Miami Phase Refusing to Eat

I received a Miami phase corn named Khan in early November from a breeder. According to the breeder, he was roughly 1 yr old. He's about 14 inches. In the time that I have had him, I have offered him a f/t pinkie every week since I have had him. And he's only eaten twice.
Once, the first week that I had him, I offered him a f/t fuzzie, and he ate it within 30 minutes.
The fuzzie proved to be too large, and a week later he regurgitated it.

So I switched over to f/t pinkies. The third time I offered him a pinkie, 11/28/14 he refused it in his deli container, but when I placed it in his viv, he took it by the next morning.

I am a bit at a loss right now. I've done some research here. He refuses the pinkies in his deli container, where he had happily taken the fuzzie in the container at first.

I've tried dish soap, super heating the pinkie, and even slap feeding (he refused to even strike at me or the pinkie, the little softie).

So I am not sure what to do. I've grown attached to the little guy.

Am I freaking out to early? He's actually grown a few inches since I have gotten him. He looks healthy, and acts normal. He's been drinking, and I have a lamp with a 50 watt bulb to keep his tank at a healthy temperature for him (I am aware that they don't bask). Should I try something different? I am considering offering him a f/t fuzzie just to see if he would go for it. If he does should I cut it in half and try to feed him that?

Very confused and concerned >_<

hmm could he be getting ready to shed? i learned from mine.. she simply refused to eat until she was done... just a thought.. merry christmas

Do you have an under the tank heater? Corns don't need lamps and depending on the type he is it could hurt his eyes. You need to have a thermostat also to keep his temps regulated. Do you keep record of his weight in grams before every feeding? If not get a kitchen scale and then just put a bowl on it and zero it out and then put him in to weigh. I have one baby corn that I got Nov. 6th who was 11g and is now up to 17g and two pinkies. The other one I got the same day was 11g and is still only 12g. Apparently they all gain at different rates.
What I meant about the light hurting his eyes is that if his eyes are red. Also it's not good for them as it will dry them out. There's certain types of lights that are ok for viewing, but someone else with more experience would need to tell you what type are acceptable.
Good luck to you, I have a baby from the same clutch as my 17g snake who has only ever eaten one pinkie head in her whole life, it's very frustrating. She's only 6g and like a tiny night crawler. Believe me, I've tried everything. She is however in a new viv that's glass and I will be setting up her thermostat tomorrow when I get three of them in the mail, so hopeful that that will make the difference.
Good luck to you and Merry Christmas. :santa:

Are you using scented dish soap on its feeding dish? It may be to strong and screwing with its senses. Just a thought.

Contact the breeder and get the exact details on how he had been feeding. At that age, the animal is probably used to a routine. It has eaten no less than 30 times. Copy it, and it should eat. I would get as much information as you can about its habits from the breeder. Also ask for recent weights, and sheds.

Todd120, that is a fantastic idea! I never really thought to contact the breeder about him, it would make alot of sense as to why he isn't eating. I'm not doing it correctly enough for him. LOL.

crzymom2grl2by: I've looked online and it seems that a lot of gram scales are very affordable. I'll be buying one within the week so that I can start weighing him. In the two months that I've had him I can even notice with the naked eye that he's grown about 2". So there is that. It's just maddening to try and feed him and to not watch him eat. It sorta brings out the parent in me, 'I got you this nice pinkie, not eat your dinner young man! >( '
On the eye thing, Khan is a Miami phase corn. His eyes are a nice brown. So the light wouldn't hurt him would it? I am really just using the lamp to keep the temp in the viv warm. And I always make sure that there is water in the tank as well.

Would part of his refusal possibly be because of how long it took me to get him a heat source? It's really only been about 2 weeks since I have gotten it. And as I live in Kentucky, my bedroom has been about 65-ish at night on some very cold days.

And I suppose that he could be getting ready to shed, I've had him 2 months and he has not shed for me yet. Nor do I know from the breeder as to when he shed last.

From everything I've read on here they need the under the tank heater for digesting their food and not heat from a lamp. I got mine fairly cheap on Amazon. Much cheaper than the pet stores. Also got my three thermostats in the mail today. Just got them hooked up.

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti...9640275&sr=8-1&keywords=under+the+tank+heater

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTP...419640315&sr=8-1&keywords=heat+pad+thermostat

I'm hoping that the thermostat will get my little non feeder eating. Going to try tomorrow.

