Undersized Corns.

[lumene]

I have a couple snakes who are undersized by normal standards, and I could use some reassurance or advice on how to improve them, or if I shouldn't be concerned at all.

2008 Anery het lavender, male- Malcom, about 200 grams. Eats smaller sized adults.

In October 2009, I picked this guy up from a pet store when I saw him being cohabbed with 4 other snakes in a 55 gallon tank. He was a yearling and his iridesence was purple. I loved him and I didn't realize I was rescuing him at the time. He was on hoppers and weanlings until the end of last year.

I'm just wondering if he will ever reach the 300 gram mark?

My second one is a 2008 Motley male- Kenshin,
that I accquired during that same trip from the same tank. He is larger, but below the 300 gram mark and not seeming to reach it no matter how many mice he pounds back.

**Before we go blaming the pet store: When I first got into snakes, I believed that a heat pad was all I needed, they ate and lived fine, but the hea may have spiked, I started regulating temps within six months.**

Should I be concerned that past cohabbing is having an effect on their size despite willingness to eat anything that I put in front of them?

I also have one incredibly slow growing, picky eater who had me nearly pulling out my hair until this past summer.

A 2009 Amel girl who weighs in at a whopping 50 grams.
Technically my first snake, but she came home after these two... Utter refusal to eat- I force fed her for almost a year. She went off food, when she went back on she would only eat live pinkies
In June of this year, Morphine ate a frozen fuzzy. All summer she has been eating frozen thawed. Hurray!

And for her, I am wondering if she will grow to a normal corny size at all?

Thanks.

 

[ratsncorns]

I wouldnt worry about the first two. They could be small males or just late bloomers. They are in a good weight range and as long as they aren't losing weight, are fine. How often are you feeding them? I would be feeding both adult mice once a week.

Should I be concerned that past cohabbing is having an effect on their size despite willingness to eat anything that I put in front of them?

It definitely could be a reason why they are slower growers, but since they are separated now, it shouldn't be an issue anymore.

The smaller one just got off to a late start and since she just started eating f/t on her own this summer, just needs some time to catch up. It certainly isnt unheard of to have corns that are smaller, or have a slower growth rate. Just like people, Im sure snake metabolism varies on the individual. Once again, I would just monitor her weight and as long as she isnt losing, I wouldnt be concerned. At 50g, I would feed her a fuzzy every 5 days. This shouldnt effect her adult size.

 

[bitsy]

I have an adult Corn that's not four feet long. She's from bloodlines that naturally produce smaller Corns. Like yours, she's an avid eater - my main problem when she was younger, was resisting the urge to overfeed her to make her a "normal" size. Her genetics dictate that she will never be a standard-sized Corn. She's very robust with some of the greatest muscle-tone I've ever seen in a Corn.

As long as your males are in proportion and the spine isn't prominent, then they're not technically underweight and there's nothing necessarily wrong with them at all.

As for the female, there's no reason why she shouldn't grow to a "normal" size now that she's eating reliably. Only time will tell.

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I have an 07 male that is the same size as many 09. Then I have a '10 snake that is almost as big as he is. I don't worry because as Bitsy said genes have a lot to do with it. Upper Keys corns are naturally small, many snakes from islands stay smaller than the mainland version. My huge '10 girl, a Tessera, is from Okeetee lineage and naturally bigger.

 

[Dreamsnake]

I have a two year old anery that is about 50 grams now. I'll weigh her before her next feeding tonight. She's had regurge issues, but I think (knock, knock) she'll be alright now that we got her on rat pinks. We also adopted an adult male normal ball python who got retired by the breeder because he is small for his species. Some snakes just need extra special care and attention.

My snow corn just got put on the two weeks feeding schedule because his mice are sticking to his hips.

 

[Miqote]

I think that given time your snakes will catch up to normal size. Emily was a snake I got in summer of 2010 (rescue from craigslist for free), the owner told me she was 6 years old and when I got her home she only weighed 180 grams. The owner never fed her anything larger then a fuzzy, and surprisingly her body seemed to adapt. I conservatively brought her up to adult mice, increasing by 1 size each feeding or two. She is now at a steady 450 grams and is a healthy active snake! I don't know if she gained much length, I didn't know how to measure snakes back then, but she just about doubled in girth (no hips or anything, just nice and round!) and she is now about 3.5 ft long.

I think corns, generally, are highly adaptable creatures. I feel that feeding less often (due to feeding problems etc.) hurts them far less then feeding them in excess. Good luck!!!

 

[Dreamsnake]

If I went by this statement Nibs would be dead right now.

 

[bitsy]

If I went by this statement Nibs would be dead right now.

I think the intention was to explain that a reluctant feeder when young, won't necessarily progress into an unhealthy adult. There's certainly no reason to give up fighting for a poor eater as many will go on to become perfectly robust adults, even if their initial growth rate is slow.

Whereas if you overfeed a Corn, they're going to end up overweight and are likely to have health issues and shortened lives.

I'm guessing Nibs falls into the first category.

 

[v_various]

No need to worry; length is not something that should be adjusted through feedings, nor should it dictate how often you feed them. What you want to look at is if they are over/under weight.

Can you see the spine? The body more triangle or square? If you're unsure, look at photos of underfed/skinny corns for reference. Dito fat corns, when you start noticing fat deposits in the "hips" it's time to cut back.

Nature will decide growth rate and over all length (as long as you're not stunting their growth by starving them, but that's an extreme case). All you need to do is maintain healthy body weight for them.

For the record, I have two corns who were both fed on similar schedules when they were young. FinFang is tiny to this day at not even 500g, and Amel Boy is almost 1000g (with no fatty hips). There is no telling what will happen.

 

[Miqote]

If I went by this statement Nibs would be dead right now.

All I was saying was, over the course of raising my won snakes and reading other's experiences, overfeeding a snake usually makes more long term health issues then a snake that was either underfed or had feeding problems and grew more slowly. I wasn't saying that it is okay to not feed a snake regularly, or not to try to feed a non-feeder, or that non-feeder snakes should be considered healthy.

I'm not sure what kind of meaning you extrapolated from my generalized opinion but I was only trying to say a snake who has any kind of feeding problems CAN grow up to be a normal, healthy snake if they overcome the original problem.