New Corn babies who wont eat :(

[Bug22baby]

Hello Everyone I just bought my first two baby snakes last week one albino and one snow corns. I went and picked up some pinkie ice for them and tryed feeding them I placed each in seperate containers with a mouse and they just curl up on the other side of the container I left them that way for a hour hopeing they would eat. Any advice or is that normal? I just wanna make sure there healthy and happy. Thanks Amanda

[Rachel]

Hey Amanda,
You maybe just need to leave the new arrivals a bit longer to settle in. Just leave them be (no disturbing them apart from fresh water) for another week. I let my newbies acclimatise to their new surroundings for two weeks before I even take them out to have a proper look at them. It's difficult ;) Offer food to them next week, they should be ready by then! Good luck with your new babies! :D

[gardenmum]

I agree with Rachel that they may need some more time to acclimate. I would like to add....how large of a feeding container are you using? If you are using something larger than a little deli cup, try using a deli because if they have enough room to move into a corner well away from it they will. The deli is small enough for the baby to be pretty much on top of its food and more apt to get its interest. Also, you can try putting their food at the entrance of their hides at night. Some babies prefer to eat in peace at night.

Another thing you can try if they are in small containers and still not eating later on is braining the mouse, this is cutting open the head so the brain matter is exposed and is much more tempting for them.

There are other methods to try also. Try doing a search on the forum for 'non feeders' and you will find lots of threads with info to help you out.

Good luck.

[predaza]

my baby snow just ate yesterday after 4 weeks of having no interest at all.
leave your new babys for a week and then try a braind pinky ;) thats wot i did anyway, and if it doesnt eat after a week dont get disshartend they will be fine as long as they have water.
try again every week until they eat.

i allso found that my snow was to shy to eat in a seperate container so try instead offering the pinky on a small flat piece of wood or paper inside the viv

oh and if u are using a lamp turn it off at night (corns are naturally more active in moonlight) and if ur snake is very active and searching it may be hungry but still DONT feed it before a week has passed

hope that helps:)
Aaron

[predaza]

why do threads just suddenly stop when i reply:awcrap: lol

[hockeystop]

I'm glad I found this thread. I just got five newborns and only 1 ate. I waited three days before trying to feed them. I noticed the one that did eat had shed last night. Do you normaly have to wait until after the first shed to feed? I remember hearing that someplace, but I didnt find it in Kathy Loves book.

John

[bonzor]

I was told to wait until they shed and then feed them. This is what i did and 4 of 5 hatchlings did feed right after they shed.
But i haven´t read it in any book, just find out from other breeder.

[hockeystop]

Ok cool thanks for confirming that. Sometimes you get mixed information and you dont know the truth from the bs. I dont want to stress these four out. I will wait until they shed and try again.

[CornCrazy]

I would wait a few days after they shed. I get better results that way.

[hockeystop]

Well I got another reluctant hatchling to eat last night so I am a lot more optimistic. I offered the four that had not eaten brained frozen pinks last night. I noticed my male ghost shed last night, but he didnt eat. I will give him a few days. The female ghost did eat, so I guess she had shed before she was shipped. Unfortunately I am not sure if the rest of these hatchlings have shed already or not. (They are all from different clutches) So I guess I will try alternating methods every few days.

The breeder recommended I keep trying every few days since she held some of the snakes longer than the others until my order was complete. I am going to try scented live pinks next and hopefully the remaining three will eat.

[MegF.]

Another suggestion( if you can handle one more) is to make sure that the f/t pinky is quite warm. Live prey normally has a body temp of around 100-101 degrees F. I found that my snakes had rather lackluster eating habits unless the mouse was warmed up real well.

[hockeystop]

Thanks for the suggestion Meg. I can handle all of the suggestions you got and I really appreciate the help. The breeder recommended I give some live pinks a 15 min romp in some deer mice litter. As soon as I get that in the mail I will give that a whirl. My next go around I will try the frozen brained pinks, but I will heat them up a little before.

This saturday I'm going to a show in Ventura and I will see if they have Lizard maker there. That worked on my 99 Amel when she was a hatchling. I am pretty confident about 2 out of three remaining. They seem quite vigorous. The charcoal however looks like she was the runt of her clutch and Im not sure if she will make it.

I got these snakes on an out of the egg sale, so I am not complaining. I actually like the challenge and I appreciate all the support I have received on the forum and from the breeder.

[hockeystop]

Just an update for any following this:

I got the male ghost to eat a pink dosed with lizard maker last night. So just two more left out of the five to go. I checked and found out the hatch dates for them all and Im a little concerned since the oldest of the bunch hasnt eaten yet. He is the largest, but he has refused live, frozen/thawed, brained and scented. I guess I will try to chop a pink up into pieces and see if that works. The youngest also hasnt eaten and looks feeble. I will continue to try to feed her, but I don't think she will make it :(

[ghosthousecorns]

I was wondering if you have the corn snake manual did you read the section on tease feeding? It takes patience but it worked really well for me last year. Hold the snake in one hand and bump its sides (not head) with the pinky and if you are lucky the snake will strike at the pinky. Sometimes it takes a couple of strikes before they latch on but when they realize it's a food item they will swallow it. ( You have to hold really still when they are deciding whether to 'keep' it. )
Hope that helps.

[hockeystop]

Thanks for the reply Shed'n. I do have the Cornsnake manual, but I havent got to that one yet. I actually bought these hatchlings from Kathy Love and she recommended today that I try putting a hole in the brain first and getting some juice to come out. I have been beheading them and not doing this step and she thought I should try that first, then on to tease feeding for the caramel and force feeding a tail for the one thats looking lame atm. She initially recommended beheading them and I thought that it was the same thing as braining them, but I guess its different.

[hockeystop]

Well the "brained" pink didn't work on the stubborn caramel. However I decided to buy an anole along with the pink and he ate that pretty quick. Lizard maker scented didnt work on this guy, and rather than tease feeding I decided to just give him an anole. I assist fed the Charcoal a hopper tail and that was rather tedious. She took about 3 or 4 chomps and just stayed like that for about 20 minutes. She tried to regurge it when I set her down, but it wouldnt come out so she decided to chomp it the rest of the way and swallow it.

Good luck to any of you that are having similar issues. :)

[hockeystop]

Well everyone is eating including the charcoal so I am psyched!

[niblips]

Thanx for keeping us up to date on your progress. Not only does it let us know the situation, but it will also be a great post for people who have similar problems in the future as it has a beginning, and middle, and a happy ending.

Also, I grew up in Brantford Ontario, Gretzky Rocks!

[Kristel]

Im about to get my first snake any advice on how to switch a 1 month old hatchling from live pinkies to thawed

[hockeystop]

I would try to find a pet store first that has frozen and just buy one before you go and buy 50 or 100 and find out it may not like them. If it eats the one ok you can buy them a lot cheaper in volume online. Frozen pinikies only take a couple hours max to thaw. Some people like to heat them up by putting them in a bag and putting the bag in warm water. If you only have the one hatchling keep in mind he will move on to fuzzies after a while so don't buy too many frozen pinkies.

[Kristel]

thanx, i think reading everyones "threads" gave me a few tips also

[noPROBwitMYsnak]

i really dont no wut to do :shrugs: but out of all i that think smaller pinkies shood do the trick

[noPROBwitMYsnak]

me to