# Corn Snake feeding advice



## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

Today I fed my baby corn snake for the first time since I got him.
He took the pinkie no problem. But I am wondering if it needs to be on a bigger mouse?
After I fed him he spent a good half an hour searching round his tank for more pinkies.
Also he had no bump to show he had eaten. Do I need a bigger mouse?


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## Jono2411 (Feb 10, 2009)

What does he weigh? Or Can you post a picture of him with something for size reference?

If it hasn't left a bump then it sounds like he should have something bigger. Generally, the rule is that it should be about 1.5x the snake's girth...


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

The pinky was the same width as his middle. 
I can't get his weight atm I will have to get back to you on that one.


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## Red123 (Mar 3, 2010)

It sounds like he needs something a little bigger. If you are concerned about feeding a bigger mouse straight away you could always do two or three feeds of double pinkies before moving to fluffs. Do you know how old he is?


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

We were told he was between 4 - 6 month old.

I really should have thought to weigh and measure him before I fed him....


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## Red123 (Mar 3, 2010)

If pinks are not leaving a bulge I would move him to fluffs at that age. If you buy your pinks from in a pet shop you can always ask to look at the sizes and pick some of the smaller fluffs if you are concerned about the size change.


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

I might try him on fluffs next time. I suppose if they are too big I can give him two pinkies.


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## mrduff13 (Nov 18, 2012)

snakes wont really look for food, they are opertunistic feeders meaning they will usualy eat when offered (or when a mouse passes in the wild) but in captivity we feed snakes alot more than they would eat in the wild. so dont really worry about it getting hungry. 

and also at that age im 99% sure it will be great on fluffs, mines about that age and its been on fluffs for a while now


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## kitti (Mar 8, 2010)

I only keep the corns I breed on pinks for 6-8 weeks before moving them up to fluffs. I would think that at your snakes age he will take a fluff no problem. 

Just my opinion


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

I measured him yesterday and he is just over 14" long.

My Boyfriend & I are arguing about this - he thinks he is fine on Pinkies, I think he could do with a bigger mouse.


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## snakesandscales (Oct 6, 2009)

Ouija said:


> I measured him yesterday and he is just over 14" long.
> 
> My Boyfriend & I are arguing about this - he thinks he is fine on Pinkies, I think he could do with a bigger mouse.


Try two pinkies, if he does them no problem too, start him on fuzzies.


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## kitti (Mar 8, 2010)

I would up his food if it was me, going by his size and age he can eat larger, there isn't too much difference in size to be honest to the next size up so wont be a huge jump for him. 

Hope he knows ladies always have the last word


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

Ouija said:


> I measured him yesterday and he is just over 14" long.
> 
> My Boyfriend & I are arguing about this - he thinks he is fine on Pinkies, I think he could do with a bigger mouse.


Looking at their girth is better for judging food size, they can easily manage something 1.5x as big as their widest point as a general guideline, although they can still do bigger than that! So I'm sure yours will be ready for fluffs at least, pinks sound too small : victory:


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

In the end my Boyfriend rang up the Reptile shop & they told him not to move him up food sizes until he had finished the 3 pinkies that came with in the set up. He has two more to go then we will be going back to get more so we can ask them then if he should be on bigger mice.


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

Ouija said:


> In the end my Boyfriend rang up the Reptile shop & they told him not to move him up food sizes until he had finished the 3 pinkies that came with in the set up. He has two more to go then we will be going back to get more so we can ask them then if he should be on bigger mice.


If he can manage 2/3 in one go, he can manage the next size up. Don't be scared to try bigger food, if it's too big they'll leave it. Snakes know if they can manage it or not : victory:


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## bizzy (Sep 21, 2012)

Mine is 8 months and on medium mice takes then with no probs at all!id just up it to fluffs


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## mrduff13 (Nov 18, 2012)

no offence but why did you come on forum asking a question when you are just ignoring us. pet shops dont always no best... you are talking to people with snakes and in some cases kept snakes from young for years.. 

if you have such a great pet shop then follow thier instruction, but you could end up with a snake with stunted growth :/ or stuck on tiny mice for life.. best to get them on nice big mince so that they get plenty of goodness. 

but its up to you.


