Corn's size - What can I feed them?

Corn's size - What can I feed them?

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:37 am

I finally received my first corns on Friday. I bought a breeding pair, that is supposed to breed this season. What bothers me is the size of the male. He's almost 60cm in lenght. Will he be able to fullfill his duties as a husband, or hasn't he reached puberty yet ? I'm waiting for them to shed, before I'll start feeding them. The other problem is, that I bred some rat pups that are almost the sixe of grown mice. Will he be able to swallow that? I was under the impression that they are more than a metre in length. The female is about 80cm
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Postby Gabi » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:35 am

Males are usually smaller than females. I have a male that is now over 2yrs old and he is only about 50-60cm.
Artificial intelligence usually beats real stupidity.
User avatar
Gabi
SA Reptiles Honorary Member
 
Posts: 1075
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:25 am
Location: Gauteng

Postby Bushbaby » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:51 am

Hi,

The snakes do sound a bit small, but I got some eggs from my one cornsnake last year, which was only about 60 cm long, and she was only a year old. She was transported with a male when I got her, and for the rest of the time she was on her own as I did not intend on breeding them.

It is better to feed them up a bit as it does take a lot out of a snake to breed. Alternatively you could try them and see what happens.
http://www.snakebiteassist.co.za
http://www.reptileexpo.co.za
http://www.boaconstrictors.co.za
User avatar
Bushbaby
SA Reptiles Admin
 
Posts: 10592
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:04 am
Location: Pretoria

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:12 am

Won't a rat pup of 2 weeks old be a bit large for the male?
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Postby Bushbaby » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:22 am

If it looks to big, yes. It can only swallow summink about twice the size of the thickest part of their body. Possibly day old rat pinks would be a better bet.
http://www.snakebiteassist.co.za
http://www.reptileexpo.co.za
http://www.boaconstrictors.co.za
User avatar
Bushbaby
SA Reptiles Admin
 
Posts: 10592
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:04 am
Location: Pretoria

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:30 am

I have some mouse pinks. I'll just give him 5 or so
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Postby Bushbaby » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:35 am

Don't you have fuzzies or weaned mice? If you are planning to breed your female, you will need to supplement her diet with calcium. Feeding pinkies and fuzzies is not the way to go, for the female as they do not have a lot of calcium in their bones.

Feeding weaned mice would be a better idea.
http://www.snakebiteassist.co.za
http://www.reptileexpo.co.za
http://www.boaconstrictors.co.za
User avatar
Bushbaby
SA Reptiles Admin
 
Posts: 10592
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:04 am
Location: Pretoria

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:41 am

I have rat fuzzies (2 wks old) and adult mice. I'll get some weaned mice. Can you suggest a calcium supplement that I should use?
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Postby Corncrazy » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:42 am

A rat pup that age sounds fine,my yearlings eat that size so im sure there wont be a problem. My males are usually bigger than my females, my one corn was about 80cm in length and had perfect eggs, just remember to feed them up nicely after they have laid eggs :wink:
Dayne
Corncrazy
SA Reptiles Support
 
Posts: 664
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:05 am
Location: JHB

Postby Bushbaby » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:48 am

reinhard wrote:I have rat fuzzies (2 wks old) and adult mice. I'll get some weaned mice. Can you suggest a calcium supplement that I should use?


You get calcium powder, Iguana Cal, but you have to dilute it and inject it into the food item. Repti Ripoff has an excellent calcium as well, which works very nicely.

There is also a liquid calcium available on the market. Some petshops sell that. It works nicely as it is already in liquid form.
http://www.snakebiteassist.co.za
http://www.reptileexpo.co.za
http://www.boaconstrictors.co.za
User avatar
Bushbaby
SA Reptiles Admin
 
Posts: 10592
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:04 am
Location: Pretoria

Postby Gabi » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:58 am

You can also use the powder form just dip the backside of the mouse in water or egg white and sprinkle a bit of powder over them.
Artificial intelligence usually beats real stupidity.
User avatar
Gabi
SA Reptiles Honorary Member
 
Posts: 1075
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:25 am
Location: Gauteng

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:01 am

Thanks for the response, I'll start phoning every petshop in a 150km radius now. Maybe I'm lucky. Anybody know of a nice petshop in Centurion, where I can buy these products. I'm going there at the end of this month.
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Postby Bushbaby » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:05 am

Yes, I'll pm you some details.
http://www.snakebiteassist.co.za
http://www.reptileexpo.co.za
http://www.boaconstrictors.co.za
User avatar
Bushbaby
SA Reptiles Admin
 
Posts: 10592
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:04 am
Location: Pretoria

Postby -CAL- » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:09 am

Dont worry about the size of the male, smaller is better.

Some female corns can produce eggs at that size, but i would suggest that a length of 1m be achieved before deliberate breeding.
User avatar
-CAL-
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 109
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:06 am
Location: Durban, KZN

Postby reinhard » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:48 am

It seems the vet will get me some supplements.
reinhard
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Bloemhof

Next

Return to Corn snakes (Pantherophis (Elaphe) guttata)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

cron