Bigger

Ok, I am sorry. I know I'm being annoying by now! I went to a couple of Pet Stores the other day, and that just arose some more questions! First we went to Pet Supplies Plus for Pinkies. I got some bigger ones to, YEAH! They had dead Anoles just laying in the tanks though! I tell ya man. How hard is it to look in on them every so often, and remove dead carcasses!? Ok, well then we went to Pet Connections. Yes, the one I got Jakers from. I know I'm bad. I still like to look at all the animals. I didn't PLAN on buying anything! I swear! We said no more Reptiles, but a couple we work with has Rats. We had been looking in on having some for awhile.

What sold us was being able to feed them a heck of a lot. If we couldn't make it to the Pet Store we could feed them some human food. Well we went and there were small Rats for 1.99. We bought two, of course! We MEANT to get two females, but that didn't happen! Honeypuffs is the girl, and she is white with light tan blotches, and red eyes. Ash is the boy, and he is black and white. I am happy that I got a male and female though because thats pinkies for Jake!! I read that Ball Pythons will take Mice, why wouldn't a Corn take a Rat pinkie?? We saw them doing the dirty deed the first night we brought them home! So she already could be prego! I guess we'll have to find out!! Its really my fault for getting multisexed because I wasn't really paying much attention. In good reason though!

I was holding the biggest Corn Snake I have held yet!! It was freakin awesome!!!!! The sign said it was an Oketee, but I know better from one of the posts I saw here about them. They are rare and only found in a certain region, yes? This guy was huge!! Four or five feet, and thick as heck!! In which case this inspired me and I want Jakers to get that big. Mostly because the Pet Store people said he might have growing problems. So what IS (if there is any) the formula for getting them bigger?? I know they can grow faster, and theres power feeding but is there a bigger formula??

is really the only way i know of to speed the growth rate.. But it is not really recommended. I think it is better to wait and let them fully develop at a more normal rate. If you intend to breed the snake that has been powerfed, it can actually stunt their growth if they breed too early. Just because they are big enough, does not mean that they are sexually mature enough.. Just my two cents worth... I have Burms and retics, and i have a 5 year old female Retic that has never been bred yet, but she definately is of size now, so i am going to breed my Super tiger to her this next breeding season... I would wait, i know it seems like forever, but it is worth the wait in the long run.. Besides, corns usually are ready by 24 months for females, and sometimes 18 months for males.. Good luck, whatever you decide to do... Mike

Thank You! I am not trying to be rude, maybe I misunderstood you? I am breeding the Rats, not Jakers. I just don't want him to be the injured "little" guy. I want to get him as big as he CAN get. The "Oketee" I held had and injury and he was still big. He was all orange with a white underside, no checkers or anything, and red eyes. I don't mind waiting. The Corn I held she said was 7 years old. It will take awhile, but I just hope he gets that thick. That Snake looked healthy and beautiful, but if he doesn't grow I will still love him to death!!! He'll just be my little guy.

Good luck with the Rats. I have been breeding my own Rats too, because of the prices of frozen.. If i only had a couple of snakes, i would just buy them, but with 20 adult boas and 5 adult burms and 3 adult retics, among all the corns and kings too, it is easier to have all the different sizes i need at any given time.. Anyway i am just rambling on.. But if you need any tips on your rats, i can let you know what has worked for me, not that i'm a pro, but so far so good!!! Have a good weekend.. MIke

i would never think you were rude... Mike

Well I do only have one, but I figured I could control the breeding and just have enough, ya know. I don't have a car so this works for me. I have great friends who do take me. I don't really think it would be an issue but just in case. Jake is my baby and I would never let him starve, and now I have the extra precautions! I figure my female will get breaks to since I only have one. I THINK I should be good. I will take you up on your offer though! Can you feed tomatoes to the Rats, and since I'm using the babies as feeders what should I be feeding them???? Like gutloading for your Gecko, whats healthy for Jake?? I suppose you would tell me feeding Mommy REALLY well would be good, but I am not quit sure what the healthiest diet is for her yet. I am kinda confused there are so many care sheets out there! Thank You very much!

First...as you described the "Oketee" corn snake as "all orange with a white underside, no checkers or anything, and red eyes"...that tells me that it's an amelanistic (or albino) corn...assuming it's even a corn snake. It could be an albino Everglades rat snake. They're generally bigger than corns. It wouldn't be the first time a pet store misidentified an animal...lol. There is no Oketee heritage anywhere in that snake.

Secondly...the best thing to feed your new rats is rodent lab chow. It has all the vitamins, minerals, and protein they need to grow big and strong. Yes, you can also feed your rats tomatoes and other veggies as treats...they like them too. You don't have to feed the baby rats anything...that's what mama is for...lol. There really is no way to "gut load" baby rats. You could dust them with a calcium powder before offering them to your snakes, but it's not necessary as they will get their calcium from the rat's skeletal structure.

Hope this helps

Scott Nellis

Kristin, I'm going to guess that it's going to be some time yet before Jake will be big enough to eat rats. Maybe you should get a pair of mice too, lol.

But from your description, the snake you saw in the pet shop doesn't sound like an okeetee corn at all, and Jake may not be able to grow that large. The only formula you need to grow Jake to a good, healthy adult size is good food and a healthy environment.

Yeah that sounds good to me. I knew it wasn't an Oketee! I have read the posts on it. I'm just not good enough to know EXACTLY what it was. lol It looked like a Corn, but frankly I don't know. I was hoping he could handle Rat pinkies? I have, well had two, a male an a female. The male died just this morning, and I actually got to hold him last night and he cuddled! I am so sad now! He died of a respiratory infection. They were my first, an I had only had him for four days, but I still feel pretty crappy. The Pet Store lady was dupid! She made me wonder though, and the Snake got me inspired. I really don't mean to be annoying. I just don't have anybody down here, your all I got. I don't even have pics! The lady said that moving them up in size sooner would help them, something like that? I know better though. I wouldn't move him up to quickly. Giving him that fuzzie just confuses the heck out of me!! He didn't regurge but it got me confused as to what I should be doing. I am glad I will have Rat pinkies though, it should seriously help! I want pinkies that are larger with tail. Every time I go to the Pet Store I hand select them, and annoy the crap out the Pet Store people. Oh well! Ok, I promise no more posts about feeding for awhile. I got it, I'm good. I just wish one of you could come over and explain things to me hands on. Ggrrrr. Oh well.