Lack of interest (feeding)

[dragonfly]

Hello all!

This is a bit of a journal-like post, for anyone who has the same situation as me in the future (or now)... so I'll just update as progress is made...in this thread.

I got my little buddy (Toby) on Sunday the 11th of June. 1.5 years old, healthy, currious. I let him be for a couple days handling-wise before I began handling him. His previous owner had handled him quite a bit so... it didn't surprize me that after a couple of days handling went from being all about getting away from big bad me in a panic to getting away from big bad me just out of curriosity (and desire for somewhere nice to curl up). In any case, he doesn't seem stressed at all from what I've read (but then again reading and practicality are two different beasts).

So since the previous owner fed him on Tuesdays, I tried feeding him Tuesday evening (13th I believe). Then on Saturday (the 17th). Then on Tuesday again (the 20th). All in the evenings though the times changed just to see if it made a difference... 6 pm, 8 pm, 12 pm. I tried by putting the snake in his little feeding container, then putting the pinky in and leaving them alone for a few minutes (range 15 mins to an hour). The room was dark. No bites! I tried taking tongs and wiggling the pinky, still no bite. Tuesday it was suggested to me that I poke it's head (the pinky) open. Sure, so why not, I tried, and no bite! He seems to smell it and he definately knows it's there, he just doesn't seem to care at all.

SO, here is what was suggested to me:

1. Warm the pinky in hot water for 5 min ( not boiling water)
2. put snake in feeding container. If you can find a smaller one ( like a
sour cream 500ml cup)
3. Put pinky in with snake. make sure pinky is very warm but not hot!!!!
4. leave him overnight in his feeding container in his cage. ( so he gets
some heat)


I'm going to try it - I'll update in a few with the results!

[Flagg]

I would think that a 1.5 year old corn should be well past pinkies by now. how big is it?

[dragonfly]

I would think that a 1.5 year old corn should be well past pinkies by now. how big is it?

Perhaps they're older pinkies? Don't know a lot about naming the food (sorry!), but the gentleman who supplies me with them (specifically for this snake by the way - same gentleman who gave him to me) calls them pinkies. Since I haven't worked with a hatchling snake I haven't worked with a hatchling's pinkies... The width of the food is larger than the width of his head I can tell you... by perhaps a third or a half of a head. I can do exact measurements of the snake tomorow.

Come to think of it, they aren't pink. They shouldn't have hair should they, if they're... say, day old pinkies. I'll have to do an image search... :)

[Flagg]

Sounds like you have the right size. pinkies are the smallest size and have no fur. They're "pink", hence the name. Next size up is fuzzies and they have fur. You can look at the Mice section at rodentpro.com to see the various sizes and names.

[dragonfly]

Thanks for the info / website - they are actually fuzzies, then. :)

[dragonfly]

Toby has eaten! So here is what worked for me:

-The fuzzie was wormed for a little over 5 minutes in hot water... so yes, it was quite warm.
-Made sure he had a drink of water.
-Put him in his little container (small enough that he covered half the container curled up)
-Poked the fuzzy through the top of its head so that the juices would be noticable.
-Put the fuzzy in the container with the snake, put a lid on it (it had air holes), put the container in the tank for warmth.
-Left him alone.
-Come back a few minutes later, and there's a lump in the middle of my snake.

Ta-da! That was fun!