helping a non-feeder

[halfwaynowhere]

one of my sister's hatchlings has never eaten. She hatched in august, so its been about two months. My sister doesn't have a lot of time or patience to work with this one, so has really only tried offering her a live pinky and leaving it in there overnight. I told her I would try working with her a little to see if i can get her to eat. She's so skinny compared to her clutchmates! My little guy is already eating small fuzzies! So, what are some methods I could try, starting with the simplest and least gruesome, preferable.
Don't know if scenting with a lizard would work, we've got uromastyx, bearded dragons, a leopard gecko, and tegus, but i don't know if any of them have the right scent, since none of them are from the same part of the world as corn snakes. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
She's still active and everything, just really tiny (not emaciated, though). All suggestions are welcome!

[halfwaynowhere]

just tried the braining method. So far, no luck. She seems less disgusted by it though, which is good. I'm calling her Princess, since she acts like she's too good for her food... Giving her some time, though. Hopefully this works... Next I'll try scenting with chicken broth. Hesitant about assist feeding, but if nothing else works, I'll give it a shot...

[halfwaynowhere]

She ate! She ate!
Just checked on her to find a satisfying lump in her belly! So happy she decided to eat! From what I read, braining usually does the trick, and usually they go crazy for it. Well, she didn't look like she was all that excited about it, but I guess it worked! Yay!

[Mina]

That is wonderful!!!! I'm so glad she ate for you!!!!!!!

[tweets_4611]

Awesome! I'm glad you kept it up. Good to hear that she is finally on the right track! ^_^

[halfwaynowhere]

I've bottlefed numerous orphaned kittens, and honestly, this feeling of success is almost as great as the feeling when you give a warm bottle to a hungry kitten. I'm just glad I was able to get her to eat, she's really pretty, and we wanted to hold her back, but my sister was about ready to give her away to someone with more experience with problem feeders. Glad we could save her, and this counts as another notch in the experience belt.
I'm going to be feeding her again in four days, braining again. after a few more feedings, we'll try again with live. Hopefully soon she'll catch up to her siblings.