These darn snakes won't eat! Please help.

[replover]

Alright well I have a whole bunch of corns. Over a dozen of them. Most of them eat like champs, but there are three that has problems.

One of them which was acquired few weeks ago, ate once. It was a week after arrival. But it has since refused to eat. It has thus far skipped two weekly meals. I am less worried about this one because it ate once already. But I do worry it will not eat again. I don't know if this last two refusals are because he is in shed, or whatnot. But 2 weeks seem a long time for being in shed.

The other two, a crimson and a caramel (with all these crazy hets I wont list) just have not eaten at all since arrival. They had eaten before they were shipped to me, several times. The guy is well known enough and a friend of a friend and he isn't lying about that, I know. They just won't friggin eat!

I tried feeding in the enclosure, I tried feeding in a delicup, I tried feeding live, I tried feeding dead, I tried giving it more time to get used to its surroundings, I tried cutting open the brain, I tried leaving them in a delicup and the food overnight, I tried putting them into a feeding box with multiple pinkies in there so that they are bound to bump into one. Hasn't eaten a darn thing.

Is there any thing else that I don't know about that I can try. I hate wasting all these pinkies and thus far I have not been able to get any snake that has refused to eat to actually eat, ever. They just kinda die. And this is for my breeding project and they had to be the FEMALES that didn't eat. I am sooooo angry at this.

What else can I try? If they don't eat for another week or two I will hand them over to my friend Simon Fung who's experienced with snakes and see if he can get them to eat something.

[replover]

Oh by the way I already know that snakes don't eat for a long time they are still ok. But the thing is I am NOT worried about their health now from not eating a little bit. I am worried that htey will just never eat again in their entire life and that is soooo annoying. I have thus far has other snakes that didn't eat (not corns) but haven't EVER gotten one to start. They just all died. That is why I am so worried. I need them because otherwise the corresponding males would be useless for breeding and I can't get these same hets again here.

[dawnrenee2000]

what is your set up like that these babies are in? what are temps like for them and how much light is in that room?

[stormyday]

I don't really have any advice, I'm sure more seasoned corn owners will!

But just wanted to say hang in there! My little corn just ate last night for the first time in over a month & half! The guy I got her from said she ate at least once before, but she never pooped or shed for me, so I wonder if she really did. I have a thread about her, that I'm going to update now.

Good luck!

[replover]

what is your set up like that these babies are in? what are temps like for them and how much light is in that room?

They are in those plastic boxes I believe you call them steralite over there in the USA but they are different brands here. They are about a 13 inches long and 9 inches wide.
They have waterbowl and hide but they never use their hides. INstead they burrow in the substrate or squeeze between the water bowl and the walls.
The substrate is aspen for the caramel, and is "back to nature" paper substrate for the other two, which is similar to "Carefresh" over there I believe but it isnt all fluff like carefresh.

There is no heat gradient. It simply is not possible in this weather. The temps go to 85 F around noon. At night they are 80 F.
All the other snakes are in the same boxes and same setup placed on top of each other or side by side (except for the ball python which is much bigger). 19 snakes in total. They all eat like champs, shed well and all except those three. In fact, those three were the biggest ones when they arrived, but now they are close to being the smallest as the others grew.

[replover]

I don't really have any advice, I'm sure more seasoned corn owners will!

But just wanted to say hang in there! My little corn just ate last night for the first time in over a month & half! The guy I got her from said she ate at least once before, but she never pooped or shed for me, so I wonder if she really did. I have a thread about her, that I'm going to update now.

Good luck!

Has she ever eaten under your care before this time?
If it was the first time you saw her eat, please tell me how you got it to eat!

[spjuice]

I tried several methods you've mentioned for my problem feeder, and they failed for me as well. What finally worked was scenting the pinky with an anole. I washed the pinky in soap and rinsed well, then rubbed an anole all over it, and got the lizard to bite it several times. My okeetee baby ate the pinky right away. I heard it can work with other species of lizards and even frogs....I highly recommend it.

[replover]

Anoles are out of the question as they are not available here. What other lizards can work?

[Farli]

I would like to know if other lizards work as well. I don't have any anoles but i have a leopard gecko, gargoyle gecko, bearies and a frog (unsure of type, rescued from someone who was gonna let it go [i live in the desert and it is a water frog] and i decided to keep it). If i can use any of these, please let me know! I have a little okeetee that just wont eat. the breeder said she ate before and didn't want to take her back and just gave us a new one. I don't want to give up on little "Carmen". please let me know what else to try. I have tried almost all of the things that replover has tried to no avail (i didn't try the multiple pinkies...should they be live or frozen/thawed?). I have 11 total corns, 6 i have had for a month and all eat great. 4 i got yesterday and 1 has eaten. little "Carmen" is accually my friends that she has given up and i decided to try. when you guys do the brain thing, should it be a frozen/thawed or a killed live? let me know! someone i talked to before suggested gerbil pinkies but i can't find any. what else can i try?

[stephen]

Lizard scent works usually for fussy eaters,dont use a gecko! Depending on where you live you may just be able to catch like a fence lizard,there tails will fall off if you hold them by it and then you can release the lizard and use the tail for scenting.You might want to freeze it first to make sure there arent any parasites good luck

[Farli]

alrighty! I am currently trying the "wash" method. If they don't eat in like an hour, i will try again tomorrow with a sented. now i just have to catch a lizard...

[Agent Psychocat]

I'm not the most experianced but I do have one that has been a problematic feeder. My suggestion would be to not try a multiplitude at the same time, when I did that Drake freaked out and curled up in a corner. Braining shouldn't be done to a live animal, that just seems crual and wrong don't you think? If you're concerned that your snake is disinterested in eating than leaving them overnight with live food is a bad idea, from my experiance, even a hungry pinky will wiggle it's way to a disinterested snake and chew away. Needless to say, Drake has been through some trauma and I've worked my ass off to get him back to good but he's starting to eat well again finally. I wish you both the best of luck but sometimes it just takes a while. Force feeding is a last resort but I've never done it so someone maybe another could coach you through that possability.

[Farli]

I have to let you guys know! I got my non eater to eat! I am so excited!!! I tried the "wash" method. Try it if you are haveing problems! I washed with joy (i had no ivory) rinsed well, patted dry, placed pink and snake in delicup and covered and she ate! I even got 2 new ones (that i got yesterday) to eat! I am so excited! I have one more new one that still needs to eat, but she will i am sure!

[Agent Psychocat]

Good job, happy to hear it.

[becca anderson]

I'm not very experienced with corn snakes, but when my snake didn't eat, i just dipped it in some tuna oil- just get a can of tuna, squeeze out the juice and put the pinky in it- easier than finding a lizard! Well, it worked, and now my snake can't wait for dinnertime! If you decide to try it, then I hope it works for you.

[replover]

BEcca, do you squeeze out the tuna juice and dip the mice in the JUICE? Or do you squeeze out the juice, keep the meat, and dip the mice in the meat?

If it is the juice, does it matter that it is kinda oily? Is that bad nutrition?

[becca anderson]

BEcca, do you squeeze out the tuna juice and dip the mice in the JUICE? Or do you squeeze out the juice, keep the meat, and dip the mice in the meat?

If it is the juice, does it matter that it is kinda oily? Is that bad nutrition?
Juice, not the meat XP. It's probably not too healthy for them but if it gets them eating then it's ok. You probably only need to do it a few times for it to eat regulary without it- I just did it once and it worked.