i'm so proud! :)

[Suzy]

I just wanted to update on José...

I weighed and measured José tonight, and I was really surprised. He weighed in at 21 grams, and he is now 18.6" long! Since getting him(on June 7th of this year), he's put on 9 grams, and 2 1/2 inches.
Since i've started slitting his mice (July 7th), he's put on 6 grams and 1 inch. Which means from the time I got him up until I started slitting the mice, he only put on 3 grams and 1 1/2 inches.
I just thought it was really interesting that after slitting the mice, he went into a huge growth spurt! I can't imagine if I wasn't slitting them.
I also fed him tonight. He had TMF mice, and he seemed much more interested in those than my previous mice (which were from RodentPro, which I got at the place I got him from). He struck at the mice several times (he usually only strikes once, which isn't really so much of a strike as it is biting it to move down and start eating it.), but it did take him a little longer to eat them because they're a little bit bigger than his old ones. He's on double pinks right now, but i'm about to transition him to fuzzies when he gains 5 or so more grams.
I'll be posting before and after pictures when he digests his meal. I'm expecting him to go into blue any time, so it may come after he sheds. He's been looking pretty dull as of late.
I just had one question for you guys - i'd like to get a general idea of how big your '07 corns are, especially if they're male. Could you guys let me know? I'm just curious to see if he's within "normal" range of where he should be. He seemed like he was on the small side of what he should be, but now that he's getting bigger, i'm curious if he's still on the small side. I know that most snakes grow differently, but there tends to be an "average" so to speak.
Thanks!

 

[Widget]

congrats on the growth spurt

Snakes growth depend on amount of food and frequency so there is no "average". There's another thread in Miscellaneous Corn Discussions I think about this. My 07's range from 23g to 118g. It mainly comes down to how long they were at the breeders before getting them, how well they eat etc.

Go by how well he's growing and be happy, he sounds like he's doing great. One thing to watch with the TMF fuzzies is the tend to be pretty big. My last batch of 100 fuzzies I got maybe 10 that were 6g most were 8g plus. Somewhat frustrating since I needed smaller fuzzies.

 

[sarcare]

I think my snake is an '07, she is about 18 inches and 25g, she is eating 6-7g fuzzies. I'm worried she is a little fat, but she is a good eater and has great muscle tone.

 

[Nanci]

My 2007's have a big spread: (Another thing to consider is, was your snake from a double clutch, so hatched later in the year?)

Jasper, M, 60g
Lily, F, 52g
Pepper, M, 47g
Ruby, F 41g
Cali, F 21g
Jasmine, F, 19g (known second clutch) (same breeder as largest 2007)

 

[Suzy]

congrats on the growth spurt

Snakes growth depend on amount of food and frequency so there is no "average". There's another thread in Miscellaneous Corn Discussions I think about this. My 07's range from 23g to 118g. It mainly comes down to how long they were at the breeders before getting them, how well they eat etc.

Go by how well he's growing and be happy, he sounds like he's doing great. One thing to watch with the TMF fuzzies is the tend to be pretty big. My last batch of 100 fuzzies I got maybe 10 that were 6g most were 8g plus. Somewhat frustrating since I needed smaller fuzzies.

Thanks!
oh, okay. I thought that there would be at least a 50 grams +/- average. I guess I was wrong! Wow! lol - I guess it is a huge difference! I know mine was at the breeder's for a little under a year, and he was only getting 1 pinky a week. He's getting 2 large pinks right now, and he seems to be doing okay on them. He's getting them every 6 or 7 days - but it's usually 7.
I definitely will! Yeah, they seemed pretty large. I'm going to wait until he's at around 30 grams to start him on the fuzzies, so i've only got around 9 to go. He seems to take his time with the pinkies from TMF, but they're a little larger than what he's used to.
aww, well i'm sorry to hear about that. I hope I don't have that problem, but like I said, i'm going to wait until he's at 30 grams, so it shouldn't be too hard on him.
Thank you for your help!

 

[Suzy]

I think my snake is an '07, she is about 18 inches and 25g, she is eating 6-7g fuzzies. I'm worried she is a little fat, but she is a good eater and has great muscle tone.

aww - that's cool! She's about the same size as mine, then!
does she have hips yet? If she doesn't have hips and/or isn't squishy, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Suzy]

My 2007's have a big spread: (Another thing to consider is, was your snake from a double clutch, so hatched later in the year?)

Jasper, M, 60g
Lily, F, 52g
Pepper, M, 47g
Ruby, F 41g
Cali, F 21g
Jasmine, F, 19g (known second clutch) (same breeder as largest 2007)

As far as I know he wasn't from a double clutch - I could be wrong, though. I think the main reason he was so small was because he was only getting 1 small pinky every 7 days. Do the double clutch hatchlings tend to be a lot smaller? And do they stay small through adulthood, or are they slow growers?
And again, there is quite a wide variation of your '07s! That's really interesting!
Thanks for your input!

 

[highcolorcorns]

I just weighed all my guys/girls tonight.. my 2007 range from 45 grams to 80 grams..they all have been fed the same-every 5 days. On the same hand I have 3 2008's that range from 15-40 grams. Go figure..:shrugs:.they all grow differently even though they all eat the same.

 

[Suzy]

I just weighed all my guys/girls tonight.. my 2007 range from 45 grams to 80 grams..they all have been fed the same-every 5 days. On the same hand I have 3 2008's that range from 15-40 grams. Go figure..:shrugs:.they all grow differently even though they all eat the same.

so you still feed them every 5 days? Are you on fuzzies/hoppers with them?
That's really cool! haha - the '08's are getting up there! it probably won't be long until they're around that same weight.
Yeah, that's what i've heard. It's just mostly their genetics. Thank you for the info!

 

[highcolorcorns]

the 07's are all eating Fuzzies, some larger than the others. All the 08's are eating sm. double pinks. All mine eat every 5 days till they are around 300 grams and eating Lg. Adults, then they eat every week.

 

[rosehairboy10199]

how do you guys weigh your snakes? you cant just put them on a scale, it just doesnt make sense to me...

 

[Suzy]

the 07's are all eating Fuzzies, some larger than the others. All the 08's are eating sm. double pinks. All mine eat every 5 days till they are around 300 grams and eating Lg. Adults, then they eat every week.

Oh, okay. That makes sense.
I'm about to start mine on fuzzies when he puts on around 9 more grams. I think that's going to start a big growth spurt. I've heard that it's okay to slit the mice up until Hoppers, so that's probably what i'll do. I noticed a significant change when I started slitting. Now do you slit your mice, or do you leave them as is?

 

[Suzy]

how do you guys weigh your snakes? you cant just put them on a scale, it just doesnt make sense to me...

I won't answer for everyone, but what I do is put him in a deli cup and weigh him. First, i'll weigh the deli cup with the lid on it, and tare it out, then I put my snake inside and put the lid on top, then I get the exact weight. You can get digital kitchen/mail scales that will work for snakes. Just make sure that you can weigh them in grams.

 

[highcolorcorns]

I weigh mine the same way...I have a digital scale, if I place the "tub" on the scale and THEN turn it on, it will zero out the scale, then I can place the snake inside getting an exact weight just for the snake.
I've only slit pinkies for a few snakes that were having problem. If they have recently regurged and I'm going through the "steps" I'll slit, just to try and make things alittle easier.

 

[Caryl]

My weighing procedure's slightly different. I weigh the box/cup/whatever empty, then weigh it with the snake inside. Subtract the box weight from the combined weight to get the weight of the snake. It's an extra step, but my scale doesn't zero out with the box on it. This solves that difficulty.