Sleeping Patterns of Mice related to Human Interaction

Question
Hello Paul,

I have a traditional baby corn snake who is now 35 inches long.  I bought her when she was 12 inches back in March 09.  It seems like she has grown fast.  Is this typical growth for a corn snake (gaining 23 inches in just over 6 months?

I read your previous answers on feeding (5-7 days, large enough to leave a noticeable lump in his belly).  Regarding food, I have two questions.

First, the pet store (Vivarium in Berkeley, CA), sells 10 mice at a time to receive a discount.  How long can I store frozen mice in the freezer before they spoil or simply become not nutritious for my corn?

Secondly, I have about 50 pinkies that were born within a weeks span.  I let her eat 9 newborn pinkies all at one time and it didn't seem to create a lump of any kind.  They appeared to be like a snack because each pinky was smaller in length than her head or the same length at most. Is it okay to power feed multiple small mice to equal one larger one? And since I have so many pinkies, I will definitely need to freeze these mice at some point.  Should I freeze them at the size of a hopper or small adult?  The Vivarium says to be careful not to feed too large of a mouse, but I fed one male about 5 weeks ago who was 4 weeks old and appeared to be the largest of the mice (one mom and 2 males, 4 females), even its mother.  I was surprised that the snake ate it because it seemed so much larger than its head.  However, it stretched and worked its way around the entire body and swallowed it.  It seemed to shed again 2-3 weeks after its previous shed.  Is this because it ate such a big mouse and grew quicker, resulting in an early shed cycle?

Summary of questions:

1. Normal growth cycle?

2. How long can frozen mice sit in the freezer?

3. Is it okay to power feed multiple smaller prey to equal one larger one?

4. At what point (how many weeks old) should I freeze the new pups?

5. Do snakes shed / grow faster if they eat larger prey?

6. Can you over feed a snake if power feeding them?  Will the snake stop eating so I would know she has ate enough?

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Yes, the more often you feed the faster they will shed, so the growth cycle is normal. Frozen pinkies will last about 2-3 months in the freezer. Older mice that have fur will last longer. Yes, you can feed multiple small mice vs a larger one. Won't hurt a bit. Just try to step it up slowly so that you don't cause the snake to regurgitate. I would freeze the mice at various sizes so that you can build up a supply. As far as shedding, snakes basically shed when they outgrow their skin. So larger meals or increased smaller meals will cause faster shedding. You can't really overfeed a snake, but if it eats too much and the temp isn't warm enough for digestion, it could regurgitate, so just be careful when increasing it's food.