Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I want to thank everyone that replied to my last message about me "inherriting" a corn snake. I have researched and found out alot. And I am definetly HOOKED on them. They are great!!!

I fed my boy today and was amazed, absolutley amazed, how big his mouth opened and how well he took down a mouse that was MAYBE 4-5 times his head size. I was BLOWN away.

My question comes from the size of the mouse I guess. I fed my boy a "fuzzy" tonight and he devoured it. In fact he took it so fast that i KNOW i will be feeding him more often. I do not think it was even all the way thawed. He devoured it. Last night I thought he was hungry, so today I picked him up a "fuzzy" today. anyway last night, I had an extra comet fish that my AFC's would not eat, so I gave it to him, and he did not eat it. I undersand that these are probably not normal for them, but still......

OK..... here it is....I thought that I read if you can not see a bulge in them for a day or so that the mouse was too small. AND if they regirgitate (sp??? sry) it it MAY be too big. Well, just7 hours after i fed him and he devoured it.......there is no lump, no regirgitation, no nothing. BUT, I am new to snakes, but still it seemed like he had to really work to get that thing down....once it was down...it was again awesome to watch him work it down into his body.

Like I said, I am knew to snakes.......BUT I am in love with this one and I am sure it is going to lead to me having more. he is going between my neck and and the cubby in the computer desk right now and I think he is AWESOME....just want to make sure i feed him properly.

When I say he really worked at it, I mean the size of the mouse compared to his head REALLY amazed me. But it took MAYBE 5 minutes, I don't think that long, to get it down millimeter by millimimeter.

sorry for the long post.

mike
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Mike
0.0.1 Green Iguana
0.0.1 Pac Man Frog
0.2.0 Albino African Clawed Frog
1.0.0 BIG Golden Retriever 105 lbs

The head isn't the important thing, they can stretch their head all they want (they unhinge their jaw bones) The prey should be no thicker than the snake at its widest point. Some people say 1.5x the snakes size. I go with the first just to be safe. Also, it will take more than 7 hours for him to regurge (if it is too big) usually when they regurge from eating prey too big it is because the prey starts to rott in their stomach. as you may have guessed this takes several days. A friend of mine had a snake regurge after 6 days. If you think he may have eaten something a little too big try raising the temp a few degrees. It will help with digestion. If he does regurge wait about 5 days and try again with a smaller meal. If you think the meal was too small because he ate it so easilly try feeding him 2x a weeks or whenever you feel fit (not TOO much) I feed Hope a small pinkie Monday and Friday. She has never regurged and seems extremely healthy to me. Best of luck with your new snake!
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Road Hog"

did you say you tried feeding him a fish? Don't do that most likely wont eat it and I heard if they do i is unhealthy for them. Just thought you'd wanna know.

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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Road Hog"

Don't overdo it. If you just fed your snake a big meal he should not be crawling between your neck and your computer...He should be resting quietly in his cage for the next two days. Handling a snake right after a meal is one reason for regurge.

Make sure the rodent IS properly thawed...Again, a possible problem area.

As stated, stick with rodents ... Leave the fish to the garter snakes!

If your snake DOES puke...You will need to wait a minimum of a week before trying to feed him again. And you will need to downsize his meals for awhile. Oh...And you won't get to handle him for a couple of weeks, either. So...Give him a couple days R & R after each meal. Duffy

OK,
I got it! Thank You. I am now positive that the size of the mouse I fed him was correct.

Also, thank you about informing me about not handling for a couple of days after eating. If I would have been thinking, I guess I would have thought of that because it makes sense.

Thanks again for the information.
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Mike
0.0.1 Green Iguana
0.0.1 Pac Man Frog
1.1.0 Albino African Clawed Frog
1.0.0 Corn Snake
1.0.0 BIG Golden Retriever 105 lbs

Althgough it was mentioned i just want to stress that it is really important that the mouse be compltely thawed. Feeding a partially frozen rodent to a snake can be very dangerous.

Good luck with your new snake!

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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats