| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 06/11/2010 : 17:38:44
my corn snake blake who is 4 years old, and about 4 and a half foot long recently put on a growth spurt over the last couple of months, it all happened after i fed him 2 weaned rats and a chick all in a fortnight of each other, i have always fed him 1 large to x large mouse every fortnight for the past yr or so, but since i fed him some left over food that i had for my rat snake i had after it i didnt want it to go to waste so i thought id try blake on em, he did indeed seem to get alot bigger after that not just in length but in girth aswell, i recenlty weighed him and he weighs 800grams or just over. he is a little bit fat in his rear quarters, i would not say morbidly obese but chunky is the correct, word. so to counteract this i started a diet programme of one medium to large mouse every 3 weeks to see whats happened, but my main concern at the minute with him is that for the last week and a half he has been drinking quite heavily more than what he usually does and it usually after i handle him and put him back in the viv he will go straight to the water bowl, i asked a q on rfuk about this and they said its where i have cut his feeding down to once every 3 weeks its where he is getting no hydration from his food so is drinking alot more, i just hope they are right as he has always been my number 1 snake, never had any health trouble with him before. today i have made a break of his 3 week fast and fed him a mouse (he definatley seems a bit more active since i fed him today) and im gonna see over the nxt week if he is still drinking everyday |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 11/11/2010 : 14:10:19
an update, he has stopped drinking as often since i fed him the other day, so maybe the theory on that hel drink more often the less often he is fed is true. cleaned him out out today and he seems happier. all fresh newspaper |
| drchino |
Posted - 09/11/2010 : 15:13:01
I've caught my snake having a mega drink once. She must have sat there drinking for about 2 minutes! |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 08/11/2010 : 19:14:53
quote:
Originally posted by heatseeker872591
thanks staple, i know your'e one of the best people for this topic as i see your post on an over weight corn snake that the moderators made sticky, venom isnt it???
Probably not :/ I just have a morbidly obese snake who I'm trying to get to loose weight. And yep that's the big fellow :p
He looks lovely. If you think he needs to loose some weight, it won't hurt. |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 08/11/2010 : 18:12:22
http://www.youtube.com/user/Heatseeker872591 view blakes videos here |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 08/11/2010 : 17:57:05
thanks staple, i know your'e one of the best people for this topic as i see your post on an over weight corn snake that the moderators made sticky, venom isnt it??? |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 08/11/2010 : 17:04:36
Weaned rats cause can cause growth spurts (mine grew at a huge rate in such a short time! Then grew girth wise lol)With the weaned rats maybe try every month and if it's still getting porky then maybe every 6 weeks. I know what you mean about not wanting to waste food though, I didn't know if to chuck my rats out or not but I'm sure if you mix rats and chicks in with the mice until they are all gone they will be fine. Maybe he could have Christmas chick(en) :p
Mine drinks a lot more since his diet, never knew why until now :D |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 13:11:26
also from my research that weaned rats although they are the largest meal a corn snake can handle it is not reccomened to feed them too much as they contain alot of fat. just sticking to mice and the odd weaned rat or chick once in a blue moon seems better. |
| heatseeker872591 |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 13:05:46
no i meant i fed him a rat, waited 2 weeks then another rat and then another 2 weeks and then another 2 weeks and then fed him a chick lol ive chekced his temps they are as they have ever been 80 to 85F warm end temp controlled by a habistat dimmer which is the top of the range thermostat. but ive sorted the newspaper out aswell so he cant tightly coil up under there. i fed him yesterday a medium sized mouse and he hasnt drank since,also seems a bit more active aswell. hes a bit chunky in his rear quarters so im just making sure he dont get too fat at the mo. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 11:36:19
As GP says, 800g is not a bad weight. feeding adult corns is a fine balance, but 2 rats and a chick in 2 weeks is too much, by about 3x, one rats or one chick in 2 weeks is more adviseable. |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 08:25:25
check your temps and make sure it's not too hot in his enclosure
i'd also feed every 2 weeks rather than 3 and monitor his weight for gain/loss then adjust your feeding accordingly............800g for an adult is about right  |
| lotabob |
Posted - 06/11/2010 : 19:37:21
I thought they drank after been handled because they get quite hot stealing body heat from us. I could be wrong. |
