Feeding Trouble

I just got a baby corn snake about two and a half weeks ago and I have not been able to get her to eat. I've tried leaving the pinkie in the viv with her, I have also tried leaving her in the cup i brought her home in with the pinkie and tried slicing open the head of the pinkie. She still will not eat.

I have her in a five and a half gallon viv with a rock hide, a water dish, and I try to keep the temp around the mid 80s.

Any suggestions. Oh, I have been using live pinkies. The place were I get the mice doesn't sell f/t mice.

do you kill the pinkies before slicing their heads open??? just curious

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

I just got a baby corn snake about two and a half weeks ago and I have not been able to get her to eat. I've tried leaving the pinkie in the viv with her, I have also tried leaving her in the cup i brought her home in with the pinkie and tried slicing open the head of the pinkie. She still will not eat.

I have her in a five and a half gallon viv with a rock hide, a water dish, and I try to keep the temp around the mid 80s.

Any suggestions. Oh, I have been using live pinkies. The place were I get the mice doesn't sell f/t mice.

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Whoa on the brain surgery:eek: .When you bought this snake did you leave her alone undisturbed for at least a week? If not then i suggest you place her in her enclosure and totaly leave her alone for the next 7 days.Only enter her enclosure to change the water or clean up poo.If you did leave her alone for the first week,was she eating before you bought her? Did she come from a pet store or a breeder? How often are you offering her food? Please answer these questions for me and i will help you further.

I did not really leave her alone for the first week. The people I bought her from say you only have to leave the snake alone for 24 hours before offering food. I've done alot of research, and did end up leaving her alone for about five days before offering her food again. I assume she was eating before I bought her. I got her from the East Bay Vivarium, who is the biggest retail store/breeder in my local area. I bought an adult corn from them and haven't any trouble from him. I've only been trying to feed her once or twice a week, usually three or four days apart.

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

I did not really leave her alone for the first week. The people I bought her from say you only have to leave the snake alone for 24 hours before offering food. I've done alot of research, and did end up leaving her alone for about five days before offering her food again. I assume she was eating before I bought her. I got her from the East Bay Vivarium, who is the biggest retail store/breeder in my local area. I bought an adult corn from them and haven't any trouble from him. I've only been trying to feed her once or twice a week, usually three or four days apart.

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Please do not take this as its towards you.Add them to the knotheads giving false advice.Any snake needs to be left alone for at least a week after you place them in there new home.Especially babies.Start right now please leaving him totaly alone for the next 7 days.Only disturb him to change his water.At the end of the 7 days(next Wednsday) place him in a small container(holes for air) along with a live pinky mouse.Then place the container inside his enclosure (not on the heat source)with them inside of it and leave them alone for a half hour(no peaking).After this half hour is over check on them.If she has not eaten yet leave them for another half hour.If she has still not eaten after this whole hour contact me thru a pm or just post here and i will help you from their.If i do not respond to your updated post next week send me a pm.If you give me a chance and follow my advice to the T i will give you every trick i know of and we will get her to eat ;) .

i've had quite a few baby corns... and honestly, some just take a bit longer to get back on food when they transition into a new home. take joe's advice and leave your corn alone for a week. then to give it more comfort and safety, instead of taking it out of the enclosure to feed it, put a plastic see through container on it's side and place the live pinkie in there (live is best). leave the pink and the snake alone... go back after an hour and see if it's eaten. if it hasn't then take a look to see where the snake is and move the plastic container close to where it is and leave the snake alone again.

if your corn doesn't eat after two hours... leave your corn alone for another 5 days and repeat this process. i've had corns wait 3 weeks before feeding but none have gone longer than 3 weeks.

i suggest you visit kathy love's site for additional info.

http://www.cornutopia.com/Corn%20Uto...cornsnakes.htm

Tried what you asked Joe. She still hasn't eaten.

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

Tried what you asked Joe. She still hasn't eaten.

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OK leave her alone for 5 more days and freeze the pinky you attempted to feed her last night.Place the pinky in a normal freezer bag.On Tuesday take the pinky out of the freezer at least 6hrs before you plan on trying to feed your corn.I just leave my frozen snakey dinners set out for several hours to totaly thaw out.If the pinky still feels frozen wait another hour before using it.Once it is totaly unfrozen place it in the container(same as before) and leave them alone for a half hour.If still uneaten try another half hour.If she has still not eaten seperate them and place snake in her enclosure.Sometimes baby snake are just plain freaked out wondering what that thing moving is.If this does not get her to eat i have one more trick to get them to eat left.Please do not get immpatient and not trust me.I am going thru this same problem with one of my corn snakes(the female het lava & ice) and i had to go thru these same steps with her.She is now being forced feed in hopes she gets a clue and starts to eat on here own.I do NOT recommend you doing this stage with your corn,this is not my last trick as i stated above.I will be looking for your update Tuesday or Wednsday.

