Exotic Pet Corn Snake Care Sheet: Feeding Corn Snake

Corn snakes,like all other snakes, are carnivorous. Meaning they feed only on the flesh of other animals. Corn snakes feed small rodents and sometimes lizards, although they have been known to take small birds from time to time. A pet corn snake owner, obviously, will have an easier time supplying his or her exotic pets with mice than anything else.

An active corn snake will eat every 10 days or so. It is recommended to feed your corn snake pre killed prey, especially if the snake has not been raised on live prey. A live prey may also turn on and attack a lazy snake that isn’t feeling too hungry and possibly causing severe harm to your pet corn snake.

When to feed a corn snake and how much

Hatchlings are started out with pinkie mice for feedings and as the snake grows, gradually increase the size of the prey by offering fuzzies, crews, then small adult mice or rat pinkies.

A young hatchling will eat a pinkie mice every three days or so. Gradually, as hatchling gets bigger; feed it every four, five or six days. Around the time it is getting out to six days, it will be swallowing down a pinkie in next to no time, so try it with another one just as the tail of the first one disappears. If it takes two pinkies ok, continue with this for two or three more feedings and then offer it one fuzzy instead of the two pinkies. It might look too large for you, but if the snake can swallow it without difficulty, it is not too big. If you feed too much at one feeding session, or feed a prey item that is too big, your snake won’t swallow it and will spit it out after trying. A general rule for food size is that up to 1+1?2 the snake’s body girth is acceptable.

After a several more weeks of one fuzzy, repeat the process you did with pinkies. When your corn snake swallows a fuzzy easily, then try to feed it with two. And after a few feedings with two fuzzies, try it with small adult mice. A full grown Corn snake can eat a medium to large mouse.

How to feed a corn snake

Frozen prey need to be completely thawed and warmed slightly before feeding. After thawing, place the prey on a small plastic dish and place the dish in the cage and leave the snake to it. If the snake won’t eat it after few hours, then remove it and throw it away.

Some snakes like their prey “jiggled” in front of them. To do this, pick the prey up by the tail with tongs (no sharp, pointy ends), and hold the prey in front of the snake for the snake to strike at.

Pet snakes that have refused to feed more than 2 times can be enticed into feeding by having the prey item slightly warmed, either by a heat lamp or soaked in warm water a few minutes before feeding. Don’t put it in a microwave, as they can explode. Another trick to try is “braining”, where you pierce the head of the prey with a knife point and liquid from the head exposed with forceps or tweezers. The smell of the liquid will entice your exotic pet corn snake to feed.



By: Avicenna

About the Author:

Avicenna writes various of articles about exotic pets, such as pet snake, Turtles and more

Corn Snake Information

Corn Snake Information
By Lorraine H O’connor

Corn Snakes (Elaphe guttata), also known as the Red Rat Snake, are native only to North America. They kill their small prey using constriction. There is a maize-like pattern on their underside, and they were commonly found in corn fields, hence the name “Corn Snake”.

Corn Snakes are popular pet snakes due to their calm and docile nature, unwillingness to bite, small adult size, colorful and intricate patterns, and they are very simple to take care of. They live about 15-20 years in the wild, however may live up to 23 years in captivity. Similar to other rat snakes, the Corn Snake is not venomous.

The Common Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata guttata) comes from the southeastern United States, and is notably easily distinguished by its orange/brown appearance with a mix of orange/red bands. These bands have black borders, and commonly have an underside which is black and white. Being one of the first snakes to be kept in captivity by people, the Corn Snake continues to be one of the most popular snakes used as pets. Annually, large numbers of Corn Snakes are bred to make sure that there is a large supply of captive-bred Corn Snakes. Keeping 2 of these Snakes together is inadvisable, as they are solitary animals.

These snakes are a very good choice of pet for those wanting to have an exotic/reptilian pet. They still need a large amount of care and looking after, but not as much as other species. Make sure their diet is supplemented and that you have a good insurance provider in case anything goes wrong.

Here is a site I recommend:- http://www.pet-insurance4you.co.uk/exotic-pet-insurance/

Here is some more information on MBD:- http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/reptilesgeneral/a/metabolicbd.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_H_O’connor
http://EzineArticles.com/?Corn-Snake-Information&id=2330354

Common Snakes Species To Keep As Pets

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