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## bushmaster1 (Apr 16, 2012)

The rule of thumb is always offer a food item a little bigger than the thickest part of the snakes body, regardless of what species you keep. A reputable pet store will always allow you to see the difference in mice sizes before you make your choice. Hope this helps


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

mrduff13 said:


> no offence but why did you come on forum asking a question when you are just ignoring us. pet shops dont always no best... you are talking to people with snakes and in some cases kept snakes from young for years..
> 
> if you have such a great pet shop then follow thier instruction, but you could end up with a snake with stunted growth :/ or stuck on tiny mice for life.. best to get them on nice big mince so that they get plenty of goodness.
> 
> but its up to you.


I'm not ignoring your''s or anyone's advice!!! Where did you get that from?! 
Just because my boyfriend phoned the Reptile shop as well doesn't mean I'm not listening to what people say on here. That is a really dumb thing to say!

My Boyfriend is a worrier and I don't want him to keep phoning the shop over every little thing that's why I posted on here ...but he still phoned them anyway.


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

In any case he only has one pinkie left and we are going to get him more food this weekend. So we are going to get him the fluffs then & try him on them on his next fed. The reptile shop only said to let him finish the three in his starter kit before moving him up not to keep him on them forever.........


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## Jono2411 (Feb 10, 2009)

If yo only have 3 pinks left then feed them and grab some fuzzies for afterwards... 

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

Jono2411 said:


> If yo only have 3 pinks left then feed them and grab some fuzzies for afterwards...
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


I only have one left now. We will be getting the fuzzies at the weekend.


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## Jono2411 (Feb 10, 2009)

Nice... When you move up to fuzzies they really start to grow nicely, pinkes don't have as good nutrition in them... 

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

Ouija said:


> I only have one left now. We will be getting the fuzzies at the weekend.


Believe me they don't have grow once you get them on fluffs/fuzzies, mine took her first fluff at 28g in weight and 7 months old, at 100g in weight and a year old she took her first small mouse, she's now 259g in weight and taking a medium mouse once a week & she'll be 2 years old in January, just to give you an idea of how quick they grown but all snakes are different but it's still great seeing them growing.


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

I took some photos after I fed him earlier on today. Sorry the quality is not to good but you can make out the middle part of his body where the pinky is. Should it be making more of bump than that.?



















I don't want to move him up food sizes to make him grow quicker. I'm more concerned the pinkies are a bit small & that I am under feeding him.

Also I want to say thank you for every ones replies. I do appreciate the advice that you're all giving me.


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

Ouija said:


> I took some photos after I fed him earlier on today. Sorry the quality is not to good but you can make out the middle part of his body where the pinky is. Should it be making more of bump than that.?
> 
> image
> 
> ...


Looking at the pics and the feeding bump I would keep him on pinkies until you hardly notice a bump at all and then move him up to fluffs.


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

The second looks a bit more bumpy as I think he was in the middle of a squeeze.


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

Ouija said:


> The second looks a bit more bumpy as I think he was in the middle of a squeeze.


Well personally, and this is just my opinion, as said I would continue with the pinkies until there hardly any bump showing, how much does he weigh?


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## Ouija (Nov 13, 2012)

I'm not sure how much he weighs he is just over 14" in length. 
I need to get some more scales, the ones I have are not working properly.

If you think from the picture he should still be on pinkies I will get more of them at the weekend. I might get a couple of fuzzies too just to see the size of them. Because if they are too big they will always keep in the freezer until he is big enough to eat them.


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## Mum hols (Dec 6, 2012)

My new corn is about 34cms long and weighs 12grams, I was told she is 7 months but I very much doubt it as she is teeny tiny, peaches is on 2 small pinkies every 7 days, she does fine with this and has 2 noticeable bulges after feeding,

Try 2 pinkies and see how you get on, you don't want to try something too big and risk a regurge... Good luck


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## Mum hols (Dec 6, 2012)

Just seen your pics, yeah I'm no expert but going on my snake yours looks a lot like peaches and I would say there is still a noticeable bulge so try 2 pinks and see how you get on.


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