Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My albino motley male corn snake is awesome. Just wondering how quickly I should expect him to grow. I have had since April or May, he was a hatchling, he has had two sheds so far. Feeding him a pinking mouse every 5 days. Also, q about feeding is that I have been buying frozen mice and thawing them, any disadvantaged to this compared to live foods? Thanks.

Stick with the f/t - especially when young. I've had a few young snakes that refused to go back to f/t for some time after being offered live prey.

How fast it will grow depends upon the snake. Some grow faster than others.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

I always give live food. They dont eat frozen in the wild. Plus if u dont thaw it right the food can go bad and kill ur snake.

THAT, my friend, is making f/t sound bad... and it isnt!!! as long as its thawed all the way through its completely safe to feed. Live on the other hand if left alone Can eat a snake!!! and i have had some snakes who dont grab the head of a live mouse and the mouse chomps away at the snake.... and if left untreated will get infected... all of my snakes... where right now i have over 160 (including hatchlings) are eating frozen/thawed. its also alot cheaper buying in bulk and not having to feed the live mice their whole lives until feeding day...
JUST MY OPINION!!!!
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, A pair of Leucistic Black Rat X Leucistic Texas Rat Intergrades, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn, A pair of Ball Pythons, A reverse Trio of Candoia, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping Turtle, a White Cheeked Mud Turtle, an Adult Rescue Iguana, and A Baby Iguana

I'm not opposed to live feeding - but you have to pay attention to live feeding for the duration of the feed until the rodent is dead, because if the snake does not feel like eating, the rodent can damage the snake. It's much more of an issue with rats, but it can happen with mice.

Thawing frozen rodents is not difficult, and I've never ever heard of a snake becoming ill or dying because of an improperly thawed rodent.

You do need to make sure it is thawed all the way through and not still frozen in the middle - easily accomplished, thaw in room temperature water. When they are thawed, THEN use warm water to warm them up a bit.

With any decent sized collection, using f/t is a must because you really don't have time to monitor a large collection with live prey, and the cost of f/t is significantly lower than live.

Personally - if a snake will take f/t, the only circumstances under which I feed live is every other feeding for females I plan to breed the following year - and that's just to increase their muscle tone a bit. And many successful breeders don't even do that.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

>>My albino motley male corn snake is awesome. Just wondering how quickly I should expect him to grow. I have had since April or May, he was a hatchling, he has had two sheds so far. Feeding him a pinking mouse every 5 days. Also, q about feeding is that I have been buying frozen mice and thawing them, any disadvantaged to this compared to live foods? Thanks.

frozen/thawed is easier in the long run. If it is already eating f/t don't change a thing. Every five days is fine for a hatchling.
You are doing a good job.
As far as growth like already mentioned, some grow faster then others. As long as you are feeding it on a regular basis and the temps and enclosure conditions are kept properly it will grow at IT'S pace and should do just fine.
Some do it diferently but I like to graduate up as I feed. I will start with 1 pinkie per feeding until this fails to leave a bulge. Then I will move up to two pinkies each feeding until these no longer leave a noticeable bulge. Then up to one fuzzy then to two fuzzies to one hopper to two hoppers to one adult.
When I get to one adult, that's where I stay.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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You can expect your snake to at least double in size in its first year. Growth rate depends on genetics, amount of food consumed and access to temperatures that are warm enough to digest food quickly.

There is no significant nutritional difference between frozen mice and live ones. Generations of snakes have been raised and reproduced on nothing but appropriately-sized frozen/thawed mice.

It sounds like you're doing exactly what I do when raising baby snakes - keep up the good work!

Tim

Third Eye