed skin laying in her aquarium. How soon should I offer her a pinky mouse after her shed? I have been feeding her on Tuesdays so far.
 
You don't have to wait after a shed is complete. Personally I feed through sheds with no problems. Occasionally I get a refusal, once a regurge that could have been caused by something else entirely. I would suggest bumping up your feed schedule by a day or two until your little one is on fuzzies. My 3 month olds are eating about every 5 days now.
 
Thank you I'll offer her a pinky tonight. How many do they normally eat at this age? First week with us she ate three then the next week just one.
 
Corn snakes are opportunistic feeders and will frequently eat whatever is offered to them, even if it's more than they should eat. If you don't have a food scale I recommend picking one up and keeping track of your snake's weight and her prey's weight. If you search through the forums you may see feeding charts like the one I generally use:

Small pink (1-2g) every 3-4 days (Snake = 4-15g)
Medium/large pink (3-4g) every 4-5 days (Snake = 16-25g)
Peach fuzzy (4-5g) every 5 days (Snake = 25-30g)
Fuzzy (5-8g) every 5-6 days (Snake = 30-70g)
Hopper (8-10g) every 6 days (Snake = 70-120g)
Weaned/small mouse (10-14g) every 7 days (Snake = 120-150g)
Medium mouse (15-19g) every 7 days (Snake = 150-225g)
Large mouse (20-29g) every 7 days (Snake = 250-300g)
Large mouse (20-29g) every 10-14 days (Snake = 300g+) (~7 days for females)

It's a slight modification of what is commonly referred to as the "Munson Plan." It's fairly flexible and you can adjust it to your own animal's needs. Some believe it's too aggressive and many claim it's a good way to get a fat snake, but so long as you do not continue increasing prey size once they reach 250-300g and slow feeds appropriately it shouldn't be a problem at all. I tend to feed smaller prey more frequently when possible.

I believe it may be more common among non-breeding hobbyists to judge prey size by comparing it to the thickest part of the snake (1-1.5x as wide as the fattest part of the body), and this can work well with a growing juvenile, especially if you're only feeding a single snake. Just keep in mind you'll only want to continue doing that until it's eating adult mice.
 
I left her in the small feeding bin overnight and she still didn't eat the pinky. Should I just put her back in her aquarium now?
 
I went and bought an electronic kitchen scale this morning. When I weighed Lady Ivana she was 10 grams.

She didn't eat the pinky overnight so I threw it away and put her back in her aquarium.

When would you recommend I try feeding her again? I've been feeding her on Tuesdays. I thaw the pinkys by putting them in a bowl with the hottest water that comes out of the tap and soak them for ten minutes.

I put her in a small rectangular Tupperware bin with air holes in the lid. I use tongs to offer it to her and wiggle it in front of her and then leave it in the bin with her and cover the sides and most of the lid for privacy.

I would appreciate any advice or tips to try.
 
I saw your PM but I'll reply here since you asked the same questions. :) If she refused, I would give her at least a day or two before trying again just so you don't overwhelm her. Skipping a feed now and then is fine, and they can go quite a long time without food before it becomes dangerous. If she won't take it from tongs next time, try leaving her with the pinky overnight in a deli cup, small bin, or paper bag inside her enclosure. Sometimes babies can get really distracted by being in a different environment, so you could also just try feeding in her cage for now. My '16 clutches didn't really start taking food from tongs consistently until they were around 20g. Before that I'd just leave the food in the middle of a paper towel and they'd eat it whenever they felt comfortable.
 
Last night I put a f/t pinky in her aquarium on a paper towel and left it in there thru the night. Early this morning my daughter noticed she had eaten it. I was so happy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top