Power Feeding?

[whoaxmary]

So - as some of you probably know- a little while ago I received a two year old corn snake from a friend.
The snake, I personally think is very underweight. I'll try to post some pictures in this thread when I get home from work. The pictures I've already posted don't show her size too well. She was being fed one f/t pinkie every ten days for over the past years. She was fed before I received her, and had no visible lump where the pinkie sat in her stomach.
I went out to a local pet store and asked to see their frozen feeders; and picked out six smaller fuzzies that looked like they would be the right size.
Now, when I was talking to the one girl who works at that pet store (the only pet store employee I've ever trusted as I know she owns many of her own snakes and reptiles and is always very helpful and actually cares about the herps - not simply making her store money) she told me I had to power fed the snake. Normally I trust this girl’s opinion, but I've done a lot of research on power feeding and I'm not sure the risks are worth it.
Would I be better off just keeping her own her regular feeding schedule every ten days - just switch pinkies for fuzzies - or should I be power feeding her?
Experts I need your opinions. <3 Thanks.

[Lankyrob]

No expert here - BUT DO NOT POWERFEED - switch up to a fuzzy every seven days and you will see a nice gradual weight increase. Once the snake is big enough for large mice ie it is an adult then you can ease out the feeding to every 14 days.

[marvelfreak]

I agree with Rob. If you start power feeding a underfed snake all your going to get is a snake throwing up it's food. Work your way up. I give her one fuzzy every 7 days after a month bump it up to two every 10 days.

[infernalis]

I also agree, rather than feeding too much in one sitting, just wait less days between feedings.

Corn snakes are resilient, and with a closer feeding schedule, it should pick up some weight at an acceptable pace.

[whoaxmary]

Thanks for the reassurance that I was right to worry about the risks of powerfeeding. Glad I did my research and checked in here. I'll keep going with my orginal plans then - will feed her a fuzzy monday (7 day mark - rather than waiting ten days like prev. owners..)
Besides being tiny; she seems completely heathly; so I'm glad this sounds like an easy fix.

[Jendee]

lol that's funny they told you to power feed your snake. That's a big no no lol if there isn't a lump or your snake looks "unsatisfied" always bump up a size not numbers :D

[whoaxmary]

I know. I was pretty disappointed...She was the only reason I trusted that store... ;/ Not going to rush back there...

[whoaxmary]

Don't know if you can really see you size well in these pictures. But as I said she is over two years, over two feet long, and was only fed one pinkie every ten days.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny001.jpg
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny003.jpg
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny004.jpg
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny005.jpg
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny006.jpg

http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny007.jpg

[whoaxmary]

http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x354/whoaxmary/skinny009.jpg

Putting this one up because it shows her colouring nicely...Think I'm going to settle that she's a hypo-snow? ... :S

[whoaxmary]

You can sort of see in the first pictures how it looks like her sides cave in almost...

[marvelfreak]

Nice looking corn and remember any can make a mistake. Maybe she was misinform. That why it always good to ask around and get different opinion.

[percey39]

I have done my own experiments as such with powerfeeding. I have found there to be no ill effects to the breeding abilities with snakes that were bulked up young when they were successfully bred at 4-5years of age or their health. I am yet to find a realiable or trust worthy document that has specific and accurate accounts of powerfeeding causing problems. The only issue is when snakes reach the 18 month age and their metabolism slows as does their growth rate, this is where you slow your feeding down! Practically all snakes are over fed in captibity compared to their wild counterparts anyway. With everyone constantly feeding rats too the fat cells are a lot higher. A varied diet is always better in my experience, but some snakes can also be extremely fussy.

I would suggest in your case just to get your snake on bigger meals every 7 days as corns have a higher metabolism than pythos anyway. Bigger meals are a lot better than lots of small prey items.

