Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought an albino amenalistic. She's absolutely beautiful. I'm calling her "she" because I attribute her sleek, lithe features to the feminine genre although I have no idea as to the sex of little "Mars" right now. In any case, I researched corns extensively before purchasing her and found slightly varied opinions regarding feeding. I understand that I'm supposed to feed her in a container rather than the vivarium. Assuming that's correct, I have no problem. What I am curious about is that the frozen pinkies I bought appear to be a little large in relation to Mars' diameter. Do I feed her the whole pinkie for the first feeding or is it wise to try a portion of the mouse first to see if it's accepted? I really want to do this right. Also, since handling a snake right after feeding is a bad idea, should I place the feeding container in the vivarium and let her crawl out as soon as the food is ingested or let her hang out for awhile before attempting to move her? The literature was not clear on this and I really don't want to stress her out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Tommy

mmmk...I had the exact same questions with my first baby, so I'm going to tell you my take on things.

First, feeding in the viv is a personal preference. I've never had a problem with it. What you have to make sure of is that the substrate you're using is ok to be swallowed by the snake. I know they say that the snake might get used to the sound of the tank opening meaning food, but like I said, I've never had a problem. Corns aren't aggressive and you'll probably be opening the tank more for other reasons than feeding.

Babies need small pinks, only 1-2 days old. In the wild, no one is going to cut their dinner up for them, so as long as your feeding an appropriate size, they'll do the rest of the work. I know other people are going to post more on this.

As far as handleing after feeding, just keep it to the bare minimum. I mean, you wouldn't want to go on a roller coaster ride after a big meal either. I feed my girl in her tank, so that's not a problem. It's generally ok to take them out for handleing once they have their first defecation after they eat. At least that's what I've been taught. With my king it was a matter of waiting for things to get out of his system so he didn't have any 'ammo' to use on me, lol.

Anyway, those are my opinions, my guidlines, whatever...keep asking questions and welcome to corns!

Rae
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Me, Beatrice, Theta and Nora. Who could have guessed?

I was wondering about where to feed her since, again, there were differing opinions. I'm using the reptile carpet so ingestion isn't a prob. I was thinking more of hygiene by not having dead, juicy mice lying in the viv. I believe I'd prefer to feed her in a container but if she doesn't eat her first meal there, I'll try it in the vivarium.

Thanks for the advice!

Tommy

Pinkies do come in different sizes.If it's over 1 1/2 her girth then try rolling the pinky in your fingers.Sounds gross but it's a trick ive used to make them slimmer.Wherever you feed her it's ok to handle her for a few seconds to put her back...Paul

Hi Paul,

I really appreciate the quick response. I found out there's a lot of "fill in the blanks" in the literature and the many different web sites on corns that I read. I knew hitting a forum with expereinced owners would be the thing to so. Handling a pinkie won't be an issue. Heck...I've dressed out a 300lb. deer...how tough can a baby mouse be? I brought Mars home last night and thought it would be wise to wait a couple of days to feed her so she can get acclimated to her new home. I was worried about getting her because she always was inactive compared to the other corn they had for sale but she was all over the vivarium for hours when I put her in. I checked on her at about 3AM and she was still climbing all over. She's sleeping now. I am totally pumped! I'll be visiting this forum daily now and as soon as I get a chance, I'll post a pic or two. They really are beautiful creatures. Thanks again!

Tommy

Just wanted to give my 2 cents worth...:0) When I got my first corn I was worried about feeding it in the enclosure or in another box. I do both but mostly put them in a seperate container. Feeding in a seperate container has it's advantages. For one you know for sure your snake has eaten and the meal won't rot all night if left in the tank, or what ever you house her in. Plus they won't injest any substrate. I've never had a problem feeding in the enclosure. I feed mine at any time of day so the 'darkness' of a seperate box may help in them eating. Now they, I have 2, are yearlings and I can just set them on top of my entertainment center with a meal, fuzzies , and they will eat as I watch. When I place them back in their enclosure after eating I'm gentle and set them back in right away. No more handling for at least 24 hours.
I usually handle mine before I feed that way they are active and interested in food. I wouldn't worry about a pink being to big. I thought that about my first corn and first meal but she ate it down. It's amazing how much they can open their mouths to swallow a meal.
Enjoy the world of snake! But beware........They are addicting!!
1.0 ghost corn
0.1 amel corn (no I'm not going to breed them)
1.0 tangerine dream milk
0.1 jungle carpet python

I personally prefer to feed my hatchlings in deli cups. This acts two-fold. They are free of substrate and they can find the pinkies much quicker.
It doesn't hurt to handle them long enough to place them back in their home after feeding. Just be gentle.
As long as the pinkie isn't more then one and a half times the diameter of the snake it should be fine.
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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

When my corn was yound i fed her in the deli cup that she came in, now though she is bigger so i feed her in a critter keeper and once the fuzzy has stoped going down/moving to the rear, i gently pick her up around the meal so as to support that area and use my other hand for her head area and i put her back in her tank, so far this has worked. but she didn't eat in the critter keeper at first because it was not her usual feeding spot so i put the deli cup that she is normally fed in inside the critter keeper so that she got interested in food and she ate then. so far i have not had her regurg after picking her up and i hope that i never will.
Just *MY* 3 cents
Demon
P.S. sorry for the long post