Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my cornsnake for about 4 or 5 months now. I got it from a friend who only fed him a fuzzy every 2 weeks, so I think the growth was stunted.. but ever since I've gotten him, I've been feeding him regularly. He started off with a pinkie once a week, then went to 2x pinkies every 6 days, and now he's currently at 5-6 gram fuzzies every 5 days. He seems to be downing the larger 6 g fuzzies easily. He's been on the 1 fuzzy every 5 days since March. When he started, he weighed roughly 33 grams. At last feeding (Monday), he weighed 66 grams and the pinkie was about 6 grams. He last shed on the 6/1 and I measured it at 27 1/2", and before that the shed was about a month earlier on 4/23 and I measured it at 24 1/4". I keep a record of his weight and the food's weight every time I feed him.

My question is, when should I move up to a larger fuzzy or possibly a hopper? Or should I stay at the fuzzies I am at now?

And how long will I be on fuzzies or even hoppers? I usually buy them in 3 packs at Petco but I want to switch to buying a bag online for cheaper. But they come in bags of 100, and if I feed every 5 days, that would be a good enough bag for over a year, and I would think I would be switching to a NEW size by then, therefore leaving me with extra hoppers/fuzzies that he has outgrown. And how long are these guys good for frozen?

Try to gauge the size of the food based on the largest part of the snake. Some shoot for a prey item that is slightly larger than the snake at its largest point others go for slightly smaller. Personally, I am comfortable with a small lump or no visible lump at all after feeding. If a hopper is not much bigger around than largest part of your snake, try it and see how it goes. Just remember a super large meal will require a little extra TLC (good temps, good hide, no handling) to ensure proper digestion.

As for how long the snake will be on a given food item, that is really too dependent on the variable at your location to say for sure. It will be based on how often you feed it, conditions for digestion, etc. If you only have one snake ordering large quantities of frozen mice often will not work. If you do want to go in quantity, however, I would wait until the snake is on adult mice so it does not grow out of your feeding stock. You could also get more snakes.....LOL!

Hope this helps.
Rob

Thanks for the help. I think I might finish out the remainder of the fuzzies I have now (about 4) which should last me for another 20 days. I will wait until he moves into hoppers until I order a pack of them or I think of something else lol

And I would loooove another snake but vet bills for my collared lizard is shrinking my expenses as it is, so I'll get another snake when I'm more financially stable.

I had bought a package of 50 (25 pinkies/25 fuzzies) back when Eddie was a bit smaller. I still have some of the pinkies left over in the freezer, and I just recently switched him to hoppers, so I also still have a couple of fuzzies left over. I've given one pinkie to the beardie once every three months or so, but I also have a friend who will be getting a hatchling corn sometime soon, so I plan on giving her the pinkies, or buying another snake. ^_^

As long as you keep the frozen mice in a good freezer ziploc or something, they seem to keep pretty well. I haven't had freezer burn on any of them yet.

Keep checking the frozen rodent sites, some of them sell in quantities less than 50.

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes (Lyle & Erik Menendez)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Hi

I've had rat pinkies that look like they've had freezer burn to some degree, but the baby boa I have still eats them.

Another source of food, depending on your location, could be a reptile expo. We're within driving distance of one that's monthly, and that's where we've been picking up our mice.

Or-- I don't know-- would craigslist allow a post asking if there are any feeder breeders in your area?

My 2 cents,
Antigone