baby not Feeding...

[Lucidity]

I was browsing through other threads.. to find answers.. but I couldnt seem to find one that specifically matched my concerns...

So here is the rundown on the info:

The corn is a couple months old.
he/she (dont know yet) had been feeding every 3 days when I first got it.. and it ate regularly and with no trouble.
Over time it stopped eating like it should and would only accept food(a small pinky) once a week...
Now it is refusing food altogether.

Its skin is looking a little bit loose around the tail area.

& I never see it drinking water (never really have)

I have never seen it shed either...

The temps are pretty balanced.. I have a heating pad on one side of the aquarium but hte snake never goes to it.. ever. it stays on the other side although I have a hiding spot on both sides... I rarely ever see it out from under hiding...

It appears I am having a lot of problems with my baby corn..which I cant imagine why since I try to feed it regularly.. I keep fresh water for it.. I even have a heating bulb to balance out the lower temperatures in my apartment because of the air conditioner.

The bedding in the aquarium is a store bought reptile sort of mulch .. I forget what exactly but its small brown chunks.. almost like bark.


Im really lost as to what to do next.. perhaps the temp in the cage isnt as high as I think.. or as it should be.
Ive turned the air conditioner off in that part of the apartment in hopes that it might help... but if this doesnt work then I really dont know what to do.


Help.. please?
I'm a first time snake owner.. I dont want to lose my first (& maybe only) one.

[Lucidity]

Also I should add that they are frozen pinks ive been offering it (which is what it had been eatin before)

Perhaps my humidity is not right.. ?
How would you suggest keeping the humidity right in the aquarium?

& is it possible to NOT show it enough attention?
It seemed as if the baby started faltering in its eating routine when I would take it to work with me ( I work third shift in an inn... its very quiet.. and I thought I would be able to give it a good amount of attention and keep it tame)... but then It hought maybe I was giving it TOO much so I left it alone for a week or so and then only took it out a few times a week...
I cant seem to find a balance I guess.

[Mary-Beth]

It sounds like maybe the temp on the hot (and maybe cool side too) are to high. How are you checking it? With a stick on thermomiter or one with a probe that you can put directly on the substrate? The stick on kind don't show the temp of the substrate, just the temp of the glass.

[Lucidity]

It sounds like maybe the temp on the hot (and maybe cool side too) are to high. How are you checking it? With a stick on thermomiter or one with a probe that you can put directly on the substrate? The stick on kind don't show the temp of the substrate, just the temp of the glass.

this sounds foolish.. but to be honest I had not been checking it at all.
it is a large aquarium...I believe around 25 gallons perhaps... and I bought a relitively small heating pad for it.. (not TOO small.. but smaller than the exact appropriate size). When the problem of eating began I iasked a fellow in the pet shop.. and he told me that it probably needed to be warmer in the cage because snakes dont digest well if it is too cold.. so then I bought the heating light. a Night Glo (blacklight effect) and put it on the same side the heating pad is on...

this didnt seem to do ANY good at all.

So I turned it off about 4 days ago.. and still it refuses the food.. it will just sit there next to the pinky and let it go to waste.

[JM :o)]

How big is the snake?
How long have you had it?

Every three days is a pretty aggressive feeding schedule. He may just have bulked up all he can and is taking a break now. He may also be stressed from being offered food too often.

I'm less worried about the not feeding, and a bit more worried about the shedding. Sounds like you've had him for a while, and he was an aggressive feeder. If he is a baby~ you should have seen a shed within a month or two at the most.

Check your temps. Get one of those little ones with the remote probe from Walmart ($15). Check the temps on top of the substrate. Approx 80-85F on the hot side, 73-78F cool side should work for you.

Offer a few more hides~ to see if he just doesn't like the other hides. Get a hand towel damp and crumple it up in the middle for a few days. This will increase humidity and provide a damp place to hide under it.

Look under the hides and substrate for a shed you missed.

Try pinkie in a bag trick I told you in the other thread. If it doesn't work. Wait several days, try it again with a warmed up pinkie BRAINED pinkie (Use a razor blade to cut into the brain pan and get squeeze out a little of the brain) YUCK!

Good luck

[Lucidity]

The baby is only about 10" inches long i'd guesstimate...
I havent measured it for fear of stressing it out..
I have only had it for a couple months or so.

As for it being offered food too much... I reduced the feeding attemps to about once every 5 days...but at this point I dont think its eaten in a 2-3 weeks...it worries me because it is still so little that I dont want to hurt its growing process or malnourish it.

what I am most worried about is the fact that its skin looks a bit loose.

I will try the bag method, pick up a temp. guage, and try the crumpled towel.

Ill even brain a pinky..Gross yes.. But id rather brain a dead pinky than have a dead snake.

Again.. thank you very much for your advice.

[DdotSpot]

Just one question to add to Cheryl's wonderful response...

Does it look like he's about to shed now? Has his/her eyes clouded over? I notice with some of my corns that when they enter 'blue phase' their skin may look a little 'loose' I suppose. Just another option to check out. Sometimes if they enter blue phase, that can alter their feeding response during that period.

I sure hope everything works out well for your little one! Keep us posted on his progress.

[Mary-Beth]

The baby is only about 10" inches long i'd guesstimate...
I havent measured it for fear of stressing it out..
I have only had it for a couple months or so.


