Question about feeding/ worry

[smale492]

So I got my cornsnake a little under a year ago ( this coming august will be a year).

He was very very small when I got him (7g) yeah I know I was pissed about how young he was when I got him (only like 2 weeks old unkown to me). The start of his life was rough he did not start eating till about a month and a half after I got him (and only on small pinkies due to his size).

That alone did not help him on the path to gaining weight but he did start eating and I moved him up to pinkies and he has never had a problem with food since.

Then winter came in wisconsin and he stopped eating again ( Maybe ate like 3 times over the course of like 2 months or more, he shed too so that didnt help.)

He is feeding perfectly once again now that the weather is warmed up and I am currently feeding him fuzzies since he was around that weight sadly not beefy at all and still very much a noodle (A bigger noodle for sure and very active and responsive too).

Fuzzies may be a bit big for him but he manages to get them down in a minute or so and there has been no regurgitation or any signs of discomfort or behavior change. I am just worried due to it almost being a year and he is only on fuzzies I am worried he is very far behind in growth (he is growing but probably not at the food stage he should be at).

As a worried snake dad I dont want him to have growth stunted and was wondering should I be feeding him more than 1 fuzzy a week or maybe be feeding him every 5 days? I want to try and get him on gaining the weight he should have, but I also don't want to push him.

I will post his weight the next time I weigh him (forgot to after I fed him just now)

 

[Karl_Mcknight]

without knowing length and weight there's not a lot that can be said.

Fuzzies typically weigh about 3 to 4 grams (say about 4 grams average).

If you feed according to the Munson Plan (which is based loosely on 10% of snake's weight for food items, slightly more for babies, slightly less for elderly) Then a Fuzzy is typically fed to a snake that weighs around 25 to 40 grams.

If your snake weighs in that range, I'd just keep feeding the fuzzies. If he's over 40 grams, you could put him on weanlings, (mice that weigh about 5 to 6 grams).

It's important to weigh the snake. If you are "Under Feeding" him, then of course he's going to grow slowly and be small. On the other hand if you "over feed him" you run the risk of injury, regurgitation and obesity. The only way to be sure you are feeding correctly is to weigh the snake.

I would not bump up his feeding schedule "Just to make him grow faster or get bigger". I'd think about feeding him correctly, and if you do so, nature will take its course and he will grow as he is supposed to.

 

[smale492]

without knowing length and weight there's not a lot that can be said.

Fuzzies typically weigh about 3 to 4 grams (say about 4 grams average).

If you feed according to the Munson Plan (which is based loosely on 10% of snake's weight for food items, slightly more for babies, slightly less for elderly) Then a Fuzzy is typically fed to a snake that weighs around 25 to 40 grams.

If your snake weighs in that range, I'd just keep feeding the fuzzies. If he's over 40 grams, you could put him on weanlings, (mice that weigh about 5 to 6 grams).

It's important to weigh the snake. If you are "Under Feeding" him, then of course he's going to grow slowly and be small. On the other hand if you "over feed him" you run the risk of injury, regurgitation and obesity. The only way to be sure you are feeding correctly is to weigh the snake.

I would not bump up his feeding schedule "Just to make him grow faster or get bigger". I'd think about feeding him correctly, and if you do so, nature will take its course and he will grow as he is supposed to.

Yeah I most definitely am not trying to force anything I am just trying to make sure he is not underweight and it is impacting him. I know he should be some where in the 30 gram range maybe even heading to 40 I will post back as soon as possible thanks.

 

[Dragonling]

He was very very small when I got him (7g) yeah I know I was pissed about how young he was when I got him (only like 2 weeks old unkown to me).

7g isn't what I'd call "very very small." Babies don't exactly grow super fast eating pinkies. Heck, my first corn was barely 6g when he arrived. I hatched a 3g female this year who is thus far thriving. :shrugs:

Some just don't grow fast at all. I have a 2 year old orchid that is barely keeping up with my yearling holdbacks, and my palmetto? He's a 2015 and just now starting to take very small slit hoppers. Multiple refusals, sensitive stomachs leading to regurges when pushed too hard, late-in-the-year seasons (or second clutches), all of these factors and more can have an impact on growth rate. Slitting the skin on the backs of mice (I have a very sharp pair of thread snippers for this, but a scalpel would suffice) might give you some improvement. Several years ago a large breeder did an experiment with slitting prey, and found it substantially increased growth rates to cut mice 5 times across the back.

 

[smale492]

7g isn't what I'd call "very very small." Babies don't exactly grow super fast eating pinkies. Heck, my first corn was barely 6g when he arrived. I hatched a 3g female this year who is thus far thriving. :shrugs:

Some just don't grow fast at all. I have a 2 year old orchid that is barely keeping up with my yearling holdbacks, and my palmetto? He's a 2015 and just now starting to take very small slit hoppers. Multiple refusals, sensitive stomachs leading to regurges when pushed too hard, late-in-the-year seasons (or second clutches), all of these factors and more can have an impact on growth rate. Slitting the skin on the backs of mice (I have a very sharp pair of thread snippers for this, but a scalpel would suffice) might give you some improvement. Several years ago a large breeder did an experiment with slitting prey, and found it substantially increased growth rates to cut mice 5 times across the back.

Interesting I wonder why it increases growth rate? I might try that just out of curiosity.

 

[Dragonling]

Consider that the skin is a rather effective barrier and it makes sense. It takes time for the snake's digestive juices to penetrate the skin to get to the internal organs, muscles, and other more useful tissues, possibly long enough for a percentage of those bits to rot in the snake's stomach, rendering those nutrients useless. The sooner digestion of the insides of the mouse can begin, the more the snake can make use of those vital nutrients, resulting in a larger caloric intake.

 

[smale492]

Consider that the skin is a rather effective barrier and it makes sense. It takes time for the snake's digestive juices to penetrate the skin to get to the internal organs, muscles, and other more useful tissues, possibly long enough for a percentage of those bits to rot in the snake's stomach, rendering those nutrients useless. The sooner digestion of the insides of the mouse can begin, the more the snake can make use of those vital nutrients, resulting in a larger caloric intake.

I was kind of assuming it had something to do with being able to digest the organs and such faster. Interesting very interesting

 

[Nanci]

I've feed every five days, and slit the mice. 7 grams is pretty average for a hatchling. After a bunch of 4-5 gram babies, a person is happy for the 7-8 gram hatchies!!

 

[UncleSams]

My own corn is small as well. She's only 35g at a year and 2 months. I did notice a large jump in weight (from 28g to 35g a week) when I split and rolled her fuzzy. I'm going to continue doing it to see if she continues to put weight on so quickly with that.