Not a Clue

[Dr.Phil]

:eek: :cry: Hi guys. I haven't got a clue as to what is going on w/ my "Dr. Phil." I got him/her free from a pet store 3 weeks ago because it wouldn't eat. The associate said it had been seen by a vet. The associate told me to feed it chicken baby food w/ a syringe and a long piece of tubing that should be gently slid about 1.5 inches down its throat! She also didn't know if it was a male or female or how old it is. She said maybe 8 months to a yr. or more! I guess they don't know the age of the snakes when they get them in. The snake hasn't ever eaten on its own! I got a cornsnake book, but it says euthanasia may be the way to go...Not an option! I have never had a corn or any other snakes before. I read baby food is a No! No! so I've been crushing frozen pinkies after thawed and force feeding him small pieces at a time once a week. I'm actually very proud of dr. Phil 'cause as soon as I sat down w/ him to use the computer, I felt a wetness on my shirt...He peed and pooped on me!!! YEAH!!! First evidence I've seen of that:D Yes, I sound crazy!. I tried to give him a dead pinky...I layed it in his cage overnight-didn't touch it. I heard of the pinky pump and I'm thinking of trying that.
The behavior seems a little odd too. He isn't very active. He sleeps /lays under the water bowl on the cold side of his cage most of the time, he's not active unless held, and he'll stay perfectly still, staring at his lamp for hours. What's going on?:confused: :crying:
Also, some other Q,s... how often do snakes shed? My snake is approx. two feet long...Any idea how old it is? Is it possible to over feed a snake?

[8Corn*Freak8]

hmmm....there are many baby corns that when they are born they just refuse to eat...its sad yes but it could be very hard to get them to eat. What i suggest is you take a dead pinkie and thaw it out. Then tank a small screw or a nail (this may sound a little weird but it has been known to make stubborn hatchlings eat) and poke a small hole in its forehead and scease some of the brains out and smear it on its head.............................................. .....if the snake doesnt eat after a few tries of this then i dont think it will ever eat. Im sorry but some baby snakes are just weird. As for the age i agree with the store clurk and its probably around a year old, it may be older though because it hasnt been eating good so it could be up to 2 years old. As for shedding, since its not eating good it may be up to 2 months before it sheds...if it starts eating good then it may only take 2 weeks! for it to shed. It all depends on how much the skin stretches from the snake growing. You'll know when the snake is about to shed because its eyes will turn blue..by the way what kind of corn snake is it anyway? And if you dont know do you have a picture? I would like to see the little guy :) Let me know how this works out and keep us updated!! :D :eatsmiley

[h0mersimps0n]

there are about 10-20 different "last resort" methods of kickin in that natural feeding instinct and I assure you people will jump all over this one.

I personally have hatched 4-5 bad eaters out of 35-40 total and most of those were "convinced" by a friendly introduction to a live anole that it was time to eat. I got 1 non-eater eating by rubbing anole tail blood on a pinkie, 2 ate live anoles and 1 never ate (and I gave to my local reptile pro).

I also purchased a "well-eating" Motley at one of the pittsburg shows that never ate (I'm never going to let this go) and despite my best attempt to force-feed passed away. Very sad.

I hope you have more luck than I did, it takes a lot of diligence and perfect timing in the way of keeping stress at a minimum and nutrition at a max...

[CornCrazy]

I have had the best luck with difficult feeders by feeding F/T anoles or anole scented pinks. I anole scent by rubbing the pinky around in a dead anoles mouth (I keep one in the freezer especially for this).

[h0mersimps0n]

oh yeah I forgot to mention my personal favorite trick, take a f/t anole tail and shove it in a pinkies mouth wide-end first and really secure it in there. Put the pinky in with your little guy and viola!

Give that a try first... good luck

[CornCrazy]

Homer,
I've tried that and didn't have any success with it. When I used the anole saliva, however, I get a much better response.

Dr. Phil,
All of the mentioned methods can be tried. You never know what might work for your snake. I wouldn't try them all in one day, however. It may be too stressful on the snake.

By the way, I have a hard time believing that your snake is that old. I have "tube" fed snakes before and it is hard to keep them alive for very long that way. Also, I hate to be negative, but if your snake is that old then it may be hard to ever get it feeding on its own.

[anny]

I don't know anything about force feeding and such, but I do know that my Ebba won't eat a mouse that is just put in the cage. She'll look at intently, like she "thinks" that it's a mouse, but unless I shake it or move it a little she won't eat it. If you hold the pinky in tongs or something, or even just with your fingers and "tease" the snake with it, maybe bump the pinkie gently against your snake to bother him/her a bit, maybe she'll take notice and go for it.

