Baby corn suddenly stopped eating

[BlueSkyy]

He is a young snow corn snake (white with pink eyes.)

I cannot tell if he is shedding or not! All my experience has been with darker-colored snakes. If his eyes went blue, I missed it or didn't notice. I try not to handle him over-much. His "litter-mates" are all in various stages of shedding, to the best of my knowledge.

Here is his feeding chart:

Sept 12th (deli cup, FT pink, no strike) - Success
Sept 16th (deli cup, FT pink, no strike) - Success
Sept 20th (deli cup, FT pink, no strike) - Success
Sept 25th (deli cup, FT pink) - WOULD NOT EAT.
Sept 30th (deli cup, FT pink, brained) - WOULD NOT EAT.
Oct 4th (deli cup, FT pink, brained) - WOULD NOT EAT.

I have been worried that the habitat has been cooling off slightly since it is getting colder outside so I have bought a small overhead light to add in addition to his UTH. The warm side is now measuring ~80F right at substrate level (where he would be laying.)

I have been adding crumpled, wet paper towels to increase humidity throughout the tank in case he is in shed. Tonight he was coiled up inside of a wet paper towel.

Is there anything else I can do? I am so nervous with hatchlings! I sometimes forget 10 years ago my hognose was a tiny baby and I somehow managed to keep him alive. :P

ALSO - I can see a "dark spot" showing through his skin where his heart is, kind of like how you can see your veins through your own skin. Is this normal for snows? All the other baby snows I have seen (which is not a whole lot) also have this spot showing through their belly skin.

/nervous baby corn snake keeper

[shaft6977]

Sounds to me like it's getting ready to shed. I freaked out the same way when mine had his first shed (after I got him). Mine only ate once in a month-long span. I've just now (after having him for almost 2 months) got him on a regular feeding schedule.

[Nanci]

He should be shedding any day, if that's it. Two weeks is a long shed period.

It's normal to be able to see his heart. I have had snakes, including one right now, that I can see the heart beating. You can also see the gall bladder.

For the next attempt, if he hasn't shed, I'd do deli cup, either boiled (you just drop the pink in boiling water and serve immediately) or thawed as hot as your tap water will go, and slit- head and 2-3 slits in the back. Then, feed in the evening, and cover the deli cup up with something so the baby can't see out. Check in an hour.

[Zeina]

I freaked out too lol my snake ate his first meal after I got him from the breeder...He was so white I didn't realize he was in shed and he refused his meal. I contacted the breeder because I was so worried, and a few days later, he'd shed. So I waited a couple more days and then he was hungry. He's been fine ever since =P
But of course if he keeps refusing even after his shed, Nanci is the best and I would definitely take her advice =)
Good luck!

[Karl_Mcknight]

Be careful when adding Humidity to the snake's environment.

A corn snake knows what he wants or needs better than we do. Most corn snakes will curl up in their water dish and soak if they need the extra humidity. If your Force the Humidity on him, (Mist him, mist the substrate, wet paper towels, etc) you might actually give him a "Cold" or respiratory infection. A "Sick snake" won't want to eat either.

I've always heard unless you live in a desert type area, there is no need to add humidity. I never mist my corn, never add wet paper towels, never add moisture other than his water dish. I've seen him curl up in it 1 time in the 4 months I've had him and it was only for a few minutes. He sheds fine, eats fine, and the humidity gauge stays around 50% +/-. (Which is normal for a corn snake).

[BlueSkyy]

We live in Wheat Ridge, CO so the humidity is never above 50% unless it's actively raining. My nose has been bleeding since we moved out here. :(

[BlueSkyy]

We're good!

I actually fed him in his habitat (which I don't like doing with babies...) he was all curled up in his "safety hide" poking his head out so I dropped a pink right near the entrance and he ate it! (butt-first, but still!)

How horrible is it if I continue to feed in his habitat and he swallows a piece of cypress? I am pretty sure the pinky was "clean" this time around but if he's not going to eat in the deli cups any more I imagine at some point he's gonna nom a wood chip. :P

[shaft6977]

That's why I ended up switching to carpet for substrate. No worries of swallowing wood.

[hypnoctopus]

I prefer to feed outside of the cage, but many people feed inside with no issues. Swallowing some substrate should not be a problem. However, if you are worried about it, you can place the pinkie on a plastic lid or a little dish (although the snake may still drag it off!).