[whoaxmary]

exactly why i'm so glad i found this forum. :)

[whoaxmary]

thanks for the advice. <3

[kinggill]

If its hungry feed it....i never fed like exactly 1 rat every saturday schedule like alot of keepers do ...im pretty sure thats not how it works in the wild...they eat meals as often as they find them.....if they found a nest they might eat 1 or all... if my animals are just hangin out 2 days later i figured they were full...if they are alert and active i feed again...

[whoaxmary]

Feeding her tonight after work....did some weird things last night... see new thread i posted when a lil freaked out last night.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/85651-ack-corn-snake-freaking-out-d.html

[Lankyrob]

If its hungry feed it....i never fed like exactly 1 rat every saturday schedule like alot of keepers do ...im pretty sure thats not how it works in the wild...they eat meals as often as they find them.....if they found a nest they might eat 1 or all... if my animals are just hangin out 2 days later i figured they were full...if they are alert and active i feed again...

Just wondering if you have ever kept carpets? I think mine could swallow a horse whole and immediately go back to hunting/feeding mode. If i fed him everytime he looked for food he would be on about 15 rats a day!

[shaunyboy]

I have done my own experiments as such with powerfeeding. I have found there to be no ill effects to the breeding abilities with snakes that were bulked up young when they were successfully bred at 4-5years of age or their health. I am yet to find a realiable or trust worthy document that has specific and accurate accounts of powerfeeding causing problems. The only issue is when snakes reach the 18 month age and their metabolism slows as does their growth rate, this is where you slow your feeding down! Practically all snakes are over fed in captibity compared to their wild counterparts anyway. With everyone constantly feeding rats too the fat cells are a lot higher. A varied diet is always better in my experience, but some snakes can also be extremely fussy.

I would suggest in your case just to get your snake on bigger meals every 7 days as corns have a higher metabolism than pythos anyway. Bigger meals are a lot better than lots of small prey items.

i would agree that 1 big meal every 7 days will soon have your corn up to its proper size

its only carpets i work with but i'm sure corns get fat easy

they get a big gathered lump of fat down near their vent

someone with more corn experience may be able to elaborate more on the fat lump thing

cheers shaun

[kinggill]

Just wondering if you have ever kept carpets? I think mine could swallow a horse whole and immediately go back to hunting/feeding mode. If i fed him everytime he looked for food he would be on about 15 rats a day!

We had jungle carpets at the zoo,dont know if thats what you mean,we attempted to feed all our animals every 3-4 days if they were hungry they ate... if not we tried again in 3-4 ,maybe they would eat 1 rat ,maybe 6...if your snake is still actively searching the encloser ... ya need to feed it.Most keepers get in a stale feeding habit....same thing every time....sometimes im sure you can handle eating more one day and maybe not so much another.

[Lankyrob]

We had jungle carpets at the zoo,dont know if thats what you mean,we attempted to feed all our animals every 3-4 days if they were hungry they ate... if not we tried again in 3-4 ,maybe they would eat 1 rat ,maybe 6...if your snake is still actively searching the encloser ... ya need to feed it.Most keepers get in a stale feeding habit....same thing every time....sometimes im sure you can handle eating more one day and maybe not so much another.

All thst would happen is that you would dnd up with a fat snake, they are opportunisitc feeders in the wild, in captivity it is OUR responsibilty to ensure they dont overeat. Of course if you offer your snake food every few days it will eat, thats what they are programmed to do. In the wild they could go months without finding another meal so will eat as much as they can when they can. They dont know that in a week they will get another meal in captivity so will eat whatever tehy can and end up fat and unhealty.

