Baby corn not eating should I worry so much yet?

[corn2012]

Hi there! I'm new to posting, I've been viewing threads for about two months now but figured I should join up.
We have a baby caramel corn she's just over 2 months. We have had her for a month now. She didn't keep down her last meal at the pet store we got her from, so because I started reading posts before we actually got her I knew to wait a while then fed her half a pinkie. She kept it down no problem. The next week she ate a full (but very tiny) pinkie. Since then she hasn't eaten anything. We are at 2.5 weeks of not eating.
We tried a smaller feeding bin, and tried cutting a pinkie, and braining. Last night I tried the small deli container with a kitchen towel over it, but still nothing. Its kinda weird how nervous I am about her eating. I never thought I'd get SO attached to her so quickly!
Okay so now the basics... Her hot side is heated under tank and sits at 84 and hygrometer is at 41 and her cold side is at 76 but 72 at night. I'm measuring the heat on top and in middle of the aspen. I've seen her drink often. Shes very active, even moves around during the day sometimes.
I've kept lizards and frogs but never a snake so just want to make sure I'm doing things right, any ideas or advice would be greatly appretated.
Thank you so much!!!:o

[Nanci]

When is the last time she shed? When you say she is very active, is she very active today?

[bitsy]

Have you tried leaving her in the deli container with the food overnight? Sometimes nervous eaters need absolute quiet and dark before they feel safe enough to eat. Just put the deli container back into her living tank, at the cool end. Set her up just before you go to bed, then no checking until you get up for breakfast.

[corn2012]

Wow! You guys rock, very quick responses!!
She has not shed while we've had her so I'm not sure when the last one was. She did have some scales lifted on the top of her head but she got them off last week. She has been hiding all morning but has just poked her head out. When I say very active I mean she motors around her viv. From hot side to cold side, in her water dish or going through the leaves. She normally always has her head poking out of where ever she is, I think she's snoopy ;)
I left her and pinkie for about 4 hrs... I guess I kinda felt mean leaving her trapped all night. I did put the container in her viv on the cold side.

[corn2012]

Wanted to add that she is a super sweety and wont bite, even with tease feeding. She just turns away. Also tried putting pinkie in boiling water for 30 secs and she wasn't interested. Always turns the opposite way of her food.
Looks like I need to buy some Ivory soap. Is this dish or hand soap? And do I just soak it and pat dry without rinsing soap off?

[Nanci]

How often are you attempting to feed? I wouldn't go any more often than every four days.

[corn2012]

Oh I've been waiting for her feeding days, so Sundays normally. Guess I'll do every four days! Thanks

[corn2012]

My husband did the deli last night for her, I thought it was too soon to try again. Guess he was right... Crap, hate it when he's right ;)

[diamondlil]

My husband did the deli last night for her, I thought it was too soon to try again. Guess he was right... Crap, hate it when he's right ;)
Did she eat?

[corn2012]

No she wanted no part of it! I don't understand what's going on with her. This weekend when we try again it'll be three weeks without eating. I'm getting worried! And don't understand why she's taking this brake. She ate twice for us before these past three weeks

[diamondlil]

I'd leave her completely alone for a week, then boil a pink. Literally pour just boiled water over a thawed pink until it goes pale and rubbery. Then put it in a small feeding tub with her and leave overnight.

[Wyldrose]

I purchased a corn from a petshop, she was not interested in eating as well. I took a fecal sample to my Vet and she had round worms. The worms make them feel like they are full. After 2 dewormings she was worm free. Then came the hard part of getting her to eat again. I rubbed her pinkys on an anole and that got her eating again.

[corn2012]

So I went to the store where I got her from, and talked with the lady who sold her to me. She thinks that my snake is not eating because I switch her from a basking light heating to an under tank heating. I'm not so sure about this... maybe. I had a 75 watt light heating up the tank for the snake before I got her, but the heat was bring temps over 90. Which is why I got the under tank heater, because after tons of reading that seems like what most snake owners use.
While there I bought an Exo Terra digital thermometer with probe. I've measured both sides, the cool side is at 72.5 seems a little too cold but she likes hanging out over there during night. Warm side is at 86.2 and that is where she is now.
The lady said try feeding every other day, and to put pinkie in tap hot water for 20 mins before feeding. Leave her in container covered for 5 hrs

[Clickslither]

If she is 2 months old, and you she hasn't shed while in your care yet and you have had her for a month, she should be shedding really soon. I have one that is the same age as yours that ate for me 3 times feeding every 4-5 days, and then refused for a week and a half. But the difference is she wasn't cruising everywhere, she found this spot in the back of her viv and sat still for a long time. Thought she was sick but one day I noticed she had moved, found the shed, and tried to feed her and she took it instantly and all was back to normal. 3 weeks of refusing is a long time for a snake to be working on a shed though, but I don't know what else it could be. They shed pretty much monthly around this age.

