All Forums  Corn Snake Posts  Corn Snake - General Keeping information- Stickies  A VERY ROUGH guide to feeding

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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Kellog[/i] [br]When you first get your snake you can find it very confusing about what size ‘meal’ to feed it and how often, unless you’ve been given GOOD advice from where you got it. Even then you have the situation of when do you increase the size of the food, etc. Don’t worry….everyone experiences the same thing! [u]When you first get your snake[/u] Once you first collect your snake it is best to leave it for a week to get over the stress of being moved and allow it to get used to its new surroundings. This means no handling and will probably mean that it misses a feed. Don’t worry about this, corns can go a long time without eating, even hatchlings. Personally, once the week is over I would feed it, leave it for the required 48hrs to digest its meal and then you can begin to handle it. I know it means putting off what you are desperate to do, but what is most important is that your snake is settled and eating. Hopefully you will have been told by whoever you got your snake from what it is eating and how often, or you may have been given records of the snake’s history. A lot of us keep records as they can be helpful indicators to there being a problem and also purely out of interest. 2 things to record are your snake’s weight before a feed and what it is being fed each time. You can weigh your snake by putting a small tub (or whatever size container is necessary) on digital scales, zeroing them and then adding your snake. [u]What to feed and how often[/u] This is a VERY ROUGH guide you can use to give you a basic idea of what size food your snake should be on. I found it very helpful when I started out, but I know people whose snakes should supposedly be on a certain size because of their weight but aren’t big enough for them yet. One of my own snakes is an example. According to the guide she should be on X-large mice but they would be double her width. She has just moved up to mediums and probably won’t ever progress further. This is because of being badly cared for as a hatchling and, therefore, not thriving and growing as she should. [b]You should only use this guide in conjunction with common sense and knowledge of your snake; it should not be followed religiously. It really is a case of doing the research, trusting your own instinct, trying something and seeing what works.[/b] Mouse size/feeding guide (taken from the Munson feeding plan): Snake (4 – 15g) = 1 Pinkie (0.5 – 3g) - feed every 4 to 5 days Snake (16 – 23g) = 2 pinkies (3 – 4g) - feed every 5 to 6 days Snake (24 – 30g) = small fuzzy (3 – 6g) - feed every 6 to 7 days Snake (30 – 50g) = fuzzy (7 – 9g) - feed every 6 to 7 days Snake (51 – 90g) = fluff/hoppers (7 – 12g) - feed every 6 to 7 days Snake (91-170g) = Small Adult/Weaned (13-18g) - feed every 7 days (Includes medium mice 16 - 20g) Snake (170g+) = Large (19 to 25g) - feed every 7 to x days Snake (400+) = X large (30g +) - feed every 10 to x days To give you an idea of what they look like - http://www.canberraexotics.com.au/admin/photos/frozen%20mouse%20chart.jpg Be aware that depending on where you are in the country or what suppliers you use, they may call the mice by other names, or put different weights in different categories to what's listed above. It's not important, just something to be aware of. If you are feeding 2 pinkies/fuzzies/fluffs, then wait until the 1st has moved to approximately one-third of the way down the snake’s body before you offer it the 2nd pinkie/fuzzy/fluff. There should be no reason for you to offer more than 2, after that move up to the next size. You can work out if your snake needs to move up in size, or whether to feed double, when there is no longer a bump once they have eaten their 'meal'. [b]NEVER[/b] give a snake a ‘meal’ that is more than 1.5 times wider than the widest part of their body. It is amazing the size of ‘meal’ they can eat, but something that big would be too much. Remember that snakes are opportunistic feeders, in the wild they will never know when or where they are getting their next meal and they are the same in captivity, so given the chance they will overfeed and it is up to us to make sure this doesn’t happen, no matter how hungry they may look. One of my snakes was being fed 3 -4 medium mice, once a week! He definitely didn’t need that amount but would eat them because they were left in his viv. He is NOT eating that any more! [u]Rats, Mice and Chicks[/u] Often the question comes up about feeding snakes rats instead of mice. Rats are thought to be more nutritious and have more calcium due to more solid bone structure than mice, but they are high in fat. Rats can be fed but should be fed less often than mice, and the problem is that your snake can take a liking to rats and not want to go back to mice. Rat pups do not have the equivalent nutrient level as adult mice, they can’t as they are not on solid food. They are fatter though and quite a bit bigger than mouse pinkies. They