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Weight loss after shed? Slow (or no) growth?

Rishi

Rishi

New member
Hey guys,

I got my classic corn from PetCo (before I realized I shouldn't) in February, they said she was about 7-9 months old and was approximately 12in long (I didn't have a gram scale at the time). The first 5 weeks I had a really hard time getting her to eat, but she's been eating a f/t pinky once every 5-6 days ever since mid March. I was finally able to get a gram scale a few weeks back and weighed her 4/20/11 (just before feeding her) and she was 11g (but was in shed). I weighed her yesterday just before feeding again and she was only 9g. Is it common for them to lose weight after a shed when they are so small? It kinda makes sense to me, but I thought I'd run it by you guys.

The other concern I have is that she really doesn't seem to have grown much, and given her supposed age (and how long I've had her) she seems REALLY small! I know they all grow at their own rate, but is there something else I should be doing?
 
Well, they only gain about 1/3 the weight of the prey item they eat. So if she is eating a pink that weighs 2g, she'll only gain about 6/10ths of a gram from each meal. You don't see them really start to put on weight until they are on peach fuzzies at 24g or so. The snake, not the PF. You can slit her pinks to make them easier to digest. Using a sewing scissors or fingernail scissors, cut 4-6 slits through the skin of the pinks back. And I would feed every five days. Yes, it is normal for a snake to lose weight during shed.
 
I think sometimes if they aren't fed well as hatchlings by the breeder or petstore they can have stunted growth. I have two 2009's that were fed many times (once a week) by the breeder before I got them, then I have some other 09's from another breeder that didn't feed them very well (once or twice a month), these have been taking a long time to grow and are still smaller than the first two I got. They are healthy and are awesome eaters but I think the first 6 months of their lives really do count in the growing process, I could be wrong. I have no evidence except my own experience.

Also, I have weighed snakes before they pooped and had them weigh more because of that. Shed skins do weigh something even if it's a small weight. Also stress can make them loose weight too, so try not to handle for very long and never after feeding (except to put it back in it's container) also make sure your temperature gradient is ideal and that you have fresh water and multiple places for the baby to hide.
 
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