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Need help with feeding issue...

I

iameveryman

New member
I bought my first and only corn snake from a reptile shop here in town so I don't know how old it is. It's about 13-15 inches and 10-15 grams. The lady running the shop said that she was feeding it live pinkies up until the feeding before I bought it, then she fed it a fuzzy. Well when I went to get my feeder mice from a pet shop closer to my home the fuzzies they had seemed way to big to feed it, and I saw on here that multiple smaller feeders are better than one that may be too big, so I got two pinkies. He ate them both and seemed fine. So far he's kept them down, but my question is, is it possible to overfeed? It's been about 52 hours since feeding time and he seems 'lazy' almost and appears to have a visible bulge, though it isn't excessive, I just think it should have gone away by now. Is this normal? Should I worry or just leave him alone for a couple more days?
 
Yes it's possible to feed a meal larger than the snake can digest. If this happens, the snake regurgitates the meal so it doesn't rot inside him. If you've made it to the third day, your snake is most likely fine. I'd leave him alone one more day before handling. His seeming "lazy" means he's still busy digesting. It's nice to have a gram scale- then you can easily compare two pinks to one fuzzy.

Nanci
 
phew... I'm like a nervous new father. I have never owned a snake before so I wasn't sure if it would eat more than it can handle (in my experience some animals will and some wont). I have a very expensive and very accurate scale that I got from work. Only problem is it measures kilograms and only out to 1/10. my snake weighed in at a whopping .01kg so I figured somewhere between 10-15 grams (as 16 should round up to .02kg... i think)

I will leave him be for another day and check on him tomorrow evening. It's hard though... he's so freakin' cute I just want to play with him... lol.

-Eric
 
Ok... he regurgitated late last night. I found it when I woke up. I will give him plenty of time and I will try feeding him a single pinky and see how that goes. I don't know much about corns or snakes for that matter but from what I've read here it is something I want to make sure doesn't happen again. Any suggestions on dealing with post regurge feedings?
 
Follow Kathy Love's Regurge guide found here. Be very careful and follow this closely - you'll also want to double check your temps and setup. Good luck!

~Katie
 
It's important that you make sure your temperatures are alright. Warm side should be mid 80's, cool side in the low to mid 70's. I would recommend taking all substrate (if you're using it) out of the viv and feeding in the viv for a while to reduce stress. Handling should be kept to a minimum. Make sure there are plenty of hides. You might want to try a little Grapefruit seed extract in the water (3-4 drops/8 oz. of water) changed daily until you're ready to start feeding again. Once you start feeding, and if you're using nutribac, go back to regular water. If you aren't using nutribac, it won't hurt to continue the GFS extract longer. If you're feeding frozen thawed you can try making tiny cuts down the back of the pinky to help in digestion. If yours won't take f/t-although I bet it will- you obviously can't do that. A snake the size you described is basically new out of the egg. Perhaps a month or so old. It's possible it hasn't had much in way of meals yet anyway. It's better to feed smaller than over feed, although I have some snakes that seem to be able to put away a horse and not have an issue with it! :) Good luck on your new snake, and I'm sorry you're having problems. Check the FAQ's section on this forum and you will get a lot of info you might need.
 
So read Kathy Love's regurge FAQ- and then basically wait ten days, give him a meal half the size he regurged. I'd go with the smallest pink you can find. I'd also cut slits in the back- four slits with a fingernail scissors or something like that. One regurge isn't the end of the world, but you don't want to start a cycle you can't break. The ten day wait gives his stomach time to regain the beneficial flora he puked out, which he needs for digestion. Nutribac is a probiotic powder that you order from Kathy Love. (If you Google Kathy Love, you will find her site- I _think_ it's cornutopia.com-yes!) Sorry your snake regurged...

Nanci
 
Kathy Love's regurge post will help alot. I'm confident that if I follow that everything will turn out ok.

About the size though... I was told when I bought him that he had been feeding very well and even ate a fuzzy... but as you say it seems to be only a month or so old that can't be true. Of course it would not be the first time I was lied to by a pet shop owner... they all seem to be retarded around here. I was even told that if I couldn't get it to eat the pinky just give it a few crickets... (fortunately I'm not retarded and wouldn't think of feeding a snake that eats rodents an insect)

Where can I find Grape Fruit Seed extract... can I get it at GNC?
 
