Down and out- damn!

Feeding- down and out- damn!

Greetings,

Yesterday was feeding day and 'ol Ichabod munched his pinky again without hesitation.

However, this was the first time we fed our new Okeetee Abigail. I checked her feeding box after 1/2 an hour and she had just about finished closing her mouth with the pinky inside. I left her for another 1/2 hour and when I checked again I saw her spit it out. I gave her a couple more hours but no go. I think it was a combination of things that caused her to do this. One, the disruption and two, the pinky may have been a bit too large for her (she's tiny).

Since this technically wasn't a regurge how long should I wait to try again? I'm going to the pet store today to find the smallest pinky I can get my hands on.

Thanks,
Jason

<EDIT>
I should also mention that she had eaten 4 times successfuly at the pet store and that it's been 10 days since his last meal.

I would treat it as a "real" regurge to be safe. If she's eaten before, then she's not in danger of starving to death or anything.
Next time, try giving her just a pinkie head. And leave her alone for longer before you check on her.
If you don't have any frozen pinkies, you can just buy a regular one, freeze it, and then snap the head off. Or ask for day old pinkies at the pet store- those are the smallest they get. I would personally go with the f/t pinkie head.

Iris,

Thank you for the advice. I think you're correct in treating it as an actual regurge. After thinking it over I'm pretty sure the pinky I gave her was just too big to swallow. I found a pinky today that's probably half the size of that one or smaller. I'll wait week and see how she does with it. I'll also give her more time to get it down before I distrub her.

Cheers,
Jason

Yep, agreed

And that would be at LEAST 7, and preferably ten days to be sure that it's recouped it's digestive juices. In this case it would seem that's not a risk, but I'd personally wait anyway. My 2 cents...

Thanks Chip,

I appreciate your expert opinion (and other folks) and I'm looking forward to having 'another' healthy Corn. Ol' Ichabod takes a whopping five minutes to down a pinky so I'm pretty sure the environmental conditions are okay. Our Okeetee is just so darn tiny (pencil thin) which is why I think the pinky was tool large for her.

What do you think about feeding only a pinky head? I found a really small pinky today- I mean really small so I thought I would try that next time and maybe even brain it?

Cheers,
Jason

Sorry if i've missed this anywhere but is she with your other corn if not then check temps or she may just be unsettled so wait the 10days but if she IS it could be stress - also i'd just avoid handling her during this period just to be safe, esp as I'm guessing they're like us when we're sick the thought of having your stomach touched and the discomfort it causes in general is just not nice but that's just my ASUMPTION.


Rachel

Rachel,

Our Anery and Okeetee are in differet viv's but have identical setups in the same room.

The Okeetee's certainly more alert and sensitive about being held than our Anery. The personality difference is very striking. Ol' Ichabod seems to be totally adjusted to being held and is always calm. Of course we've had him for almost two months now. Our Okeetee seems very nervous when we hold her and doesn't trust us yet. We'll just be gentle and respectful like we are with O'l Ichabod and I'm sure she will calm down with time. Also, I'm going to place a swatch of cloth with my smell on it in her viv and see if that helps.

I saw our Okeetee out and about last night looking for food so I'm pretty sure she's hungry. She was was very active in here viv constantly flickering her tongue while exploring her viv.

Cheers,
Jason

She may be hungry but don't be tempted to give her any thing, 5 or 6 more days hungry for your snake won't harm her.

Don't worry I have NO PLANS on feeding her for at least a week. As I mentioned earlier I found a tiny pinky for her so she should be able to take it down fine after her timout period.

I'm wondering if I should hold her at all during the timout though? Because she's such a nurvous nilly I'm afraid she'll be freaked out on feeding day when I pick her up to put her in the feed box if she hasn't been handled at all in the mean time (thus not eating again)? I was thinking of giving her a couple days to settle and then holding her for maybe 3 minutes a day.

Any thoughts?

Jason

if i was you i'd leave her alone totally through the time-out as she could be strssed a bit still when she eats leave her for the usual period and then try - i know its hard not holdin em it's like GRRRRR to me (like trying to quit biting your nails) but it's better in the long run.


Rachel

Greetings,

We just want to do what's best for our little friend. We'll wait the 10 days with no handling and feed her a pink. Waiting is indeed difficult and I really do want to handle her (regulary) to help her get past her fear of us. Waiting 10 days to do so makes me feel like we're taking a step backwards but I'm sure it's the right thing to do for her long term health and hopefully disposition with us.

Cheers,
Jason

I know the feeling my one's stopped eating so he's being left toally alone till next fri and to make it worse hes actually sitting out like playyy with meee, it's poopy lol.

Rach

It's great to see someone so anxious to do everything right
It may seem like it is a step backwards, but leaving her alone for 10 days won't make much of a difference in my opinion. For the time being, I think it's more important to make sure she's eating well.