non feeding hatchling

*takes a deep breath* Well I got her from the breeder on Oct 7th. Hatched approx. in August. Let her settle in her 10gal. viv with 3 hides and warm side is 80-86 and 75 on cool. I even placed black cloth around viv to give her privacy and reduce stress. Made first attempt to feed, tried to place her in the shipping cup she arrived in with 1.5gm f/t pink over night in viv. . . . and nothing. Waited 4 days tried again with a brained pink and nothing. Next I tried a live and she moved all around it like it had a plague, so nothing. Now I tried a smaller viv( 2.5gal.) and surrounded it with black cloth. Let her settle in then retry with placing pink in viv with her over night. You guessed it. . . . nothing. So placed back in 10gal viv, was easier to maintain safe temps. The breeder stated she ate 5 times before shipping, which I don't doubt. She even shed for me on Oct. 22nd, and I thought surely she will eat now. . . . nope. I could even tell she had went by the pink as the aspen was tossled about around it. But when I looked at her tail after the shed I came to realize that she had a bit of shed on the tip/tail. I don't handle her to keep stress to a min, but must remove shed and that's when I realize she has some stool in her intestinal tract, and she has never ate for me. This must be the last meal offered. . . . is this contipation? Is this the reason she will not eat? I thought she would have defecated way before now. Where do I proceed from here? I'm so very lost with her and I fear it may possibly come down to an attempt to open mouth and place a pink to see if she will voluntarily take it. Is she constipated and what is the best method to alleviate this issue? Man. . . . my brain and fingertips both hurt. I truly appreciate all thoughts/advice with this delicate matter for I trust many members here. . . . . . . . thanx.

Looks like we're neighbors! Good to see local Ozarkians on the forum.

About the constipation, don't worry about it. She'll still have stools occasionally even without eating, that's what metabolism does to a digestive system.

At this point as far as feeding, probably not time to freak out, though you have good reason to be frustrated anyway. A couple of other methods you could try is washed pinks. Just wash a pink with dish soap in hot water, this way you heat up the pink too. Then immediately put it in a deli cup with her in the dark. I've also had success doing the same in a paper lunch bag. Just put a couple of tiny holes in the bag, put her with a pink in it and close with a couple of clothes pins, and place it in her enclosure. It's worked before:eatpointefor me, it'd be another idea.

If the above ideas don't work, you could also try scenting a pinkie with raw chicken. Also try dipping the head of the pinkie in very hot water before offering to her in a cup. Good luck

I wouldn't get too worried yet. The impending shed could have caused most of the refusals. You could try half a pink and see how she feels about that. I'd keep feeding her in her shipping cup. Make sure the mouse is VERY hot. And I'd cover her up and not touch her or peek for an hour, and if no success, then reheat and leave for several hours or overnight. The Ivory soap washing an draw chicken are good ideas, too.

Thank you all. I will try again with a xtra small pink in the deli cup. Had a question, I had her approx. 3 weeks before the shed, how long do hatchlings prepare for a shed? Isn't it the same as older corns? After the shed I was sure she would eat, and nothing. She seems quite content in the viv, she is starting to roam around at night and in the day has found a happy place in the front of the viv inbetween the glass and the water bowl. Another question I pose is why she hasn't defecated since the last meal with the breeder? Is this possible constipation or is she just holding back for a particular reason. Crazy questions. . . I know. I really appreciate all help from everyone here, I don't believe there is another forum I would consider going to. I patiently await more thoughts/advice. Thanx so much.

Could she have pooped from her last meal _before_ you got her, and then hasn't eaten, so doesn't need to go again, since then? I'd say she could have been preparing for the shed at least a week before she turned blue enough for you to notice.

I do suppose that since she hasn't eaten maybe perhaps she's holdin on to what she had left, so maybe not constipation. When I took her out to remove the remaining shed on the tip of the tail I could see what was left of a last meal she had taken. She is a champagne corn so she is transparent enough to hold up to light to see. It has been 4 days since the last attempt to feed so I will place her in the deli cup with a pink for tonite and make several prayers that she will eat. I will keep an update of what comes of tonights trial.

Kellogg Cornsnake said:

I will keep an update of what comes of tonights trial.

