Beautiful colours!

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I've got a corn snake jus over 3 foot , im currently feeding Him/Her Just 1 , One Day Old chicks every 7-10 days and it seems to be doing fine . I tend to feed it chicks because there cheaper , as adult mice are £1.50 , and One Day Old Chicks ARE ONLY 7 PENCE!! . The chicks are also a little bit bigger than the mice, I hope this helps

chicks have near enough no nutritional value in them what so ever, hence why they are so cheap to buy. chicks are normally fed as a treat or to snakes that wont feed on anything else. rats have the most nutrition in them if you can get your snake to eat rats.

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Hi,

I just came across this thread so sorry if it's a bit old. I have been looking for info on Corn Snakes as we are about to foster one for probably quite a long time for a friend who isnt able to keep her. She has been fed on mice only so far but I just read the post about rats being nutritionally better for her. Is it wise to try and change an adult Corns food or shall I just leave her as she is? She is about 9 years old.

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A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance,
and to turn around three times before lying down.

you can try her with a rat. she may take it or she may not. some snakes will change to a different food easily others wont. the best advice i can offer you is to buy 1 rat (the correct size for her to eat) (also only buy 1 for the first offering just incase she wont eat it, least then you have not wasted alot of money) and offer it to her the same way as the mouse is normally offered to snake and see if she takes it. if not there is no harm her staying on mice. i often give mine mice or rats to give them a bit of variety although i do offer rats more than mice.

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Thanks very much. I expect I'll be back with lots more questions before she arrives in a couple of weeks!

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A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance,
and to turn around three times before lying down.

Rats and mice give off a different scent, my snakes refuse rats and feed purely on mice, but like J-Dee said, some will accept rats, some will refuse. Mice are fine as a life long food source but by all means try her on rats, certainly can't hurt to give a little variety!

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100% agreed!

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how active is your snake? - after a meal is it still lively or is a sluggish??
also id like to point out that corn snakes aren't supposed to be chunky fellas, however the backbone should not be visible.

in my opinion - offer your snake another mouse - if he takes it them obviously he may require more food either on a regular basis or every other week, as my snake has escaped before and survived 4 months without a meal it wont hurt it.

What i recommend you do with a snake that is still growing is keep to one size food for about 4-5 weeks, then add the same size mouse(so you feeding it double). after 4-5 weeks increase the size of the food only feeding it one prey item, then again offer 2 of that size. This makes sure that the food item is not too big for the snake to swallow, whilst giving it a chose as to whether it wants to eat more, as my snake does turn down rats if its had its fill.

Hiya, thanks and all it's all sorted now. Jeff is on a medium rat every few weeks as he's fully grown now. he's doig well. elliot is on pinkies every 7-9 days. both doing well.