[daddio207]

Sometimes feeding outside the Viv is just to stressful. ALL my snakes eat inside their Viv's and tubs but in all fairness the hatchlings to yearlings are on paper towels.
You could switch to newspaper but you wont have a white snake anymore LOL. At least with paper you know when to clean. I don't like carpet for that reason. It absorbs urites and promotes bacteria growth if not changed/cleaned frequently.
I see when talking about humidity we always reference what the level is outside. I only care what the humidity is INSIDE the house. Even though the humidity will still be 40+ outside by Dec/Jan here in Maine, the inside level will be around 5-10 %. Central heating system will dry the air out. I will run a humidifier in the reptile room till the windows can be opened again in the spring.

[Karl_Mcknight]

Actually there is a product made by Zilla (link below).

http://www.petco.com/product/104018/Zilla-Green-Reptile-Terrarium-Liner.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-Reptile-_-Zilla-_-762828f8-4730-4049-836f-cb7c0b6ec67a&mr:trackingCode=2AE7EB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=pla_with_promotiononline&mr:ad=55967181253&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:tid=kwd-81295318093&mr:ploc=9013114&mr:iloc=&mr:store=&mr:filter=81295318093&cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-zShopping:%20Reptile-_-Reptile%20|%20Substrates-_-762828f8-4730-4049-836f-cb7c0b6ec67a&gclid=CNas4aeptsgCFUw8gQodECkJeQ&kpid=1039032

This is not really carpet but similar, it's a type of pad that lays on the floor of the enclosure. I think it's fabulous. I have 2 pieces pre cut to fit the cage. Once a week I remove 1 piece, put in the other, and clean the soiled one for next time. I always have a clean one in the cage and I always have a clean one standing by. It takes no longer to clean it than it does for somebody with aspen to clean their cage. And I've been using the same 2 pieces now for 4 months. (I don't have to buy Aspen anymore.)

[daddio207]

Actually there is a product made by Zilla (link below).

http://www.petco.com/product/104018/Zilla-Green-Reptile-Terrarium-Liner.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-Reptile-_-Zilla-_-762828f8-4730-4049-836f-cb7c0b6ec67a&mr:trackingCode=2AE7EB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=pla_with_promotiononline&mr:ad=55967181253&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:tid=kwd-81295318093&mr:ploc=9013114&mr:iloc=&mr:store=&mr:filter=81295318093&cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-zShopping:%20Reptile-_-Reptile%20|%20Substrates-_-762828f8-4730-4049-836f-cb7c0b6ec67a&gclid=CNas4aeptsgCFUw8gQodECkJeQ&kpid=1039032

This is not really carpet but similar, it's a type of pad that lays on the floor of the enclosure. I think it's fabulous. I have 2 pieces pre cut to fit the cage. Once a week I remove 1 piece, put in the other, and clean the soiled one for next time. I always have a clean one in the cage and I always have a clean one standing by. It takes no longer to clean it than it does for somebody with aspen to clean their cage. And I've been using the same 2 pieces now for 4 months. (I don't have to buy Aspen anymore.)

Looks like your being vigilant with it. A must when using that product.

It seems most people using it become lazy in changing it when it becomes soiled. Mainly because they have to remove all décor from the tank and the task becomes a pain after awhile. Urites build up over time then cause bacterial infections if not regularly changed out as you are doing. Spot cleaning aspen is much easier to me. :)

[Karl_Mcknight]

as if when you "Spot Clean" your aspen, those nasty Germs can not migrate to an uncleaned spot there by contaminating it as well.

A cage is never really clean unless the entire thing is cleaned.

Similar to cleaning a Kitchen in a restaurant. If we simply "Spot Cleaned" they would all be shut down.

Yes a good thorough cleaning is a bit of a hassle and takes a little time. The health and well being of my animal is worth it.

[daddio207]

:-offtopic Sorry OP :o

Us aspen users do thorough cleanings at regular intervals. Spot cleaning prevents most germs/bacteria from migrating in between thorough cleanings. If aspen was changed on a weekly basis as your "rug" is then it would not be cost effective especially for us keepers of large collections . We know through years of experience that it is not necessary to change aspen weekly with spot cleaning.

The point I was making and commending you for is that with changing your "rug" weekly will prevent unwanted bacteria build up. My fear in recommending "rugs" to others is they wont be as vigilant as you are especially if it becomes to much of a chore.
:cheers:

[BlueSkyy]

I don't want to continue/start any arguments... I use cypress for the baby corn and aspen for my hognose. My hognose eats off a plate (like a civilized snake, lol) and the baby corn has eaten successfully three times since we started cage feeding. He actually prefers to eat in his leaf-bush-decoration-thing so we haven't had to worry about him eating a cypress flake yet.

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