Hungry baby corn?

[wonton]

I got a baby corn yesterday! S/he is a snow I think. Nice, crisp white markings on a creamy background. So beautiful! His/her name is Marzipan.

The person I spoke to at the pet store told me that they feed the hatchlings one pinky every Thursday. I've read that hatchlings should eat twice a week. (Every 4 days or so?) Anyway, I bought my baby on Friday and the guy told me that he didn't think they had been fed yet this week. So my baby hasn't eaten in 8 days and eyes my fingers like tasty snacks.

So, my question, should I leave my hungry baby alone for a few more days to de-stress before I try to feed him/her? Or should I try a feeding? I don't want the poor little guy to be stressed AND hungry. Then again, I'm worried that if s/he eats and is still really stressed from moving, s/he might loose his/her lunch!

I've had corns in the past, but never any this young. So I want to make sure I do things right so Marzipan will grow up to be big and strong.

Thanks for any suggestions.
- Megan

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

Let her settle in for a few days. Even baby corns can go for a while w/o food and still be just healthy. Waiting a few days or even a week to let her settle in won't do her any harm. After that, offer her a meal. Hopefully she'll eat for you and then from there you can start a regular feeding routine. As far as feeding; feed her every 5-7 days. I've always just done every 7 days b/c its easy to pick a day of the week as feeding day and then stick to that day as opposed to having it rotate b/c of feeding every 5 days.

 

[wonton]

Thank you for your help, blueapplepaste! I won't worry so much now. (I'm the biggest worry-wart.) I wasn't sure how long such a small snake could go without food.

- Megan

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I also feed every 7 days, and the hatchlings I have left (I am not sure if hatchling is the right word anymore) are all doing fine and growing. I agree it's easier to pick a feeding day, I feed every friday. When I look at the baby snakes that pet stores have mine usually look bigger, so I have a feeling a lot of them feed theirs even less than once a week...

 

[jazzgeek]

Wonton -

Congrats on the new hatchling. I gotta ask - is the name from H*R? There are numerous fans on this forum.

I feed my hatchlings every 5 days; it's just as easy to mark a calendar, imho. Using this frequency, J.D., my first snake (acquired in August 2004) has grown to almost four feet in length since I got him (he now gets one adult mouse every 10 days).

shed'n - as a former Petco manager (and man, I love qualifying that), our snakes were fed weekly.

My $0.02.

regards,
jazz

 

[wonton]

jazzgeek - Wonton is a nick-name I got in middle school. It came from a story I worte where all the people were named after food. My friend thought it would be funny to call me after the character, Wonton, who was based on myself. The name stuck like glue. What's H*R?

Thanks for everyone's input! =)

 

[wonton]

Oh wait, or did you mean the name of my snake? Sorry! I wasn't sure. As for Marzipan, I just thought of it randomly since the snake's colors kind of remind me of marzipan.

 

[jazzgeek]

Wonton -

H*R is an acronym for Homestar Runner, an animation series on the web. Marzipan is one of the characters in the series. It's developed quite a following, if you want to check it out.

regards,
jazz

 

[wonton]

Oh! You're right. I'm not a fan, but I do remember there being a charcter named Marzipan. The girl with the pony tail, right? No relation! I was just thinking of yummy yummy almond paste used in sweets! Haha. =)

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Jazz- I didn't really mean to single out petco stores there, but there is a real difference (IMO of course) from one petco to the next. When I lived in CA the petco closest to me had a ghost baby that never seemed to grow. My own snakelings about doubled in size during the time frame and every time I went to that petco that ghost looked smaller in comparison. I'm not really sure what happened to it b/c I moved. I was thinking about it when I posted. Maybe it was just a difficult feeder though. Anyways no offense meant

 

[jazzgeek]

Jazz- I didn't really mean to single out petco stores there,

Doesn't matter to me if you did....

but there is a real difference (IMO of course) from one petco to the next.

Agreed!

When I lived in CA the petco closest to me had a ghost baby that never seemed to grow. My own snakelings about doubled in size during the time frame and every time I went to that petco that ghost looked smaller in comparison. I'm not really sure what happened to it b/c I moved. I was thinking about it when I posted.

I can cite many similar situations from the store where I worked. We had a Nelson's milksnake that would eat regularly, and hardly grow. Right next to it was an albino Cali King that would eat as much, maybe a little more, and it flourished.

Maybe it was just a difficult feeder though. Anyways no offense meant

None taken whatsoever. Didn't you notice that I said I was glad to be a former employee?
:cheers:
regards,
jazz

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Lol, If I worked at the petco I wouldn't last long, I'd be bringing home herps instead of paychecks... Anyways I almost bought that ghost, it was a sweet light colored one, but I had just lost my job and I couldn't justify spending the $85 they wanted for it.
Wonton sorry to get so :-offtopic I wish you luck with your critter, & if you feed every 5 days it will probably grow up a little faster.

 

[Demonique]

I fed my Jool the night I brought her home because the reptile shop said she was due to be fed. I thought I'd have to leave it overnight with her, but she took one sniff and just latched on! I had the pleasure of watching my new tiny baby snake eat in front of me for the first time (now I watch her little daughter chow down).

I fed Jool every three days. Her two babies are fed on Monday and Friday, one has to be fed via the pinky pump.

Jool turned out to be fine and healthy

 

[Joolz68]

namesake?

:-offtopic
Thanks for naming your snake after me! :grin01:
(just kidding)