View Full Version : Too big?
Kathryntheclean
03-09-17, 06:47 PM
Okay, guys, sorry for this as I'm sure there's information about this somewhere, but time's not on our side. We just gave our 5 month old corn snake a big fuzzy mouse. I am very worried now cause he's almost got his tiny head around this huge thing. We didn't know Alex would not let go once we had seen how huge it was compared to him. Now, we can't get the fuzzy out of him. Will it hurt him to have something this big in him? I don't want to kill him and I certainly didn't mean him harm. As a first time snake owner i am rather stupid as of yet... OMG, is he going to die? Helllllllp!
How much bigger then his head was the fuzzy mouse? I know they can handle bigger then you think they can.... They first time I gave George what I thought was too big, I had to walk away and come back....
Kathryntheclean
03-09-17, 07:03 PM
Well, maybe the girth of the mouse was maybe 1.5 to 2 times the size of his head. Compared to the tiny pinkys it was huge! But he tackled the thing and he's only got a tiny bit of tail hanging out. I was going to cut the thing in half when I saw the size of it compared to his head, but his death grip wouldn't ease up. So, we left him alone for warmth and digesting time. I'm just worried he's going to die!
Kathryntheclean
03-09-17, 07:06 PM
I feel so stupid!
He will be fine. Just leave him alone for a few days.
Kathryntheclean
03-09-17, 07:10 PM
Oh, good, thank you. Now I can breathe. Poor little hungry guy. I was reminded of the time I killed my brother's venus fly trap by giving it a chunk of wet dog food.
saturnascends
03-09-17, 08:53 PM
One of the dudes at the reptile shop told me snakes can handle food in proportion to humans fitting a basketball in our mouths. I don't know exactly how true this is, but it made me feel better after wondering if our snake's first meal was too big also!
Jim Smith
03-09-17, 10:42 PM
Maybe if the basketball was pumped up by the New England Patriots it would fit just fine;)
GyGbeetle
03-09-17, 10:56 PM
I have 2 small head snakes. It looks painful to watch one eat (the other is new and haven't seen her eat yet). The way she contorts her head, jaw looks broken, it's awful to watch, and I used to freak out that she would surely hurt herself with the larger prey item. She never has. Most of the time she barely has a food lump, so I know the item isn't too big for her.
Kathryntheclean
03-10-17, 12:14 AM
It looked to me like Alex's eyes were gonna pop off. It was so streched out, his mouth/face area. But he took it like any one of my family members would. He wanted the whole damn thing-so he ate it.
EL Ziggy
03-10-17, 12:22 AM
Don't be too concerned about the size of his head. He can eat prey items 1-1.5x the girth of his body at its widest point.
jay's reptiles
03-10-17, 08:09 AM
I'm 99.99% sure, your corn snake will be fine, Snake are very hardy animals, lots of people think they are very weak. when there bodies are built for extreme conditions.
i wouldnt worry. But i would not do thing again, untill he is bigger because this could make im overweight or could be considered powerfeeding, if this done everytime.
Never ever go by head size unless it's a species that requires smaller food...which tend to be specialty species to begin with...not corns...and then there's more things at play. :)
Fuzzies for a corn snake that age is actually fine, jay. It's the proper food size and much healthier than keeping it on pinkies. Far from powerfeeding.
jay's reptiles
03-10-17, 09:09 AM
Never ever go by head size unless it's a species that requires smaller food...which tend to be specialty species to begin with...not corns...and then there's more things at play. :)
Fuzzies for a corn snake that age is actually fine, jay. It's the proper food size and much healthier than keeping it on pinkies. Far from powerfeeding.
oh, i thinking the corn snake was only as thick as pencil. Dont really know my corns as well. More into heavier bodied snakes :) like retics/balls/burms
Kathryntheclean
03-10-17, 09:35 AM
As an update, he ate the whole thing. He seems to be fine now. He's in his warm side hide and doesn't have a huge lump. I guess I'll just be expecting a big poo!
He'll take a little longer to digest it and probably hang out in the warmer area more but if it went down it's probably fine. Generally you look at the body like mentioned and not the head but there are a few species that don't tolerate as large of meals in captivity as they might resort to in the wild or can swallow. Rosy boa are known to regurgitate easy and many feed 2 smaller mice instead of 1 adult. Now that she's no longer starving my adult refuses to eat over a hopper when she ate a near grown gerbil which is bigger than a mouse. Corn snakes are not usually as picky and should be fine. It just takes longer to wiggle down and then digest.
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