I'm a little confused. What would the thermostat help with? Wouldn't it just let you know how warm the viv is?

Without a thermostat, the heat mat runs full on all the time. This can, and will, overheat the warm side at times. With the thermostat, you plug the mat into it, and it allows you to set the desired temp. It turns the heat mat on and off, to regulate the desired temperature. Aka. 85 degrees on the warm side.

Mine has been up to 112 degrees without the thermostat. Yikes. So glad I finally got my thermostats today.

(waves hello) I'm up in Cincinnati, ( about an hour away)
Only eating twice in two months would worry me too. (and regurges are hard on snakes) Having the heat source will definitly help , maybe that will solve the problem. It might be why he regurged before - not warm enough to digest properly.

Can you post any pictures of Khan or his Viv (tank) setup? Maybe there's a clue as to why he's not eating.
If the breeder fed him live pinks - he might not recognize dead ones as food - Though you said you've been heating them - so they are warm like a live one. Have you tried 'teasing' him with the pinkie?
Use something like long skinny tongs (no sharp points) to wiggle and drag the heated pinkie in front of him to make him think it's alive (imagine a bit of string in front of a cat-but not too fast)

Have you heard back from the breeder/seller yet?

Hello! So temperature wise, you are about in the same boat as me Nancyg.
Yes. I can. I don't have very good pictures of Khan's viv. But it is a 10 gallon, glass tank. With a half log hide, a water dish, and the large mulchy repti bark. (And a secure lid of course). At the moment I have him equipped with a heat lamp, with a 50 wat bulb that I keep on during the day and turn off during the night. (But I have only had that for 2 weeks, so it is relatively new).
I plan to get a under tank heater and a thermostat.





I have not heard back from the breeder/seller yet. I had originally contacted him through a third party (Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade, KY.) and I am waiting to hear back from them on Facebook. But they had told me that Khan had originally been fed on f/t pinkies.

I've tried teasing him, but he always seems to recoil. I've noticed he has a more timid nature so it may have something to do with that.
I have also tried 'tease feeding' him. Like in a video I had seen on here. It involved holding the snake and aggravating him with the pinkie until he took it and started swallowing. But Khan didn't even strike at me period. He was too interested in getting away. (He did manage to poop on me though, good sigh right?) He just doesn't seem to me to be a very aggressive little guy.

I'm trying to upload photos. But it seems my internet connection is not the best and refuses to work with me. I'll put up some photos after Sunday when I know that my internet will be legit.

We got our first corn November 1st and had tried everything to get him to eat. Finally resorted to a live pinky and that did the trick. He ate for the first for us on December 26th.

Update.

I believe that khan is finally shedding. I have some pictures that I will post of him soon.

But his head is shedding. Is that common with younger snakes? The rest of him hasn't started yet. So maybe he was in the blue?

Well, they start at the head. If he hasn't shed in a couple hours, something is wrong.

I'm not sure what though. Its been a few days, and his head still looks the same. It just seemes like the first few scales on his snout are shedding.

I've tried putting him in a container with a wet paper wash cloth, so that he can get the moisture that he needs, but he still did not shed.

I've never even seen him in blue, so I was suprised to see that his snout was shedding. But I've had him for 2 months and he hasn't shed yet. For a 15inch snake he should be shedding often right?

Well, about every four weeks if he is eating well.

Is he active, or hiding away?

Hey, How are things going with Khan?

Nanci, he's usually hiding under the substrate, and then I will catch him out roaming his viv at night. He tends to go from hide to hide. ^_^

Nancyg, He's doing well!

He went into the blue (finally) on 1/13/15. He was shed by 1/20/15. I'm not sure if that is the exact date, but I gave him some space after he went into the blue.
But I checked the shed, and his eye caps and all of the tail came off flawlessly.

And then he actually ate for me two days ago! Every time I offer him a pinkie he seemed very weirded out. Like he isn't sure what to do with it. But when I offer him a fuzzy the first time I had him, he scarfed it down in 30 min. (That of course was too big and he couldn't keep it down.) She I thought that maybe if I offered him a fuzzy head he might take it.
I offered him one the day before he went into blue, just to see, and he mouthed it and messed around with it, but never ate it.
So I offered him one two days ago and he accepted it and has kept it down as well as I can see.

I'm feeling like an accomplished snake mommy. haha