There can be a huge variation in size of mice and what people call it. I've had fuzzies that weighed only two or threee grams- they were skinny, little creepy things, and I've had big fat peach fuzzies with barely any hair that weighed seven or eight grams.

Nanci
 
There is a huge variation in size, that's for certain. Yes, you should be able to get GSE at GNC. If not, a health food store should carry it, or you can order it online. I use NutriBiotic brand in a 2 oz. bottle. It's a liquid concentrate, unfiltered. It's a little pricey, but you use so little of it, that it lasts forever.
 
I'm just wondering whether that was actually a regurge, or if the snaked pooped. Because, if I get this right, it was 60ish hours from when the snake had eaten the mice.
Also, yes, mouse size can really be drastically different. I had been getting whatever the house brand mice are at Petco, in the fuzzy size. The packs say they are at least 5grams. I needed something bigger, so yesterday I got a pack of t-rex mice on ice, in the small mouse size. The entire pack of 6 was labeled as weighing 49 grams, so I figured this should be about what I need. Well, in the pack, I got mice, all with full hair, ranging in size from 5-14 grams. I only got 2 of the 8 gram mice I expected to get, and half are too big to use for a while.
 
You need to find a decent supplier of mice. Petco reams you with the prices on their frozen mice. I could buy 12 adult mice and some rats from my supplier for what they charge for 6 tiny pinkies.
 
Well, I'm pretty sure it was a regurge... does poop reak of rotting flesh? If so maybe it was poo. Also it was clearly a mouse that I found in his tank, not what I would think of as a turd...lol

On the question of feeder mice... where can I buy frozen thawed in town. I haven't checked Petco, and Petsmart doesn't carry them. I just resigned to feeding live, for now at least, with a locally owned petstore as my supplier.

Also, the shop I bought the snake from has it's own mice colony, so should I just use them as my supplier?

I would prefer to feed f/t but can only find it online and unfortunately I'm not able to order over the internet.

Any suggestions?
 
Petsmart has frozen, but they are incredibly expensive. You have a frozen mouse supplier nearby I think. Rodent pro? Are they in FL? Maybe you could pay someone back near you to order them online for you and have them shipped to your house. Try calling rodent pro or Big Apple and see if you can send them check/money order and order over the phone.
 
There's a show in Jacksonville, I _think_ June 30th. You could run up there and pick up a pack of frozen pinks, and even a pack of fuzzies. The pinks are pretty uniform, and the fuzzies vary, which is actually good- you just sort them into three or four sizes, number the bags, and use them in order as the snake grows.

Nanci
 
Thanks Nanci, that might be the best bet for me for now. I was planning on going to the Daytona show when it comes around.

Is there any sort of feeding guideline to go by? I mean, how much to feed at what stages of the snakes growth. Common sense tells me it needs pinkies for now but how do I know when it's time to double up on pinkies or start feeding fuzzies?

I have read on here not to feed it anything much bigger than 1.5 times its thickest parts, so is it better to feed two pinkies rather than one fuzzy? Or is it just a matter of personal preference?
 
My general rule of thumb is to move up in size when:
They show no lump when fed
They are out looking for food for more than 15 minutes after feeding
They are out looking for food the next day.

I usually go up to two of the original size for one or two feedings and then go to the next size. 1-1 1/2 times the widest width is a good rule of thumb, but when in doubt, feed smaller than you think. A fuzzy has more nutrition to it than a pinky, so one fuzzy would get more bang for the buck. If you have some pinkies left though, you may as well use them up by feeding multiple items until they are gone....of course, you could always buy another little one to use those up :)
 
thanks.

I already have teh setup ready for my next corn. I have been checking out alot of breeder sites and few if any seem to have any of the '07 hatchlings available. When do they usually hatch, maybe I'm just not patient enough.

I will try to put up a photo of Cornelius asap, but for reference he bears a striking similarity to one of Kathy Love's Okeetees. I can only hope that he will grow up to be as striking and beautiful as hers seem to.

Anyway, I appreciate all of the help and wish me luck convincing my wife that $50 shipping charges are worth it...
 
I'll have my Okeetees available in a month or so, maybe less if they eat immediately. They are hatching out now. Maybe you could pick it up at the Daytona show and save yourself some shipping :)
 
I do like the look of your Okeetee pair. I saw them on your website. I may just take you up on that.

My wife wants to go the show and check out the iguanas, but I'll put money on her leaving with a corn snake...
 
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