I have just recently acquired two corn snakes and their enclosures. I was told they are male and eat jumbo mice. I have no idea how to sex them visually and can’t probe them alone.
I’ve heard they can have more than just mice (although it’s a good staple), just trying to find treat options that are safe.
Mice are a good staple for them, but they can eat other prey. The only concern about changing up their prey is that they may not want to go back to mice if they like something else better. Once you’ve owned these guys for a while and have observed what sort of prey drive they have, you can occasionally offer quail chicks, African soft furs, or a rat of the appropriate size (although not too often since rats often make corn snakes fat). Some people like to imitate a ‘nest raid’ occasionally and give them a bunch of pinkies (again, not too often because pinkies don’t have much nutrition).
Oh and the tail being held up in the air looks very male.
Would you be able to sex the other once I get pics? That’s the bigger and slightly more friendly one lol
Also, what kind of body shape would you consider the first? It’s the fatter one of the two so it it’s perfect I know the second needs to come up, or if it’s a little big then the second is perfect. I’m used to ball pythons having a little more girth so this is new lol.
That tail looks male as well. Body shape, from what I can see (a full body shot would be best), looks pretty good. They are definitely a slender species compared to ball pythons! Since they are both male, most likely, and already adults, I wouldn’t feed them any more often than once every 2 weeks. The ideal body shape for an adult corn is sort of bread loaf shaped (if you were to take a cross section). Roundness, stretched scales (where you can see skin in between), creases or folds, a spine that is indented, or ‘hips’ (fatty deposits right before the tail) are all signs of an overweight corn. The opposite, being too thin, would be a more triangular shape with the spine prominently visible.
Sounds good! Jumbo mice still good? The bigger one does have a slight spread to him, just slight compared to the other. I’m told they were being fed every 2-4 weeks depending on availability of rodents. They were fed 4 days ago; so I should wait for the two weeks before feeding, correct? I am very excited to work with a new species! Especially such tame adults as these! I’m told they are about 3-5 years old and bought as tiny babies.
Jumbo mice are usually larger than what I feed my adults, even though they can handle them. I usually do a medium or large adult mouse.
I don’t have a corn snake, but I do have a black rat snake. She is a big girl (bigger than any corn snake I have seen or heard of) at 6’1". I feed her jumbo mice since she isn’t growing anymore and doesn’t need anything bigger. She could handle a small to medium rat more than likely, but doesn’t need it. I feed her every 2 weeks to every month depending on her weight. I would say they don’t need a jumbo mouse, and if you do feed them it, I would keep the feedings to once every 3 weeks to a month.
Thanks guys!! I’ll do 2 weeks this time to see if they will eat for me, and eyeball it after that!
I don’t know about sexing (I’m still learning myself) but for my corns I use rats exclusively. Find for adults it’s a good boost of protein and calcium than just mice. And you can feed one rat Vs several mice. Body condition and size suggests maybe feeding a fuzzy rat or even possibly a rat pup. I feed my adults who aren’t breeding (the females laying eggs) one rat pup every 2 weeks.
Of course keep in mind they do have a higher metabolism rate than say boas or pythons so you’d have to watch weight carefully and adjust accordingly.
Just to chime in, I’ve never had food preference issues with my corns. Granted, I only give them an occasional rat in place of their usual mice, but they’ve never refused mice after eating rats. Ball pythons are far more picky.
@7snakes gotta agree with them… Corns are just not picky. Especially established adults. Anything that remotely smells like food is food. Heck I have had a corn go after empty tongs just cause they are associating tongs with food.
Yup, that’s one of the great things about corns. I only have one corn that is a picky eater, the rest are all great.
I raise my own feeders but generally have rats more often than mice (because of course pythons generally eat more rats lol). Would chicken pieces be ok? I feed my hogs bits of uncooked chicken, chicken liver, turkey, etc. They only get those a handful of times a year (probably 4 times this last year) and very far apart. So apparently random assortments shouldn’t be a problem?
I think it’s fine as long as it’s not a staple in their diet. Their primary diet should be whole prey with all the bones and organs.
