10 day mark of baby not eating.

[v00kimba00v]

My 3 month old has now not eaten in 10 days. He fed 5 days after he arrived, grabbed the pinky out of the chop sticks, tried to eat it from the middle but figured it out and gobbled it down without a problem. But he has refused the next two feedings. the second time i tried splitting the back, without effect. I'm not sure what to do. do i wait another 5 days to try to feed him again? 15 days seems like a long time. He wasn't sold as a non-feeder so i'm not sure whats going on. he doesn't seem duller then when i got him, but he's got red eyes so i don't know if i'd notice his eyes going blue... help.

[Forcedexile]

have you tried all the usual tricks with feeding? like chicken broth or cutting the head open a bit or leaving the snake in small dark place with the pinkie?

[Nanci]

Is he active in the evening, or is he hiding away?

[Cornelia]

15 days is not really a long time, don't worry too much yet. I have a stubborn amel baby that acted the same way at first. Give him 5 day of complete peace and try the deli cup method. Put him in a deli cup with a hot pinkie and put the cup in a dark quiet place. He should eat it within an hour.

Sometimes the shy ones won't eat in front of you unless they're starving. Use the deli cup for a few feedings and he should start eating better. That's how my amel started out, but on this last feeding she took the pinkie from my hand and ate it right in front of me.

[v00kimba00v]

I've been feeding him in a deli cup, putting him on the shelf below his cage with a paper towel over the top and leaving him alone with the pinky for a few hours. This last time I split the back as I've seen suggested on here. I was going to try braining the pinky next time. I haven't heard of using chicken broth, is that better than braining? How long can they go without eating before I need to get worried?

[Forcedexile]

i've heard of someone dipping the pinkie in chicken broth but idk for sure if it works better than any other method. i'd say brain the pinkie first and see what happens.

[beautifullywild77]

Chicken broth or Tunafish! I have heard those work as well as braining! Are you feeding f/t? If so you might try scenting first with a live mouse or with mouse bedding! My husband brought me a crimson for our Anniversary and he is really really shy and I couldnt get him to eat the f/t until I did the scenting with the live one. Good luck with the little guy!

[v00kimba00v]

i am feeding f/t, that's also what the breeder was feeding. how does the tunafish work? do you roll the pinky in it. I guess I've got the next 3 attempted feedings figured out... braining, c. broth, tuna. I'm not sure how to get a f/t pinky live scented without buying a mouse. How long can he go without eating before I need to get worried?

[Nanci]

I would just try a brained pink, as hot as your tapwater will go, in a deli, covered with a towel or whatever, in the evening. I would not hand the pink to the snake with chopsticks- you could be frightening it.

[bitsy]

As above, plus leave the snake with the pinkie overnight. Sometimes they need absolute dark and quiet before they feel safe enough to eat.

And Nanci's right - Corns rarely need hand-feeding, so probably best to avoid that.

[schnebbles]

I got a non-feeder from someone and she told me it hatched in August and she hasn't gotten her to eat, so that's 3 months on a brand new baby. I am going to try tomorrow (giving her time to settle in) to feed her. Usually my snakes eat right away but I put them in the bathroom just to give them privacy especially since i have 4 cats!

[Nanci]

I got a non-feeder from someone and she told me it hatched in August and she hasn't gotten her to eat, so that's 3 months on a brand new baby. I am going to try tomorrow (giving her time to settle in) to feed her. Usually my snakes eat right away but I put them in the bathroom just to give them privacy especially since i have 4 cats!

If you don't get it to feed on the first try I'd do a few meals of mouse tails to build up its strength. They are super-easy to feed- just cut off 1.5-2" of tail and feed fat end first. Many babies will go ahead and eat once you get about 1/4 to 1/2" into their mouth. If not, the tail slides right down and eventually the baby will start to swallow.

[schnebbles]

Thanks Nanci - fortunately I've got all sizes of mice in the freezer. If she won't eat tomorrow, I'll try again Sunday. She's very strong looking and active, drinks water and is so adorable, she yawned a few minutes ago and I was so tickled!