She still didn't eat, but she did show a little bit of interest in the f\t pinky.

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

She still didn't eat, but she did show a little bit of interest in the f\t pinky.

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Darn:( .Please try the frozen thawed pinky again in 4 days.This time leave her alone for an hour,maybe she saw your shadow or something and thats why she stopped showing interest in the pinky.If after a hour she has not eaten place he in her enclosure.The only trick i really have left is to assist feed her,but i would prefere not to have you try this since she shows some interest in the pinky.Let me know

She still didn't eat, but I didn't have very much time when I tried, and so I used a hair drier to thaw the pinkie faster. I will try again soon. The mouse I was going to feed to my other corn looks very pregnant. I will grab her babies and try to feed them to my reluctant feeder.

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

She still didn't eat, but I didn't have very much time when I tried, and so I used a hair drier to thaw the pinkie faster. I will try again soon. The mouse I was going to feed to my other corn looks very pregnant. I will grab her babies and try to feed them to my reluctant feeder.

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Darn it :( .Yea give the try with the newborns just let mom feed them for awhile.This way your snake will also absorb that :) .

Just wanted to share my experience. My anery was on a hunger strike for 6 weeks, and Joe really helped me out. I found that after i thawed the pinkie and ran it under hot water for 45 seconds she became really interested. Not sure if it will help you, but it might be worth a try. :D best of luck!

The first thing I would do would be to give EBN a call and let them know your problem...they should be very helpful and have several suggestions for you.


Assuming that all other husbandry conditions are suitable, try washing your thawed pinky with some mild liquid soap. This sounds strange but I have had an excellent result getting my non feeders start eating like champs after this. The theory is that it takes away the smell of the mouse and is not as intimidating for the snake...I know sounds weird, afterall, we think that our snakes love the smell of mice.


I understand that you have a container that you purchased your snake in...maybe a deli cup? If so, wash out the container as well...think sterile here, like what you would expect a scientist or a doctor would do in a lab. Place the washed pinky (the smallest that you can find) in the washed container and quickly place your snake in and put in a dark area...leave overnight (assuming that youre feeding in the evenings). Please continue to keep us updated as to the progress of this little guy...feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this or other feeding techniques.


Hope this helps,

JT

I tried a frozen pinkie after warming it up under hot water. She didn't show much interest, but I haven't checked on her since last night, so I'm not sure if she ate or not. She is not housed in the house where I'm currently living and its a bit of a drive to check on her. I will check on her tonight.

Correct EBN, meant to say "give EBV a call"...



Hope this works out for you,





JT

Well, I just called the guy that lives where my little girl is being housed and apparently SHE ATE!!!!!!!!!:carrot: So, I'm thrilled, and we will see if she takes the next pinkie I offer her in a few days. So, fingers crossed, I hope we got her over the major eating hurdle.

Congrats on the successful feeding. Just make sure to duplicate whatever worked to make her feel secure enough to take her prey. Also make sure to give her sufficient time for proper digestion before the next feeding and no handling....the last thing you need is a regurge.

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Originally Posted by neoskaura

Well, I just called the guy that lives where my little girl is being housed and apparently SHE ATE!!!!!!!!!:carrot: So, I'm thrilled, and we will see if she takes the next pinkie I offer her in a few days. So, fingers crossed, I hope we got her over the major eating hurdle.

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Congrats:cool:

She's still eating. So, I'm now a happy snake owner. I thank everyone for their concern and help in getting her to eat. I'll post some pics of her and my male snow as soon as I firgure out how to.

Great news. Glad to hear it.

glad to hear you got him eating! I do have a quetion though...about running the rat under hot water.
I have always heard that it takes away from the "ratty" smell, and that you should put them in a baggie, and then run them under hot water, not directly under it..
am i wrong, or is it just an opinion thing?

I do it either way depending on how I feel that day, but I haven't noticed a difference in feed response.

Oh yeah, I just put up my avatar! Its my favorite picture of my male snow.

I would think that it would, but they still have sight and heat in that case to hone in on, and i highly doubt you are gonna wash away all the smell even if you really try. But the odd thing is, on of the suggestions i hear for trouble corns is to wash the pinky in a mild soap before attempting to feed, so who knows.

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Originally Posted by Amy1217

glad to hear you got him eating! I do have a quetion though...about running the rat under hot water.
I have always heard that it takes away from the "ratty" smell, and that you should put them in a baggie, and then run them under hot water, not directly under it..
am i wrong, or is it just an opinion thing?

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i don't think so cause i thaw all my f/t mice and rats in a bowl of water... and they are all eaten with gusto!