Hatchling wont eat!

[JesusFreak]

Hi, I live in Kentucky and about a month and a half ago my brother found a corn snake (the natural kind, it was no pet). So we kept it and i keep trying to feed it small pinkies but it just wont eat (and from my observations it is a very active, healthy snake) I know you usually feed it after its first shed but I have no clue when it does that or if it already did. When my brother found it, it looked about 2 weeks old. Help. Should i try to feed it something different or what???

[howiet4702]

2 weeks old? how big is it?

[norbert03]

are you feeding it live or thawed mice?

you may try cutting a thawed pinkie mouse in half and just giving it one piece. if it was two weeks old when your brother caught it and hasn't eaten since then it's probably a real little guy. on the other hand, if it was a wild caught snakeling it will ofcourse be used to eating live food (assuming it had a meal before it was caught) so another option would be to attempt to feed it the smallest pinkie you can find. you can try hand feeding it just by holding the pinkie in your hand and slowly moving it toward the snake. if it doesn't eat soon i would either seek veterinary help or release it back into the wild and hope he can make it on his own.

it can be difficult to get hatchlings to eat sometimes, i might have the same problem tonight when i offer food to my little one for the first time.

:eats02:

[JesusFreak]

Thank you, I'll try that. I feed her pre- killed food,.

[norbert03]

hopefully a live one will do the trick :) my hatchling ate tonight. i was a little worried he would refuse the meal. i wasn't sure whether the breeder had been feeding him live or thawed pinks so i tried a live one because if he didn't eat it i could freeze it and try again in a couple days. he just had one, norbert had two...yea, there was uhhh...quite a bit of squealing going on in my house tonight!!! woooh!

:dancer:

[Jicin]

Obviously, it doesn't want to be a pet. It's born in the wild and can't handle captivety anymore. And definately doesn't know what to make of dead, unnatural prey. I'd say release it before it's weakend to much. Especially with winter approaching he'd want to brumate. I hope he can still make it.

[Krenna]

if the suggestions you have don't work. You can lizard scenting the pinkie, he might be looking to eat Anoles. Lizard scenting has worked in the past for me.

[norbert03]

agree with jicin. in new jersey it's illegal to house wild snakes. when i was a kid i would keep anything from frogs to salamanders to creyfish to snapping turtles (that i found in the creek and lake). they would almost never eat in the home environment i provided them with and would look sick to me after a day or two. i would try for a few days to feed them and then release them. it was upsetting, but it had to be done. young corn snakes taken from the wild have lower chance of survival in captivity then adult corns do. the little one you captured may not have been doing well in the wild either, but if he's meant to make it to adulthood i think he will have a better shot if released sooner than later. even if you get him to eat...there may still be a deeper health issue that will eventually lead to an untimely death. if you come across an older corn you can try again...or save up money and purchase a captive bred snake. good luck.

[ChissiPSS]

I am having a problem to get my corn snake to eat also. We bought him from the pet store on oct 31st and they said that he was being fed once o month which didn't seem right to me. They stated that he ate that wednesday before we got him which would have been oct 27th. I have tried to feed him every week since but nothing. She is about a foot long and about the size of a pencil give or take a little bit throughout the body. Her neck area looks alot smaller then the rest of her. Any suggestions on how to get her to eat?

Also what does the 0.1 and the 1.0 and stuff mean under peoples names. I am new in the snake world.

Chrissi

[norbert03]

example of neglect. pet stores...SUCK! 90% of them at least. once a month is unacceptable. twice a week is the norm for a hatchling. have you had any success feeding her since you've gotten her or has she refused every meal? are you feeding live or thawed pinkie mice? if she was used to eating pinkie mice that were alive i would suggest you try one...if you are thawing them i would suggest that you cut one in half and offer one piece to her after it has reached room temperature. if she hasn't eaten since october 27th i would suggest that you try for about another week or so and then have her checked out by a vet who can force feed her. there's good suggestions on how to get a hatchling to eat in THE CORNSNAKE MANUAL, i don't have my copy with me at the moment, but i'd suggest you pick it if you get a chance. good luck and stuff :)

[tai_pan1]

I would think it's way too late to let him go this year. I know temps are already hiiting below freezing here (NJ) and Kentucky temps are probably about the same. Even if it does warm up for a day or two, he probably wouldnt have time to find a nice rodent hole to brumate in. I would house him in a shoe box, leave him completely alone for two weeks. Check him once in between to make sure he still has water. Then I would introduce a live pinky (smallest you can find) in the early evening. Again, leave him alone until the next day. If he ate the pinky great, leave him alone for another week before feeding again. If he does not, you may try to brumate him for two months. Sometimes hatchling (especially late in the year) won't eat until the following spring.

Good Luck,

Mike

[ChissiPSS]

I have come to realize that pet stores suck with the iguanas that I have and the way pet stores take care of them. I have had no success at all feeding her since I got her. She was getting fed live pinkies so that is what I tried feeding her with. I have gotten some other suggestions on feeding her by putting her in a container with the pinky and leaving it. I was going to try this tonight or tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I will definatly make an appointment with the vet. I will pick up a copy of that book. Thank you

Chrissi :)

[norbert03]

putting her in a small deli cup or tupperware container with nothing but the mouse and maybe a little bowl of water will really only give her one focus hopefully...the mouse. or an escape route, lol my hatchling tried to get out of the kritter keeper for twenty minutes before he realized he was in there to eat, it was kinda entertaining. it can take them a while:)

:eats02:

unfortunately...it seems iguanas are probably the most mistreated/neglected reptiles out there these days :( they had their moment of popularity, but now...there's so many other pets available that iguanas have kind of been...forgotten. not by everybody, but i get emails a lot from an animal rescue asking if i'd like to take in an iguana that was brought to the shelter. i don't have room right now :(

[monkeymonstr]

Well after much appreciated advice from everyone I talked to and everyone my boyfriend talked to we tried feeding him again this past week and still no luck. After much talk my boyfriend and I decided to take him back to the pet store and give him back. The guy there was nice enough to exchange him for an Albino Corn that just came in a couple days ago. We got to see him eat before we took him and he ate the pinky like a champ. I really wish there was more that we could have done but we got to give a home to another really neat corn. We put him in his new home with his full tummy and will let him alone for a few days. As soon as he does his "buisness" we will take him to our vet to find out the sex and make sure all is good with him/her. Thank you again for all your advice. I will keep everyone posted on the new addition and the sex of it.

Chrissi :santa:

[monkeymonstr]

Well after much appreciated advice from everyone I talked to and everyone my boyfriend talked to we tried feeding him again this past week and still no luck. After much talk my boyfriend and I decided to take him back to the pet store and give him back. The guy there was nice enough to exchange him for an Albino Corn that just came in a couple days ago. We got to see him eat before we took him and he ate the pinky like a champ. I really wish there was more that we could have done but we got to give a home to another really neat corn. We put him in his new home with his full tummy and will let him alone for a few days. As soon as he does his "buisness" we will take him to our vet to find out the sex and make sure all is good with him/her. Thank you again for all your advice. I will keep everyone posted on the new addition and the sex of it.

Chrissi :santa: