Problems at feeding time

[icejd7]

OK, I'm dumbfounded ! I attempted to feed a pinky to my 1.5 month corn snake and several things happened. I've only had it for a week and it hasn't been very social.

First I thawed the pinky and when I took it out of the bag, it stunk ! Wow, it's my first feeding so I don't know if that's normal?

Then the little guy would go up to the head and flick it's tongue a couple of times, then pull away quickly, slithering around the tub quickly. On some occasions she would look as if she was yawning?

To top things off, I left her alone but still no eating. When I go to put her in her bin, she tries to take off from me and poops a yellowish thing on my shirt. This is not the first time she does it either. Well, needless to say, I'll try feeding her again in a few days.

So is her behavior normal described above? Do frozen pinky's smell? What does the yawning mean? Is the pooping stuff what we call musking??

[bitsy]

All sounds pretty normal for a new hatchling.

The yellowish stuff is musk and it indicates that she's afraid. She's not going to be inclined to eat if she's frightened.

We usually recommend that you leave a new arrival completely alone for a week - no handling and no feeding. They're very scared when they first arrive and they need to settle down and get used to the new smells and sounds around them.

They will think of you as a predator and so are likely to try and get away from you when picked up. It certainly won't be inclined to be sociable. The only way to combat this is time and patient gentle handling. They are likely to stay hidden away a lot at first. After an initial settling in period they might become more active at times of low or no light - dawn, dusk and overnight. However, Corns are not naturally active during the day so don't expect to see yours out and about much during daylight, even after they've calmed down a little.

For now, I'd advise leaving the snake completely alone with no handling or feeding attempts for at least five days. Repeated unsuccessful attempts to feed will only help associate the pink scary monster (you) with food - not something you want embedded in that tiny brain!

When you're ready to feed, put the hatchling and defrosted pinky in a small escape-proof tub and leave them completely alone overnight. Don't watch the process, don't peek in and keep checking. Sometimes they need absolute quiet and dark before they feel safe enough to eat.

Defrosted pinkies smell like... well, defrosted pinkies. I don't find it stomach-churningly unpleasant though. Depends how long you left it to defrost and what heat source you used (if any). If it's started to decay before it was frozen or after it was defrosted, then it would honk. Might also partly explain why the snake hasn't wanted to eat.

The yawning thing is likely to be her getting her lower jaw into the right position. As long as her mouth looks normal when she's at rest, I wouldn't worry too much.

[Nanci]

A quick easy way to thaw the pink is put it in a small cup under running hot water for a minute. Trying to thaw it in a bag is a PITA.