feeding trouble! + a few questions

[Metabolism]

Hello All,

My gf and I are new baby corn snake owners. her/his name is sora. we have had sora for a week exactly. The day I bought sora from my local reptile shop they told me s/he had just eaten the night before, a food lump was still visible so all was well. We waited a few days to handle her/him, and have been handling her/him daily ever since, they are only 10 min sessions mostly.

About 2 days ago I was cleaning his/her poop from the tank and noticed some next to the hide that appeared more solid and mouse colored(light pinkish).. not blackish like we've normally seen. Could it possibly have been from vomiting/regurgitating? or was it just snake poop?

As for feeding we waited until yesterday to try to feed sora. I placed her/him into a separate feeding container and attempted to feed it a live pinky mouse and she pretty much refused it, I'd almost say sora seemed a little scared, because s/he would just flee from it. I tried the dangling/teasing method too, apart from also leaving the pinky and sora alone for a bit. In the end she didn't eat so we placed sora back into the her/his tank.

Today we tried to feed again. We placed sora into the feeding container & the live pinky and this time I also tried to cover the container to make it dark, after reading some tips suggesting this, we checked back around 20 min later and sora still didn't take it. When I checked though, sora had pooped in the container(maybe from being scared? or stressed?) and also left some other yellowish/clear substance, not sure if its musk or what? here is a pic
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu252/eman4920/2012-01-0423-20-56762.jpg
so our first question is: Where do we go from here? should we just give her/him some time?
also we're thinking maybe the cold weather might be a culprit? the day temps seem ok 70-80 F, but the night temps are a bit cold 62-65ish at times.

Apart from the feeding another question we have is: what kind of snake is sora? here's a pic
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu252/eman4920/2012-01-0322-36-33292.jpg
The guy from the shop told me it was an albino corn, I did a little research and found s/he could be an amelanistic corn, because she lacks black, Is this right? or is there another name for the morph, seeing as the amel group covers a few diff looking corns.

Thank you to anyone taking time to read/reply.

These forums seem like a great place btw.

[bitsy]

Hi and welcome! Here are my thoughts on your questions:

About 2 days ago I was cleaning his/her poop from the tank and noticed some next to the hide that appeared more solid and mouse colored(light pinkish).. not blackish like we've normally seen. Could it possibly have been from vomiting/regurgitating? or was it just snake poop?
It could have been a regurge. As you bought your babe home with a food lump, that means that it hadn't finished digesting. Moving them around at that point does make a regurge more of a risk. However, they can also poop out partially-digested pinkies. I'd err on the side of caution if I were you.

As for feeding we waited until yesterday to try to feed sora. I placed her/him into a separate feeding container and attempted to feed it a live pinky mouse and she pretty much refused it, I'd almost say sora seemed a little scared, because s/he would just flee from it. I tried the dangling/teasing method too, apart from also leaving the pinky and sora alone for a bit. In the end she didn't eat so we placed sora back into the her/his tank.
Has snakey been eating live pinkies up to now? Most will be sold eating defrosted pinkies so your babe may not be used to seeing a live mouse.

The next thing I'd try would be to put the snake and mouse in the feeding container before you go to bed and leave them overnight. Sometimes new arrivals will be too nervous to eat unless they have absolute dark and quiet.

I'd also try and find some frozen pinkies if that's what s/he's used to. In fact if you have a look around this message board, there are real arguments for swapping them away from live prey as a live adult mouse can cause nasty injuries to an adult Corn (sounds daft I know, but it does happen).

Today we tried to feed again. We placed sora into the feeding container & the live pinky and this time I also tried to cover the container to make it dark, after reading some tips suggesting this, we checked back around 20 min later and sora still didn't take it. When I checked though, sora had pooped in the container(maybe from being scared? or stressed?) and also left some other yellowish/clear substance, not sure if its musk or what? here is a pic
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...3-20-56762.jpg
Looks like urates to me - part of the normal poop.

so our first question is: Where do we go from here? should we just give her/him some time?
I'd leave it three or four days before trying to feed again. If they start to associate food with being scared, that can be a real block to getting them eating reliably.

also we're thinking maybe the cold weather might be a culprit? the day temps seem ok 70-80 F, but the night temps are a bit cold 62-65ish at times.
This might be the cause of the problem. The floor on the warm side of the tank needs to be constantly around the mid-80s. If the temps aren't warm enough (or are too hot), this can prevent them digesting properly and might put them off eating in the first place.

Make sure that you're measuring the temp on the floor surface, with a digital or infra-red thermometer. Firstly, you need to be measuring the temp where the snake is. Some shops have the thermometers half way up the tank wall, which makes no sense as the snake isn't up there!

Secondly, make sure that you aren't using one of the plastic dial or cardboard strip type thermometers. They can be 20+ degrees wrong either way, which could be very dangrous for a Corn. The one my nephew had in his "starter" kit, didn't even move when the heat mat was accidentally unplugged.

Whatever heat source you're using, make sure that you have it regulated somehow. Thermostats are easier to use (set it up and walk away) but dimmers and rheostats work as well, although they need constant monitoring and tweaking.

Apart from the feeding another question we have is: what kind of snake is sora? here's a pic
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...2-36-33292.jpg
The guy from the shop told me it was an albino corn, I did a little research and found s/he could be an amelanistic corn, because she lacks black, Is this right? or is there another name for the morph, seeing as the amel group covers a few diff looking corns.
Anyone around here will tell you that I am absolutely no expert on morphs! But yes, to me s/he does look like a gorgeous little Amel. As you say, there's a lot of variation in Amel colourings, so you'll have fun watching how your babe develops over the next couple of years. Keep taking photos - you won't believe how different they look as they grow!

[AliCat37]

Bitsy has got you all the info you need :)

I was just going to add that 1. It looks like urates.
2. I have found that live pinkies tend to terrify baby snakes. Offer her f/t.

[starsevol]

Hi, I hope your baby eats for you soon.
Do you know if he/she was on live when you got her?
Everything that was said was things I would have said if I had answered first!
But please please even if your new kid was on live before, consider switching to thawed food. That poor little pinky is going through hell right now if it is still alive.....

[Christen]

Bitsy has got you all the info you need :)

I was just going to add that 1. It looks like urates.
2. I have found that live pinkies tend to terrify baby snakes. Offer her f/t.

Like the other two said I don't have anything more to say, Bitsy covered quite a bit but I agree with Alicat about the live. In my experience live seems to scare them more than help. I think live helps with feisty non eaters but not shy ones.

[Metabolism]

I appreciate all the quick and helpful replies, thanks everyone :)

I'm not exactly sure if s/he was fed live or thawed, but I suspect s/he was fed live pinkies because recently the shop only had live ones. I'll make sure to ask them though.

Bitsy, for those 3-4 days of waiting before feeding, should i be handling her/him?

[Christen]

No I wouldn't handle her at all. You can go into the tank to change the water but leave her be till you are able to get her to eat for you well. Generally it is recommended to do no handling for the first 5-7 days when you first get a snake.

[bitsy]

I agree with Christen. Leaving your babe in peace would be a good preparation for offering the next meal.

[Metabolism]

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone for all the advice. Finally got Sora to eat. We put her into her feeding container and offered a fresh thawed pinky. After she showed little interest in it, we got the idea to put her hide in there with her and the pinky in the hide. after 5-10 min. she got into the hide and we left her alone for 30-40 min. When we checked back we were very pleased to see the pinky gone and sora with a nice lump :)

[Christen]

YAY! Good News! Thanks for keeping us posted.

[bitsy]

Excellent news - thanks for the update! Always nice to have a happy ending to a query.