[Jendee]

We had jungle carpets at the zoo,dont know if thats what you mean,we attempted to feed all our animals every 3-4 days if they were hungry they ate... if not we tried again in 3-4 ,maybe they would eat 1 rat ,maybe 6...if your snake is still actively searching the encloser ... ya need to feed it.Most keepers get in a stale feeding habit....same thing every time....sometimes im sure you can handle eating more one day and maybe not so much another.

wow! lol in the wild it takes yrs for snakes to reach sexual maturity and this is because how often they dont eat!! I.E boas usually have there first litter at around 10 yrs old while in captivity as early as 3 yrs. This is because of the constant feeding. (constant feeding meaning for an adult 1 prey item every 2 wks) Snakes are opportunistic feeders..snakes like to hide in tight covered spaces so if say 6 rats came around they will eat all six because they may night find anything for months, and they wont search hard(bc they do like to just sit in one spot since they have no defense against larger animals) this feeding response is built in them even if they are full they will most likely eat especially just after eating. Feeding an animal every 3-4 days all its life will shorten its life by years and cause severe health/over weight issues it is not recommended at all. Because we feed on a schedule it is not needed to feed more then one prey item. In the wild maybe because they can go 6 months or more without anything. When Im out of snake food I don't panic lol because I know my scheduled fed snakes are perfectly fine waiting a wk or 2 for another feeder shipment.
If your snake doesn't eat or refuses food. Something is wrong. The temps aren't right, the animal is stressed or maybe its in season.
the ultimate goal is for your snake to thrive and live for many many years. He/she wont live for many years if he reaches his growth capacity too early for the species. large constrictors can go past 10 yrs old before they reach monster status and in this case can live in the upward 20 and 30's years of age. Some reports of snakes in there 40s out in the wild. There in environment is in our hands now. We want to insure to give them the closest we can to there native homes :) most people have breeding in there minds or don't know any better which is why our animals are fed on a wkly bi-weekly bases. But (speaking for larger snakes) most anything will be prefect;y healthy and happy eating once a month!
just my 2 cents ;)

[kinggill]

All thst would happen is that you would dnd up with a fat snake, they are opportunisitc feeders in the wild, in captivity it is OUR responsibilty to ensure they dont overeat. Of course if you offer your snake food every few days it will eat, thats what they are programmed to do. In the wild they could go months without finding another meal so will eat as much as they can when they can. They dont know that in a week they will get another meal in captivity so will eat whatever tehy can and end up fat and unhealty.

Have you ever heard of "BABY"..the worlds largest Burmese python,guiness book of world record holder?That was my boss.... Lou Daddano's snake ......it lived to be a very old snake,i dont ever remember that snake having health issues....the only thing power feeding effects negatively could be breeding.

But hey raise your snake the way your comfortable with doing so...i have experience with many species doing it this way...every animal responds diferently

[Jendee]

The largest snake holder was fluffy a reticulated python reaching 24 feet died at 18 yrs old was extremely overweight!! No retic should be that girthy, poor thing hardly could slug around its inclosure. She even has huge rolls. You want your large constrictor to mantain a nice square musclaur body shape, with muscle definition an both sides and down the animals back, not a round flat spread out body. that shows signs of extreme obesity.
YouTube - WORLD'S LONGEST SNAKE, Guinness World Records 2011 , PYTHON, ON EXHIBIT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWbMWX3tO8o)
another one was at a zoo was a burm over 300 pounds and only 10 years old..if you see the snake in youtube videos it has no muscle tone at all just a flat spread out blob of too much girth. they even state that they fed her too much! and she says she sheds every couple of weeks an animal that size should not be growing that fast.

YouTube - WORLD'S LARGEST SNAKE BURMESE PYTHON BIGGER THAN BABY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41-Wt56ZhxI)

baby lived a long time but she is a record holder..not the norm shes a side show lol

this snake, not sure what it is but he is a big one and not happy lol but look at his body he was grown slow and properly and is in good body health because of it

YouTube - A very long snake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj3fQJkC1Z0&feature=related)

[kinggill]

Baby was 403 pounds and 27 ft b4 she died in Gurnee mills...i think that snake in the last vid is too skinny...the area back by the vent looks sunken in and the skin is hangin

[Jenn_06]

the last vid makes me jump every time lol.

