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babies won't eat HELP

crzymom2grl2by

crzymom2grl2by

New member
I just got an email from my son's teacher who gave me my baby corn. He wondered if I'd adopt the other two who haven't ever eaten and they were born on Sept. 9th :eek:

He's tried "braining" the pinkies to no avail. I'm sure they've never had any type of heat (UTH) or otherwise. I'm wondering if this could be part of the problem. I think they're just in a plastic container. I just emailed back that I would take them but haven't heard yet when I'll get them.

I won't be able to keep them but want to be able to make sure they're eating well before I rehome them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think I have a friend who can give me a 10 gallon tank and I'll have to go buy a UTH for now.
 
You can't keep them together, because they can (and will) eat one another, so if you only have one enclosure, only take one snake. If they don't have heat, they will not eat. This is almost certainly their problem. Whoever bred these should have never brought them into the world without proper enclosures to keep them in. At 70+ days with no food, I don't think their likelihood of surviving is high. If it was me, I'd let the person who brought them into the world have them die on him, rather than me, but if you want to try to save one, I certainly don't blame you. Do not take more than one, though, unless you can set cages up for each one.
 
I would also say maybe do a baby tub.. too big of an enclosure for a baby reptile without tons of hides can stress them out.. a smaller baby tub is easier to make hides in but yet keep an eye on the baby without having to dig for them everywhere...

Good luck with them <3 Awful people... someone here said the best way is to pour boiling water on them that it makes them irresistible... also when so long without food I might even split one pinky in half for first meal...
 
crzymom2grl2by said:
Can you do UTH with the plastic viv?
Click to expand...

Yes. Most UTH's today only get about 115ish at the very hottest -too hot for a reptile to lay directly on, but not near hot enough to melt plastic. I've temp gunned Flexwatt at over 160 -do not run that without a thermostat. If you have small tubs, great, but a ten gallon will be fine, just offer lots of cover. They only get stressed if in a open large space, if they have hides, they have no worries. Millions of them hatch outdoors every year! :)
 
Well, he said that I could have their container too, but who knows what that is or how big. I just ordered two UTH, mini size and they will be too big for anything too small. I may go to the store and just buy a couple of shoe box sized plastic tubs for them. That should work with the UTH I think.

I sure hope I get them before the kids go back to school Monday, cause every day in his care, is worse for them. I am hoping he gets my email and lets me get them tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Darn, I wish he'd never asked cause now I'm going to be worrying until I have them.

And to think, I hated snakes til recently. ;)
 
Get a really accurate thermometer/thermometers also, that is going to be everything in determining their fate. Frankly, I'd get the cages set up and dialed in before accepting the snakes. And do not take more snakes than you have caging for! As starved as these are, when they warm up (if they have the energy to eat), they will likely eat each other! Make triple sure it is escape-proof, too. Offer extra small pinks first, or even halves. Good luck!
 
This might seem like a dumb question as well, but I wonder if breeders who have shelves loaded with snakes in tubs all have UTH? It doesn't look like it when I watch videos on youtube.
 
Probably more economical to just heat the whole room to the 80's, if there are that many.
 
Well, I've just got the two babies and I weighed them. 4g and 5g. The 5g is very active and the 4g is barely alive. Her poor neck is withered looking :'(

I'm about to go get another enclosure cause they are together. I have a basking lamp from a friend, never use it on my own, but until my UTHs come Friday I will be using it to get them warmed up so they might eat for me.

I will try half of a pinky each, probably better boil them. Yikes, how long do you boil them? Disgusting thought!
 
I'd feed them boiled pinky parts. No idea on whether or not you should wait for them to destress before feeding.
 
Here's some pix. I think that the one that weighs 3g is probably not going to make it. She's got no energy, very lethargic, does have poo in her that you can see, not sure if that's good or bad. Tried to give her half a pinky and she just laid by it without even a tongue flick for an hour before I put her back in her viv.
My 7yr old son named her Flame.

This is Slytherin

And Slytherin was super active, I could barely hold her. So I thought there was a chance she'd eat. So I cut a pinkie in half, poured boiling water over it and she ate her half and I jumped for joy!!!


So I was wondering if I could try force feeding Flame, but as she's so skinny and tiny I was afraid I'd harm her by squeezing her neck. There's nothing to her.
Should I try feeding her again tomorrow and when should I feed Slytherin again? Next time should she eat another half or whole pinkie?
 
I don't think force feeding is a good idea. It can do more harm than good plus it's so stressful. I would let her settle in for a couple days then try again. Just realize she may not make it. Some just don't.

For the other I would wait 5 days then feed the smallest pinkie(red) you can find.

No handling on either one until they have a few meals in them. At this point you want all their calories going to getting some size.
 
Ok, I didn't know if I should try getting Flame to eat again tomorrow cause she's going on 74 days without a meal, as in she's never eaten in her entire life. So sad. So thankful that Slytherin did eat, but I guess that doesn't mean she's out of the woods yet. Hope she can keep it down. But I'd say as active as she is she's going to be just fine. I don't understand how Flame can be so tiny and frail and Slytherin is better even though neither had ever eaten before.
 
Trying to feed everyday just adds stress which leads to not eating. That's why I said wait a couple days before trying again. Just try to keep everything as stress free as possible for her. An extra day is not going to make or break her. Hopefully once she's warmed up and settled she will eat for you.
 
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