Am I feeding too much?

josefg · 09-09-02, 01:27 PM

Hi,

As you may have noted from the other thread, I got a baby corn and i am feeding it once every 3 days a pinkie (about 3 cm) i.e. he ate on wednesday, the day before i got him and then i gave him the pinkie on saturday evening. He ate as is soon as he saw the pinkie. There was no regurgitation and on sunday morning when i woke up there was already some ***** on the substrate.

The corn, which is about 1 month old (according to the owner of the pet shop), is 14" tall and a little more than 1cm thick.

What do you think?

Neil · 09-09-02, 02:24 PM

I would say feed it one pinkie every four days instead of every three. It's just a little less stressful for the snake because it isn't constantly digesting.

.

josefg · 09-09-02, 02:25 PM

k neil

tnx

Big Mike · 09-09-02, 02:30 PM

Hello Josef,
I think that every three days is too often. A good rule of thumb is to not handle your snake for two days after eating. If you are feeding every three days...that does not leave many days to handle, if any at all.

From what I have read, feeding every 5-7 days is common practice, with longer periods as the snake gets older.

I guess if he defecating before you feed him then there is nothing wrong with it but his body may need a rest from the constant digestion. Some people feed their snakes lots and often. This power feeding is to maximize size and bring the animals to breeding size as quickly as possible.

But hey, if he's eating and sh!ting and so on...he sounds like he's doing OK.

josefg · 09-09-02, 02:38 PM

yeah he defecated a day before i fed him and defecated again about 12 hours after i fed the pinkie on saturday.

as you know mike i am a beginner so forgive the next question:

What's wrong in handling a snake after it has just eaten? If i put my hand in the cage of my corn, he will come on my hand even if he has just eaten, so i tought that there was nothing wrong with it.

Tnx Mike

Big Mike · 09-09-02, 03:06 PM

It's a general safe guard. I've never experienced it but people say that snakes have a tendency to regurgitate their food if they are upset to soon after eating. Apparently this is very smelly and can cause an array of problems. It sounds like your snake is not stressed very much by handling so you are most likely not doing any damage to it.

I have heard this from lots and lots of people so I'm assuming that it's a good idea but you are the only one with first hand knowledge of your snake. If he's OK with it then go with it. Just like most of the advice, it's only advice. Use common sense and your snake will be fine.

josefg · 09-09-02, 03:14 PM

Ok mike and tnx

rattekonigin · 09-09-02, 05:23 PM

Just a note on handling after being fed...I think it depends more on the snake's personality, it's suggested that you not handle it in case it gets stressed by being handled, and as a result, regurgitates it's meal...my first corn never had any problem with being handled after eating, but another corn I had would regurgitate if you looked at it wrong after it had eaten...if you've been handling it and it hasn't regurgitated because of it, I wouldn't worry too much about it...but it's always best to err on the side of caution.

Tim_Cranwill · 09-09-02, 05:50 PM

I've always been curious myself as to weather or not that rule needed to be followed. I would tend to lean towards the "case by case" senario as well.

gunnerslakeshor · 09-09-02, 10:49 PM

Hey Josefg
I feed my corn once every week however mine is sub adult and takes 2-3 small adult mice . You might try this feeding scedule with your snake useing pinkies then as the weekend arrives you can handle for a day or two with no ill affects on your snake and it should remain calm and handleable.
The bad thing about feeding snakes every third day or so is that you condition the snake to think every time that cage opens food is forth comeing and when its not food thats there but your hand Wham.(you want to be able to inspect your snake from time to time . Now with small corns its not a big deal the bite smarts when they get older but nothing majer. If you can help it avoid such programing a friend of mine made this mistake with a burm (12ft) now thats painfull in anyones book. lol
Not trying to confuse you at just mho .
Good luck
Phil

Syst3m · 09-09-02, 10:51 PM

I've read alot about corns and their diet, Depending on how much your feeding him every 3 days might be right, But thats if your feeding does not make much of a bulge in him, I usually space my feeding out to every 4 days of one large pinky, my corn is about 2 months old now and growing like a weed. Keep an eye on its weight. if its growing length your ok, if its getting fat then you might want to cut the food down to every 5 days or more. But I would not feed him every 3 days unless your sure that he is eating to little for each meal. The Meal should make a noticable bulge in his body for 1-2 days then I feed 2-3 days after the bulge has gone down, Perhaps you should try to feed him larger pinky and a slower interval. Also if you have not read any books on the corn snake I suggest picking up the corn snake manual by kathy love, it will tell you just about everything you need to know about your cornsnake.

josefg · 09-10-02, 01:15 AM

I usually feed a very small pinkie (about 3cm) that doesn't make a bulge and the snake defeceted 2 times since last feed on last saturday.

As with opening the cage for feeding only.... I open the cage about 5 times daily... let alone a little more that once every three day. My corn spends more time in my hands than in his cage, and when i try to put him back, he usually winds onto my finger, making it difficult for me to lift him.

Thanks a lot ppl for your help. Still undecided whether I should feed him today though as a result of another defecation and readind Syst3m's post about the bulge

Thanks

rattekonigin · 09-10-02, 12:35 PM

If there's no bulge at all caused by his food, you might want to feed him a larger sized pinky...

josefg · 09-10-02, 02:55 PM

rattekonigin: I was thinking of doing that.

Tnx for your help

Syst3m · 09-11-02, 04:53 PM

The food your feeding your snake should make a noticable bulge for about a day or two, my book says that every 4 days is fine for your snake, up to a week, so your not going to harm him by not feeding him for a week, and feeding him every 3 days is to much really, you want the stomach to build up the acids and such for digestion again. As a neonate he is going to eat once every 4-7 days as he grows to a yearling once a week is more then enough. Just watch how much you feed him and how much he grows, the snake should be healthy not fatty. In the first year of the snakes life they will usually transfer food into linear growth instead of girth. My snake is about 3 months old now and is taking large pinky every 4 days, digesting it completly in about 2 (including defication). Again I suggest buying kathy loves corn snake manual, everything in that book will only help you raise your snake better.