[kinggill]

Jendee you are a Boa fan ...This was my Columbian "Molly" do you think she was too fat,i fed her the same way,every 3-4 days..

http://i54.tinypic.com/bgem4g.jpg

[Damion930]

What about colossus at 28.5 ft

[whoaxmary]

lol...well...
anyways - i fed ruby just now. not so much because of her weight issue but because of the way she was acting last night.. i wanted to make sure she still wanted food.
hopefully the fuzzy wasn't too big.. she picked it up and droped it a few times before finding the head end and from that point it took..probably less than a minute for her to swallow it. can see a lump now, unlike her last meal. hope i didnt feed her too soon. :S but she did pass her last meal so i'm sure it's ok..right?

[Jendee]

Jendee you are a Boa fan ...This was my Columbian "Molly" do you think she was too fat,i fed her the same way,every 3-4 days..

http://i54.tinypic.com/bgem4g.jpg

How old is she?? She looks good if you were gonna breed her boas need a little extra meat since they dont eat during there gestation. But as a pet Id say shes a heifer and could use a diet lol I really could care less, people are allowed to do with their animals whatever they want :) It's just hard to sometimes not comment when you hear of a zoo or petstore feeding their animals that way.

yes your snake is fine one time of feeding her close isnt gonna do anything its years and years of repetitive stuff that does the damage. IMO :)

[whoaxmary]

^.^ Thanks jendee.

[kinggill]

How old is she?? She looks good if you were gonna breed her boas need a little extra meat since they dont eat during there gestation. But as a pet Id say shes a heifer and could use a diet lol I really could care less, people are allowed to do with their animals whatever they want :) It's just hard to sometimes not comment when you hear of a zoo or petstore feeding their animals that way.

yes your snake is fine one time of feeding her close isnt gonna do anything its years and years of repetitive stuff that does the damage. IMO :)

She was 13 when i sold her,she was one of the many i wish i would of kept when i soldout....Ya I'll agree with zoos do overfeed,but thats how you attract customers,The BIGGER the BADDER the BETTER.... but do you think they are actually happy in a cage or would they rather be climing around were predators can snack on them...
This isnt a snake obviously but a animal that is known to get overweight in captivity ,in the wild you never see them as "full" as in captivity ....his one was cared for(if ya wanna call it that)the same amount of food every week,i almost puked when he was brought in,i adopted him ,brought him back to health but about 2 inches of his tail had to be amputated.....very sad...prolly should of had him put down but theres another debate...i didnt mean to high jack the thread,but from one extreme to another i feel underfeeding is way more damaging!!!!!

http://i52.tinypic.com/2czsk2f.jpg

[whoaxmary]

No worries about 'hijacking'.That's why I started the thread - to hear as many opinions as possable from people with different expereinces.

[Jendee]

That poor thing :( I see people underfeed there animals also. To me thats one extreme to the next both are just as unhealthy. I starving animal will die, and on the other hand an overfed animal will be unhappy and could have some health problems. Are you happy when your overweight??? I don't know whats the recommended feeding schedule for a monitor but it definitely wasn't being followed. It is really important to follow the guidelines of whatever species you do have, and get advice from several different people. Just because someone has a "authority" doesn't mean they always have the correct information. :)
I love threads like this good active opinion slingin lol its give me and others an opportunity to learn some new stuff!!

[Dave69]

going back to your corn, from those pics, it doesnt look underweight, there is good muscle definition on the spine, and had a nice rounded shape to it, rather than a triangular shape. Pinkies are a waste of time on a snake that age anyway, however, it might be that the snake is destined to be small, there do seem to be a number of 'dwarf' corns knocking about, i am not convinced they are true dwarfs, but they are ceratinly a lot smaller than a 'normal' sized snake.
Now that its on larger food, keep an eye on the weight, if its not gaining weight rapidly, as you would expect, then i would suspect that its just not a grower, and would be suited to more of a maintenance diet.