[Dr.Phil]

Thank you for your ideas everyone... some of the tips I've used already and they have not worked. However, I have not tried them all. Where can I get reptile supplies online at a good price? I'm interested in the frozen anoles, anole flavoring, and the pinky pump. If I am able to force feed the little guy do you think it will keep him alive? He doesn't regurgitate what I give him He pooped:D I'm really concerned w/ the way he sits in one place and is still for days. I'll think he died and so I check on him...He slithers around or coils up once I hold him. Are healthy snakes sometimes motionless for long periods of time? Also, He tends to stay on the cold side of his cage. when I pick him up he feels cold. He never goes to his heating pad. Is that normal?:awcrap:

[Taceas]

If you're not opposed to doing this, you can buy feeder anoles from www.lllreptile.com. They're low quality anoles that generally aren't suited to the pet trade, so they do come in handy for things like this.

When you get them they come in a brown paper sack. I'd try one live with him first just to see how he goes. Then I usually pop the bag in the freezer to euthanize the anoles. Once I'm sure they're dead, I place them in a Ziploc sandwich bag.

Like CornCrazy, I've had tremendous luck with anole saliva. Some of the snakes get interested in a pinkie rubbed with an anole, but don't act on that interest. All I do is open the anole mouth, and put the pinkie's head in and swab it around really good. Thats usually all it takes.

If it's that long it sounds like a yearling or more, but I don't think a snake could have gotten to that size without being a successful eater. I personally would try and find another vet and see if there's something else the cause.

And sometimes you just have to accept the fact that some snakes seem persistent to die on you, no matter what you try. =/

[CornCrazy]

I missed the snake's length before...sorry. I do think it is at least a yearling. I agree with Taceas that it probably used to be an established feeder. I really think it would be hard to sustain him/her by simply force feeding all this time.

Have you tried feeding it a rat pup instead of a mouse? Some snakes prefer rats. I have a couple in my collection that will NOT eat mice no matter what I do.

One more thing...I DO NOT recommend a pinky pump!!! I had horrible results with mine. I actually killed a baby snake using the pinky pump. I was using newborn pinks. The pinkys are hard to push through the syringe. A piece of cartilage from the mouse stuck through the esophagus of the snake. It broke my heart, and I've not used the pump again!

[MegF.]

You don't mention if you have hides for the snake. It sounds like he feels exposed and freezes so that less people notice him. Sort of like...if I don't move, no one will see me. My amel tends to hang out in the cool end, while my aztec likes the warm end of hers. No telling what they like. They should feel cool to the touch anyway. If they feel warm to you, they are generally too hot.

[slithering]

are you feeding live or frozen. frozen has no scent for the snakes instinct 2 pick uponas a live prey and as for frozen blah blah blah i personally dont allow it . a snake is gonna freeze his meal out in the wild why would he want it frozen in captivity. as for the food type i didnt get the size of the critter. i had a baby rat snake and fed it guppies 4 a while ( yes fish )im assuming that the little fella is small is the reason im saying guppies

[MegF.]

Snakes eat frozen/thawed just fine. Most of the breeders out there feed f/t, so your theory that they don't have enough scent and won't eat it is, well B.S. As for feeding rat snakes fish....well, I won't go there....

[Hurley]

I'll agree with the others that the anole's saliva really seems to get a stubborn hatchling's interest. A few years back I had a couple diehard nonfeeders. I got a big ole anole, set him up in a tank, and once every 5 to 7 days I'd dangle a pinkie in his face. He'd bite it on the face, I'd toss the (yes, frozen-thawed) pinky in with the hatchlings, they'd eat. When I tried pieces of tails, skin, rubbing pinky on anole, etc., they would sniff the pink half-heartedly, but never really got as excited as when they smelled the 'anole-bit' pinks. I got a fairly good response to rubbing a pinky inside a dead/frozen anole's mouth, but nothing like with the live anole saliva. They eventually converted to mice. Once they were good feeders, I sold them as pets.

Last year I had one that would not touch anything related to a mouse, at all, ever. She's run like she was possessed. She got started on pieces of newborn chick legs. She ate those until she got big enough to feed rat pinks to. She's never looked back. Just hates mice.

I'd try all the different scenting methods/live/frozen/etc. Hopefully you hit his hunger spot with something.

Good luck.

[Darin]

Umm..Slithering, you do realize that when folks talk about frozen rodents, they do thaw them before feeding them to the snakes, right? In your last post it kind of sounded like you think folks are taking mice out of the freezer and dropping them in with their snakes. Thawed rodents have plenty of scent, either that or my snakes don't care a whit about how the mice smell. Obviously snakes in the wild are not eating frozen mice, neither are mine. Snakes in the wild also get sick and die, I would prefer to avoid that with my pets. Feeding frozen thawed , f/t, helps kill harmful bacteria that the rodents might have. Not only that, but f/t feeding is much more convenient than always having to find live rodents.