powerfeeding or just hungry?

lanalizard · 12-30-02, 03:04 PM

hi guys...lately i have been feeding my 5month old snow male corn snake alot...i dont mean to power feed...
he is still on pinkies because i havent got any fuzzies yet.
I feed my 3 month old normal female corn 1 pinkie every 4 days cuz she is slow but my male insists that he gets 4 pinkies every 5 days..is this way to much? i dont wanna power feed but i dont want him to go hungry. please let me know

Jeff_Favelle · 12-30-02, 07:24 PM

No its not too much. Feed it as much as it will eat. Its a corn and it should grow so fast you can actually see it (well, not really

).

As for pinkies, they aren't really overly nutritious. You should get him on to fuzzies ASAP.

Make sure he has a nice spot that's 85-90F all day/night to digest all this yummy food.

Joe · 12-31-02, 02:31 AM

Jeff, corns can be over fed, dont feed it as much as it will take. I have corns here that I have gotten off people that have huge fat stores at the vent, I have tried putting them on diets and what have you, but nothing works, so far it hasn't efected breeding but who knows for sure... Corns are opertunistick(sp?) feeders if the opratunity is always there they will eat...also i have found that colubrids kept over 85f tend to regurge more frequantly.
just my 2 cents!

Jeff_Favelle · 12-31-02, 03:02 AM

Perhaps Joe, but don't mistake a corn that hasn't had access to the correct temps for a corn that is overfed. Researchers have clocked corn body temps to be 98F in the wild! Think that a corn that is basking at 95F is going to get fat? I doubt it.

BeHeMoTh · 12-31-02, 08:57 PM

wow you told him jeff

Jeff_Favelle · 12-31-02, 09:03 PM

Maybe, maybe not though. I haven't done corns for 7 years now, so I may be a bit foggy about their husbandry. But I remember feeding them as much as they would eat and I never had a fat one. And in all my years, I've never seen a fat one that had access to 90F, which is what they have in the wild.

I have seen stupid-looking ones that were given an 80F "hot" spot and they looked like crap. I think those people also mistook those corns as being overfed.

You'd be surprised how hot reptiles get in the wild. No wonder they always look emaciated and stuff.

Lisa · 01-01-03, 12:14 PM

I find our corns won't over eat. but we only have 3 and that's just a drop in the bucket compared to all the corns out there. But what we do need from krissy (lanalizzard) is info on how big the snakes are. if they're big enough to take a fuzzy then 4 pinkies isn't going to be too much.

lanalizard · 01-04-03, 10:18 AM

the one taking 4 pinkies is now 25-26" long....he is well big enough to take a fuzzy and i got some fuzzies the other day....so i am gonna try to switch him..thanks all.

Joe · 01-04-03, 09:48 PM

So Favelle told me eh? I have numerous Colubrids and I have always found that with heat in excess of 85F they regurge..By all means im no "EXPERT" like Favelle! but in my experience this is what happens,

marisa · 01-04-03, 10:19 PM

Just wanted to add my expiernce...

I am by NO means an expert and my snake collection is a small one. But what I have going is a rack that holds 7 snakes. The tubs are 36 inches long so I made the heat at the side, not the back. My hot spot is and has always been 90 then goes gradually down to room temp which is between 65-75. All my colubrids thrive with a hotter spot. I have had only one regurg from my snakes, and that was a snake in a tank and irrelevant to this.

marisa

Jeff_Favelle · 01-05-03, 04:13 AM

I never said I was an expert.

I just relay the info. What people want to do with it is their perogative. Just like lanalizard should read all the replies and formulate his/her own hypothesis and opinions.

And a corn that has access to 90F, as well as access to 75F (just like nature) will not regurge. It will simply go to the cooler temperature. If a corn has 90F and that's it? Well I would expect bad things to happen, regurging being just one.

Yep.

Hope_H · 01-05-03, 06:41 AM

I have 23 Corns. I'm in no way an expert, just an observation. I keep my hot sides at 85 steady, and my cooler side between 70-72. I have never had a regurge (knocks on wood quickly) I guess when we find something that works well for us, we tend to be careful of making changes.

lanalizard · 01-05-03, 10:46 AM

my 2 corns temps is at 85F-87F hotspot and 72-73F Cool spot and they are growing great! i have no complaints, i agree with Hope when she said when we find something that works well for us, we tend to be careful of making changes.

Tim_Cranwill · 01-05-03, 11:16 AM

Joe, I have my corns at 90F hot spot and 75F cool side and they never regurge. I'm not doubting yours do, but maybe there are other factors involved. Do you handle them too soon after eating? Do they possibly have some internal parasites?

Just some thoughts

Joe · 01-05-03, 01:48 PM

nope and nope, im happy it was said that what works for some doesnt work for others if it's working for you then don't change a thing, all i was saying is that it doesn't for me. now i have to say, i stopped replying to posts a while back because of know it all people, people that have done it all and think they know it all and think there way of doing something is the only way it can be done. The exact thing happened on another site, expirenced people and newbies were afraid to ask questions and answer them because they were afraid someone would jump down there neck, I would hate to see something like that happen here.
have fun and enjoy!