[bitsy]

They shed as they grow, so if they don't eat, they don't grow and they don't shed.

[Cornelius2012]

You should take a fecal sample to a reptile vet just in case :) Not trying to worry you at all

[corn2012]

To be honest I don't know how to. When she's gone it's been in her water.

[corn2012]

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1714&pictureid=12569
Here's how she looks today.

[Chip]

Then keep the water level very low until the next bowel movement. Put the poopy water in a baggie and bring that to the vet. They'll find nematode eggs from that sample if they're present. In fact, you can too if you have a microscope at your school! Not to steer you away from a vet, but just as a learning experience.

[corn2012]

Well we are at three full weeks at not eating. The last day she ate was Aug 27. I'm so worried about her. Last night we put her in a container with a full pinkie and one cut in half. We left her till this morning, and nothing!! We haven't been holding her at all during this problem. She is still moving around like she always has, and I've seen her get out at least once per day/night to have water.

[jkgeorge]

Try a live pinkie.

[Clickslither]

Either a live pinkie or anole would be your best bet.

[corn2012]

What is anole?

[Clickslither]

Probably one of the most common lizards found in NA. Usually just a couple dollars each at any pet store or chain. Baby corns often prefer the smell of them to pinkies and will sometimes start feeding on pinks after they have had an anole. Make sure to get a small one so your snake has an easier time with the whole process.

[Clickslither]

Anolis is how it is actually spelled, forgive me. Harmless little lizards.

[Nanci]

Okay, so you need to try something different. I would try these three things. Thaw the pink in hot tap water. It should only take a couple minutes, not 20 minutes. Then mix a generous amount of Ivory Liquid dish soap, original scent, in the water. Rinse it with hot water, but leave a little soap residue. OR boil water, remove from heat, drop the pink in, leave it a minute, feed when white and rubbery, and still hot. Or try the smallest live pink you can find. For the first two methods, removing the snake's water for two days prior to feeding, then feeding the item nice and wet, may encourage feeding. Be sure to replace the water after feeding no matter what. I would NOT try more often than every four days or you are conditioning the baby to refuse.

[Chip]

That is bad advice, Clickslither! I'm sorry, but that is just not a good idea. Corn2012, do not feed an anole! You are pretty much guaranteeing you will give your snake parasites. Even doing it once. I have a microscope, I've tested for myself. Green anoles always have had nematode eggs in their feces. If you want an anole to put in the freezer to scent with later, maybe, but I wouldn't even go down that road for a snake that had been feeding. Live pink, sure -anole, absolutely not.

[Clickslither]

Ok, sorry about the anole advice. It's just something that I have read about people doing, I've just not seen anything about them getting corns sick on a consistent basis or I wouldn't have recommended it. You might want to try scenting with it then.

[Chip]

Didn't mean to jump on you, just that could be bad news. Anoles are always wild caught, and always kept in cramped conditions by mass collectors and then the wholesalers. This makes them be in contact with more fecal matter than natural, and living in those conditions, they tend to all have worms. I wouldn't even trust an anole I wild collected, but the odds of a pet store anole being clean is not odds you'd wanna take! And to try to make a difference, I make it a point not to buy anything from people who sell mass collected reptiles.

[Nanci]

Anole scenting has NEVER worked for me. I've tried anole shed, anole tail tip in the pink's mouth, frozen baby anole, anole biting the pink, anole trampling the pink- nothing. It's not worth catching and annoying a lizard, for me, and I have them right out in my yard.

[corn2012]

Thank you all for your support. I'll be trying again Thursday night, with Ivory dish soap. Other than that I guess I'll be looking for a breeder for live pinkies. I worry with feeding her live, that she'll always want her food alive all the time.
I talked to a reptile guy from the pet store yesterday, he was asking me about my viv set up, heating, etc. He told me to try using the overhead light as a basking light again and maybe she prefers that over the under tank heating pad. He also suggested to take her water away two days before feeding. She has been drinking everyday, and with that gone she may eat to get water from the soaked pinkie.

[Nanci]

If she takes live, you'll be able to get her back off them.

[corn2012]

Still nothing!
Last night I thawed pinkie, then used Ivory soap. She was very interested at first, but turned away. Left her in container over night but she still didn't eat. I'm going to contact pet store to find breaders for pinkies. We'll try live in a few days.
She's still active, drinking water.

[Alli_Draggy]

If he's not eating, he may be shedding. If he's not shedding, then consult your exotic vet.

[Janome]

how big is her cage? I've read some babies like small enclosures to feel more secure. when I had a clutch i had some non feeders. had them all set up in shoe box size containers with newspaper / paper towels an very small hides. i fed them in their little 'houses' an left them alone. eventually some of the non feeders started to eat.