new. need help

[brj833]

i just purchased my first corn snake this past saturday and dont know much about snakes. i have tried to feed it and it wont eat. the place i got it said it had aten a week before i got it and to wait a few days to try to feed it. i tried on monday with no luck. i found that the tank was too cold and have since added a better light. it is now around 80 on the hot side. i tried to feed it again yesterday and it still wont eat. it is young i believe they said it was a couple months old any advice is greatly appreciated. thank you, brian

[atmox]

Temperature can be a bit higher let's say 85°F. What did you feed it? How big is the snake? How big is the tank? How many hides has it?

[Rdoyle]

What kind of heat are you useing? they dont need light becouse of them being Nocturnality. A under tank heater is perfect. they need a week for the stress. Try not to miss with him or her for a week. try feeding again, not miss with him for 3 days

[OkeeteeMom]

Hi Brian,
Welcome to the Forum.
What kind of set-up do you have for your snake? Does it include something to warm it's belly, like an under tank heater mat (UTH)? This is important for digestion.
Does your tank include fresh water?
Help us to help you. :)

[Ares2010]

Welcome to the site. I was in your place too about a month 1/2 ago.. since then I have gotten another corn snake.. which is now my sisters but she lives in the same house.

Get an under the tank mat.. with a temperature control gage and it will be just about right...

make it around 85 on the warm side.. they need heat to digest their food.

Let your little guy settle in more and he will eat. Make sure the pinkies you are trying to give him aren't too big for him...

[Susan]

You have already gotten many excellent suggestions. I will just add one more. Try feeding your new snake is a much smaller container as some young snakes are just too overwhelmed in a large viv. A sandwich size generic tupperware container should work just fine. Make sure the pinky or fuzzy mouse (not sure just how large you snake is) is as hot as you can make it by thawing and warming it in the hottest tap water you have. Put both in the container in a dark and quiet place and leave them alone for at least a couple of hours before checking quietly to see if your snake has eaten. If not, leave him alone some more, over night if you have to.

[Kronos]

If you've tried everything else suggested here, and the snake still won't eat, you may want to try a live pinky. A lot of people don't like to feed live, and especially live pinkies, but it may actually stimulate the snake to eat. Then you could probably switch it to F/T fairly easily if you want.

I don't really want to start a long discussion about feeding live, but just wanted to add something else you can try if all else fails. It's better than allowing the snake to starve to death.

[brj833]

thanks everyone for the responses. i have one of those red bulbs to get the temperature where i need it. but after reading everything on here it seems like i should get one of those under tank heaters. also the tank is i think a 10 gallon the snake is young, they said 2-3 months old

[chris68]

If you get the UTH you can a) placed it directly on one side of the bottom of the aquarium and use a rheostat to control how hot it gets or b) place it unregulated on a tile and raise/lower the aquarium above the heat mat to get the desired temps. A ten gallon is fine for a young snake, and you'll only need the smallest sized UTH to heat it. Overhead heat tends to dry out a tank very fast vs heating from the bottom up...plus snakes don't fly so they really only need the bottom few inches of the tank heated...

Do that, let your snake get used to his new surroundings for at least a week (he won't starve) and then try some of the feeding tips suggested above. Good Luck :)

[brj833]

well it just ate

[xlevix]

If you bought it saturday you should usually wait at least a week before feeding. If you try feeding and he still refuses there are many many techniques mentioned here to try. Here are a few, Make sure the pink is very hot, wash your hands and the pink very well, brain the pink (penetrate the head and allow the brain matter to ooze out), zombie dance (move the pink around.

What worked for me was scenting with a green anole; its winter now so it might be hard to catch one but if you can catch a green anole freeze it first, then when you are ready to feed the corn, open the thawed anole's mouth and rub the pink with the anoles mouth.

[Dreamsnake]

well it just ate

Good! The best book to buy is Kathy Love's "Corn Snake Manual." I also have Don Sodenburg's "Corn Snakes in Captivity." Two excellent reads. Pet store advice isn't the best, trust the breeders and keepers.