• 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.

So, what's on the menu?

Axe

Axe

Hideously Addicted!
As a recently recruited member to the wonderful world of corns, as most people do, I've been hunting around the net for care sheets and as much corn snake related information as I can find.

While the diet of choice seem sto be 100% mice, at varying stages of life, I have read about other food sources which are good (or at least "ok") for corns.

The ones I've read about I'm going to list below, and ask a few questions about each. Are there any other prey items that are ok to give to corns? And should they all be pre-killed, or is live prey good for them occasionally?

  • Rodents. Obvious choice. Mice & small rats. What about other small mammals such as hamsters (I heard that Russian dwarf hamster pinkies are far more nutritious than pinky mice, but the longer, thicker fur of adult hamsters is bad for the snakes) and gerbils?
  • "Small Lizards". What kind of lizards? Anoles? House Geckos? Are there any bad points about feeding these kinds of lizards to a corn other than that "feeder anoles" are usually often wild caught, and therefore not inspected by a vet, and could contain coccidea and other parasites?
  • Bird Eggs. (Quaile eggs were specifically mentioned) Is this something that should be fed occasionally rather than regularly? Are there any other bird eggs that can be fed? or is it basically a matter of whatever will fit through their mouth? What about reptile eggs too? (Anoles, house geckos, etc.)

So, does anybody have any points about the foods I mentioned above? Does anybody have other food they feed to their corns?

Is it better to give them a varied diet comprising of several different food sources, or can they get all the nutrients and goodness they require from mice? (bearing in mind that you don't always know what those mice were fed on before they were frozen and shipped to you - regardless of what they may claim they were fed on).

And one final question, what's the general rule on dusting prey with calcium/D3 or vitamin dust? Every feeding? Occasionally? Never if there's a UVB light around?

Yup, lotsa Qs. Have fun! :)
 
hi

Well I will list as well.

Live VS. Pre-killed-- You will want to try and get both corns eating. and let them keep eating pre-killed. Live is o.k. sometimes, but sometimes accidents happen and when your corn is eating larger mice, the mice can and will try to bite the snake before the snake can kill it. Because I and so many others just don't want to take that risk with our corns, we do not feed live as it can be dangerous, and pre-killed it easy fast and cheap.

Rodents: Yes corns eat 100% rodetns in captivity normally.

Lizards: Corns in the wild eat lizards, and sometimes people who have stubborn problem feeders will use an anole to rub on a mouse to trick the corn into eating mice, sometimes with a SEVERE problem feeder it might have to be fed the anole itself but this is rare. In captivity its also risky as anoles and other lizards are 100% capable of passing bacteria and parasites to your snake which it then would have to be treated for.

Eggs: Corns will take eggs, but again like above, no reason to feed them to them in captivity. Mice give them all they need.

Mice are totally 100% fine all the time, and a balanced healthy diet.

As for UVB/UVA light, they are *not* needed. Corns and many other snakes are nocturnal primarily and in the wild and in tanks benefit little to none from UVB lighting. The tubes are not needed. Corns only need heat to be healthy! Actually also a UVB could stress the snake out! Being nocturnal bright light is not something they enjoy.

Some people dust the butts of their pinkies once per week, some don't. I personally never have and I have never had problems.

bmm
 
Everything bmm said
I only dust my pinkies with calcium b/c there is hardly any bone in them and I want my hatchlings to get enough calcium. I don't use any other vitamins but am currently considering buying Rep Cal vitamins. I forgot what exactly it is called but I use the Rep Cal calcium right now and I figure it couldn't hurt to give my snakes vitamins once in a while.
 
Well, that's great. Thanks for the info...

I certainly understand about the UVB... Having nocturnal lizards, I can see how the bright light from a UVB could stress them out (the reason my leos & vipers always have a night heat lamp on 'em... regardless of the actual hour).
 
One more thing I'd like to add to everyone's advice. If you start feeding lizards you're going to get a snake that doesn't like mice. For some reason, they just LOVE lizards (thus the reason mice scented with lizard works for problem feeders) and it will probably be hard to get them to take mice again after feeding lizards.
 
...unless you have a weird snake like mine who just eats what you give her, regardless of what she had last week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top