First time feeding yearling. Advice needed

[Jerricko]

Hi

I got my first corn snake three days ago and it's time for his feeding. He is still scared of me but I don't want to feed him in his cage as he is a little cage aggressive. Should I just feed him in his cage or take him out by 'force'?

[Jerricko]

For some reason, I can't edit my op.

I want to add that he is eating live fuzzies and the handlers say I should give him two. His head is rather small but he is a rather long snake. What I found out from google is that if he eats the first one quickly, I should give him the second one.

[Nanci]

Let him settle in for a week, with no handling, before you feed him. Then he should be calm, and good and hungry. I'd try him on a single frozen/thawed peach fuzzy. I'd set up a very small feeding container, that he can't escape from. Have the super-hot, dry fuzzy waiting in it. Then without hesitation reach in and take him out. Put him in the container, close it, throw a towel or T-shirt over it and leave him alone for a couple hours, no peeking.

[Jerricko]

I would prefer to feed him live bait as a form of stimulation and exorcise. My feeding strategy is to hold the mouse with tongs until he sees it then let the mouse go when he starts coming for it.

[Nanci]

Well, it's not safe for the snake, and it's horrible for the mouse, so I can't offer you any further advice.

[LJ Tyson]

I personally wouldn't feed live mice to your snake as it is much better for them to eat f/t. From what I know they can live longer on pre killed. As for the exercise/stimulation just dangle a thawed mouse round his head. i just fed mine and when I moved the pinkie about my snake dived for it and shook it he loves that

[smigon]

I personally wouldn't feed live mice to your snake as it is much better for them to eat f/t. From what I know they can live longer on pre killed.

Agreed.

As for the exercise/stimulation just dangle a thawed mouse round his head. i just fed mine and when I moved the pinkie about my snake dived for it and shook it he loves that

Mine do too! I hold the mouse by the tail and dangle it in front of their nose and wiggle. Once they attack, I hold on for a few more seconds and play a gentle tug-of-war so they think they are attacking live prey.

[Jerricko]

Well, I came home from work and found one of the fuzzies dying.

WARNING!!! DON'T READ FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IF SQUEAMISH

I put it out of it's misery via blunt force trauma to the head and placed it in the freezer. Can I feed it to my snake or would it be ill advised as it was already dying.

I did give them water and some of my hamster's food and wood shavings.

[smigon]

If the fuzzie was dying, was it sick? DO NOT feed it to your snake if it was sick and dying.

You should wait a week or so before handling or feeding your new snake, let him get used to his surroundings.

Stick with F/T, follow Nanci's advice, I have never had a yearling not eat after a few tries. Is he blue? Give him another week without trying and let him get good and hungry. Corns can go a long time without food, so just make sure you have clean water. After the week, put the fuzzy on a plastic lid, cut a few slices along its back or head and cover the tank (I am an "in the viv" feeder) and see what happens. If he hasn't eaten by then, leave him alone with it for the night, see if it is gone in the morning.

Also, what is your thermostat temp set to, and does the thermometer agree with the thermostat?

Is he blue?

I know, lots of questions, but if you answer them they will give us a better idea of what to suggest to you.

PS. To edit your posts, you have to become a contributing member. The membership is only $25/year, and it helps run this site. I have personally gotten a million dollars worth of advice, and don't hesitate to pay up each year. Look at the gold line on top of the page, it says "Want an edit button and other perks? Become a contributing member! Click here.Want an edit button and other perks? Become a contributing member! Click here."

[daddio207]

Well, I came home from work and found one of the fuzzies dying.

I did give them water and some of my hamster's food and wood shavings.

Fuzzies are still on mothers milk. They nurse till their eyes open then start to wean off nursing and start to take solid food. Sounds like your fuzzy was starving to death.
You hit on another reason not to feed live. If your snake doesn't eat you have to dispatch it or care for it. Anything smaller than hopper mice will starve to death. Hoppers to adults need to be fed and kept CLEAN for their health and the health of the snake they are being fed too.
Feeding live has no benefit and does not exercise your snake. I mean really how fast can a fuzzy go for your snake to chase it down anyways. :)

I'm educating not judging :cheers:

[Jerricko]

The other fuzzy is gone. For the time being, I'm going to wait until Saturday to try and feed Dexter (my snake) again.

@Smigon From what I picked up from the handlers, he is a normal corn. His heat pad doesn't have a setting and the thermometer says the warm side is about 25 degrees celsius. I've been considering to dig up my scorpion's heat lamp and built a stand out of galvanized wire to hold the lamp above his cage to get the heat up a bit.

I asked the shop a few months ago if they sell pre-killed and they said no because people think it's inhumane. I will ask again when I go there. I don't have problems with dispatching the mice via the C02 method if it should come to that.

Dexter is slowly getting use to me. The handlers explained to me that his cage aggressiveness comes from his previous owner who was a 7 year old.

[Jerricko]

2 peach fuzzies this time and Dexter basically destroyed them.

He was about to hide when I opened his cage but when he sensed the first mouse coming, he went into kill mode. He took the first one from the tongs and took the second one from the ground after missing it once. He swallowed a piece of aspen shaving on the last one but I don't think it's going to hurt him.

He tried to constrict the larger one of the two but decided that he is just going to swallow it.

[Fireman832]

I really don't see the point in feeding live mice. My two corns eat two pinkys a week and I don't even have to wait on them. The live ones could also end up hurting your snake and making costly vet bills. Also don't feed them dying mice. Something was causing it to die. Sickness or whatever.