[dwyn127]

Could it possibly be ready to shed?

Something that's worked for me is to put in a deli and set on a clothes dryer for a full cycle, try feeding immediately. I tried this after sending numerous non-eaters to customers with their purchase only to have them eat after their journey. Go figure...:eatpointe

[schnebbles]

The dryer? hmmm, I guess that would be nice & warm! The breeder said sometimes they will eat when they move.

I did decide that since was so active this evening to try a small pink. She is in the bathroom in the deli cup, in her kritter keeper with only a night light. Last I checked no luck.

Should I rewarm the pinky and put her on my dryer? I am soooo hoping she eats b/c she is precious.

[AliCat37]

The dryer? hmmm, I guess that would be nice & warm! The breeder said sometimes they will eat when they move.

I did decide that since was so active this evening to try a small pink. She is in the bathroom in the deli cup, in her kritter keeper with only a night light. Last I checked no luck.

Should I rewarm the pinky and put her on my dryer? I am soooo hoping she eats b/c she is precious.

Have you tried cutting open the pinkies? I do that for my new baby and she eats great. I also leave them on the radiator for a few mins to keep the core temp HOT and they go crazy for them. You can always try picking up a live pinkie and see if she'll eat that, sometimes they'll go for live the first time and switch after that.

[schnebbles]

I poked a hole in the head, she is totally not interested. I know Joanna tried live, everything. I guess my next time I'll try tails. Do I hold the tail with the tweezers and hope she takes it or just leave tails in the deli cup?

I could pick up a live one easy enough if tails don't work. Or tuna, or cut pink in half. I don't want to force feed but someone I got my first ones from said she could help me if it comes down to that. I'll try everything else first though.

[v00kimba00v]

Huzzah! he finally ate. I was talking to a local corn breeder and she said that since he hadn't been a non-feeder before that the problem was probably with temperature. So I got a heat lamp and set it up above his covered feeding bin. I was going to wait til morning to check but I just couldn't stand not knowing and I peeked. There he was with a belly bulge acting like it was nothing. I really couldn't be happier.

[schnebbles]

Yay!!! I know the feeling my girl I got who wouldn't eat for the breeder just ate her 2nd meal with me! It's so exciting.

[12600]

Habitat setting for a new snake can be crucial, along with being in a unfamiliar area such as different tank and different decoration. And the and I hate to say some breeders will lie about them not feeding. My first and my third snakes were difficult to get eating. The first one After about 20-25 days i tried to force feed, it didn't take. Finally we had to resort to live mice. It still is on live mice, it used to like torturing it's prey before actually killing it. I was quite comical to watch. The other one I just made sure it wasn't stressed, gave it some security and set it up with a UTH we had and after about a week it took off.

Usually not feeding has to do with Temps, Security and stress (even tho the other two contribute to it, some people try to handle their babies too much and too soon.)

Double check those 3 stressers, try again in 3 days with it in a deli cup and left with a pinky over night. If that doesn't work try again in 3 days with scenting the with a live mouse.

Keep us updated.

[Hexadeci]

Congrats on the eating! No luck in my corner...

I see the deli cup recommendation a lot. Does anyone have issues with the deli cup stressing their hatchlings out? Mine never seems happy to go in and struggles to resist. Once he's in, he's immediately pushing the lid to get out and giving me "puppy snake eyes" to let him out. Ok, that last bit is sentimentality speaking, but still.

I tried putting him in larger feeding tubs/boxes, and so far he's been happy to go in, but then only interested in trying to escape. I tried putting in a hide, putting the pinky in/next to/out of the hide, but he's only using the hide as a ladder to fall off of. ><

I mean, not to derail, but the deli cup question is on topic I think. He was such a good eater too before the shed and regurge. Maybe he's put off by the fact of the pinky being cut up?

[Nanci]

that's why you cover up the top of the deli cup so he can't see out and then walk away for an hour. Once they figure out that they get to eat in the deli cup, they have the pink in their mouths before you can even set the deli down sometimes! It usually only takes one to three times of eating covered before they don't care any more.