cornsnake/feeding

Question
my husband and i received a corn snake wed.sept 6th and was told to feed him a pinky on sat night... the snake is about 16-18 inches long and about the size of a pinky finger.  questions..   how often should we feed?  what are feeding habits when shedding? and last when can it be held again my children want to hold it but i am uncertain?... oh yeah ...this is my first snake and i was also wondering boy or girl -how to tell????lol

Answer
If it's 16-18 inches long it sounds more like it's a yearling and not a 2007 hatchling. In which case I would suggest feeding it a fuzzy or hopper size mouse. Whichever size you feed, the mouse should make a small but noticeable bulge in the snake's belly and disappear after 1-2 days. I would feed it once a week except when the snake appears to be going into a shed cycle (normally they won't feed at this time anyway). It should be fine for your kids to hold except for about 24-48 hours after feeding (it could regurgitate). As far as boy or girl, this is done by probing with an instrument or "popping" the hemipenes. Both need to be done by a vet or someone experienced doing this.