And you've been feeding him every 3 days? Has he been regurgitating? He should be bigger then that. :shrugs:

[DdotSpot]

Also you might try giving him a little privacy when he eats. Some of mine WILL not eat if I'm watching them. They all vary in pickiness levels. Some of them I just have to walk out of the room and they will start eating. Some of them I have to place towels over their feeding tanks to give them more privacy. Then I have those that will aggresively grab the food out of my hands before I even put it in their feeding tank.

You might try placing a towel over his feeding cage and leaving him be for an hour or so. :shrug:

[Lucidity]

And you've been feeding him every 3 days? Has he been regurgitating? He should be bigger then that. :shrugs:

well I started off feeding every three days... then its appetite went down to about every 5 days.. then down to practically nothing at all... now it is down to nothing.

The last time I tried to feed was a few days ago with no luck.


In response to the advice about privacy.. I will try the towels if need be. I guess I didnt think about it being much of an issue since when I first got it I would watch it eat & it didnt seem to have any qualms with it.
& since I live in an aparment by myself that is always quiet and usually lowly lit it shouldnt get spooked.... *sigh* I dunno.


You have all offered some great advice that I will definitely take into consideration.

Thank you!!!!

[Lucidity]

OKay... I tried putting my corn in a small paper bag with the pinky... and nothing..I even brained it.. and it still wont eat it...

So I threw that pinky out since it was getting old..
and I thawed out another one, but not as much as the first one so it would smell fresh, & I put it in its regular eating container and put it up in my closet and shut the door so it wold be dark...but it just acts like the food is not there..

it drinks water.. but wont eat..
& its getting REALLY skinny...

I think it will probably die... I dont know what else to do.

[Joni Garcia]

It sounds like you've tried all the posted suggestions, so now I'd suggest that you try feeding your snake a live pinky. One of my three snakes stopped eating f/t and I tried all the tricks. I finally resorted to giving her a live fuzzy. She took it right away, and then switched back to f/t the next feeding. She's been taking f/t ever since. It sounds like your little one is having a hard time. I hope it will be okay. Good luck and keep us updated.

[Lennycorn]

Check your temps and get them right. As was stated in the post,
Did you find a skin???? Is the snake in the "blue" or about to shed???
Need answers
But if you were feeding it ever three days and taken it to work and then with the warm weather turn on the air , without checking the temps. It might be stress out Wait some time and try feeding in viv but put warm thaw pinky on paper plate. :shrugs: ?????? Call a vet after than but I don't you will need too.
Keep us posted

[larryg]

Also I should add that they are frozen pinks ive been offering it (which is what it had been eatin before)

Perhaps my humidity is not right.. ?
How would you suggest keeping the humidity right in the aquarium?

& is it possible to NOT show it enough attention?
It seemed as if the baby started faltering in its eating routine when I would take it to work with me ( I work third shift in an inn... its very quiet.. and I thought I would be able to give it a good amount of attention and keep it tame)... but then It hought maybe I was giving it TOO much so I left it alone for a week or so and then only took it out a few times a week...
I cant seem to find a balance I guess.

It's better to leave it alone entirely. As in handling ZERO times per week.

[Lucidity]

The baby died this morning.....

[KatieL]

I'm really sorry for your loss. I know how tough it must be. It sounds like you really tried your best to save it though. Some of the little hatchlings just are not meant to make it. Perhaps you will have better luck with your next one (I hope you will try again since you've gotten loads of information to make it easier next time). I'm so sorry.:(

[Rosebear]

I'm so sorry...

I hope you don't choose not to try again. You have plenty of heart, and I really think you just had a bad run of luck with a very small baby. Legoless was about 14-16 inches long when I bought him...he's easily double that 6 months later.

My thoughts are with you...it's a tough thing to get past.

[Lucidity]

Well... I didnt have it long enough to really get attatched... which is probably best. It hurt to lose the baby...but not as much as it would have if I were really attatched.
BUt its always sad when a living thing... ceases to live.
Especially creatures that are as fascinating as snakes.

It is just more of a feeling of failure. I failed to keep it alive... & everything I did, in the end, meant nothing.
The hardest thing was to watch it everyday.. and just see it get thinner and thinner... I went to take it in to get it force fed in hopes that it would kick its appetite back in.. but when I went to pick it up to put it in its carrying case... it was dead.

Starved to death...

I dont know if I will try again.. perhaps someday...
But right now I dont have faith in myself to keep another snake alive.
and I dont care to see another one die.


Thank you SOOOOO much to everyone who offered help & advice.
It is still appreciated. It at least lets me know that I did try... it feels better knowing that...that there was seemingly nothing I can do.. it makes it feel like less my fault...although I am sure my lack of knowledge contributed to it.

Its GREAT to have resources like this that one can go to for advice and so many people on here willing to help.. just for the love of snakes and the hope that their advice will help other snakes & owners.

You guys are awesome... thanks again.

[peep_827]

I know it hurts, but don't blame yourself. It sounds like you did everything you could. And sometimes, no matter what we do, things don't work out. That is not your fault. Unfortunately it's fairly common for baby corns not to make it, through no fault of their keeper - it just happens. I have 4 now that I've had almost no problem with, and actually when I think back it's been nothing but luck. :) I'm not trying to talk you into going ahead and getting another, but I do think when you are ready you should. Perhaps you should do some research and get one from Serpenco or one of the other breeders that post here, you'll have to have the baby shipped but these people can really work with you on what you want and send you a baby with as good a chance as any. It's tough getting them from the pet store as you don't know where they came from or anything. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.