actually have more goodness in them than mouse fuzzies (the only difference between mouse pinkies and fuzzies being that one has hair and a slightly more advanced bone structure). A young snake won’t get fat from them unless you start feeding every 3 or 4 days, constantly loading it. With adults, as long as you feed them every 10 days it should not be a problem, but if you feed them more regularly than that then you are going to have a fat snake. I know some snake owners do feed their corns rats, but most tend to feed extra large/jumbo/ex-breeder mice (35g plus) every 10 days to 2 weeks. This is really just a maintenance diet as they are no longer growing and needing to put on weight. The subject of feeding snakes chicks does sometimes arise. These do not have enough nutrition to be used as a staple diet for snakes but have been used either as a treat (although you then may have the problem of your snake not wanting to go back to mice) or for if your snake is not feeding….then you can try scenting with a chick and may eventually try feeding them if nothing else is successful. These might be of interest - [url="http://www.pawsforthought.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=69"] Nutritional values of prey items for snakes [/url] [url="http://iansvivarium.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=75"] Mouse/rat comparison [/url] You can purchase your snake's food online if you want to. These are just a few sites that are used, and they also give you a good idea of the different sizes available and what they look like - [url="http://rsreptilesupplies.co.uk/epages/eshop514110.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop514110/Categories/Reptile_Food/Frozen_Food"] RS Reptile Supplies [/url] [url="http://www.premierexotics.co.uk/product-category/frozen-reptile-food/"] Premier Exotics [/url] [url="http://anfrozenfoods.co.uk/mice/4532624648"] A & N Frozen Reptile Food [/url] [url="http://www.frozenreptile.co.uk/frozen-mice"] Frozen Reptile [/url] [u]Where to feed your snake[/u] You can either feed your snake in their faun/RUB/viv or you can feed them in a separate container. A lot of owners do feed their snake inside their home and the only issue is a worry that the snake will swallow some substrate as it eats. This can be combated by putting a piece of paper, kitchen roll, a tile or plate inside and then dangling their ‘meal’ over that or laying it on it. You do still run the risk of the snake dragging the ‘meal’ off and onto substrate, but most often this doesn’t cause any issues. The other option is to feed your snake in a different container. For a hatchling you would start with a small tub and then move up in size as the snake grows bigger, until you can get them to a point where they will feed on a towel on the floor. To begin with you may need to put a lid with air-holes on the tub and cover it, as your snake may be a shy eater. You may also need to leave the ‘meal’ in the tub with it for a while before it feels happy enough to eat. But slowly it should gain in confidence and you can remove the cover, then remove the lid and watch your snake eat. Feeding them outside of their home definitely gives you a better opportunity of great feeding pics! Once your snake has eaten you can either lift the tub up to their faun/RUB/viv and allow the snake to slither back in by itself, or you can very gently lift it up, being careful to support the ‘bump’, and place it in its home. [u]Non-Feeding Snakes[/u] The 1st rule is not to panic. Snakes can go a long time without food. Juveniles and adults often go 3 – 4 months without eating because it is the breeding season. Not only will your snake be refusing its ‘meal’ but it will be showing very different behaviour inside its viv. Instead of hiding away it will be out and about all the time, cruising around, trying to escape by pushing its way out of the vents and rubbing its nose against the glass doors. As far as feeding during this period is concerned continue with your normal routine, offering them the mouse on feeding day and then throwing it away until they decide to eat. I have found that dropping down a mouse size can keep a snake eating, at least occasionally, during this period. There are other reasons for snakes not eating and if yours isn’t you need to check things like the temp of the viv, whether it is drinking and pooing ok, whether there has been anything that may have stressed it recently, whether its due a shed, etc. A great help in these circumstances is the [url="http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3720"] Guide to non-feeding snakes [/url] [u]The Golden Rule[/u] No handling of your snake for 48hrs after it has been fed. Once you know your snake you may be able to change this as some snakes metabolise their food quicker than others, so could be handled after 24hrs but I have always stuck to the 48hrs golden rule as I don’t want to risk disturbing their digestion and causing stress....just so I can have a handle! Hope this is helpful. Xxx [purple]Edited by Kellog to correct mistakes and add links 25.4.13[/purple] [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.