Click to expand...

Those were all great suggestions. I'm sure she'll eat for you soon.
Good luck with that. Keep us posted!

They can drive us nuts, can't they? One of the babies I bought this summer refused every offering for a month. He'd eaten for the breeder, but seemed to have left his appetite at his old home when he came to me. I was reassured by the good people here that babies can go a LONG time without eating. If yours ate before, she'll eat again. You are a lot more worried about it than your baby is, believe me.

I tried the things that have been mentioned here, but was frustrated when he didn't eat. I'd tried half a pinky, and tease-feeding, too. I finally had success with a modified version of tease-feeding suggested by Susan Willis. Snake in one hand, warm pinky in the other, I gently bumped him right in the chin with the mouse. After holding the mouse right against his face for a few moments, he decided that he'd chow down. He's not refused a meal since, I'm thrilled to say.

I should probably add that this baby was fairly skittish. After about three weeks, I decided to try handling him a bit so that he'd not go into panic mode about being handled to be fed. I'm not sure if that helped or not, but it seemed to calm him down - which may have made him more willing to feed.

Good luck, and try to relax about it. If she ate before, she will again.

You have very valid points. She is quite skittish. She isn't the hatelings that I have been around before, she is quite the "nice" snake. But when I placed her in the deli cup with the pink I made a interesting observation. It would appear that she is extemley slow to digest, I had her held up to the light and noticed that she still had food in her stomach and noticed there was roughly 1/2ish that had moved on into the intestinal tract and this was much more than she had around 2 days ago or so. I thought to myself if I still had a full belly I wouldn't eat either. So I believe she won't eat tonite either. What do you all make of this? Would it be a good bet to try Nutribac and see if she could use a boost in her good digestive bacteria? Just some more insane thoughts that has ran through my mind. Perhaps it might be somewhat beneficial to handle her briefly to get the idea she will not be hurt or worse. . . . . . eaten ! I really do appreciate all and any ideas given, all of my other snakes are fantastic eaters and will eat at a drop of a hat, but this lil girl has ME in her palm of her hand so to speak .

I don't know about the Nutribac. I've heard good things about it, but haven't used it myself. I'd hesitate to use it for this baby unless it was injected in a mouse, though. You don't want her to associate handling/mouth-related activity with anything even remotely unpleasant until she's feeding consistently for you.

I had another thought last night (two per night - wow, kind of unusual for me! . Be sure you wash your hands BEFORE handling her mouse, especially if there's any sort of household pet. She might detect cat/dog/whatever and be put off from the prey. Even if the mouse thaws in hot water, the snake could possibly still detect scent. It's probably not a big deal, but still...I know when my new baby (Wizard) kept refusing to eat, I was willing to consider anything to help.

Good luck, and keep us posted. I hope to hear of success soon!

She didn't eat last night, another saddened night. The breeder called me this morning(I e-mailed her) and described to her what I saw. Ok, when I took her out to place her in the deli cup I took notice that she still has food in her stomach and was cole black(necrotic) and a large portion had moved into the intestinal tract and was just as black. She has never defecated nor ate since I have had her the 7th of this month. The breeder and I agreed she must not have enough flora/enzymes to digest properly and the necrotic food may very well poision her. So long story. . . . . she may not make it. At this point I wish it WAS me and not her. What does anyone make of this situation? I very much trust the breeder, she has the heart of gold and felt beyond bad for this, but I reassured her this can occur once in a while with snakes, so we both feel terrible for HER. I don't know if the Nutribac would stabilize her enough to get through this or if things have gone to far to fix. I'm so sad for her, I love her very much. I waited ALL summer for her to get to me and it looks as if our time together is short, but I'm glad I got to take care of her for the time she's here with me. I look forward for your thoughts, and I'm very appreciative of everyone.

Are you sure you're not just seeing internal organs??

Have you taken her to a vet for an exam?

I talked back to the breeder and then also made a call to Kathy, it sounds as if there may be a problem with digestion. Almost as if she shut down, I got her out today to check progress and the black mass has left the stomach and the stomach looks great and clear, so the plan is to let her defecate this black mass out so her system is clear and then make another attempt to feed. We all thought with a full stomach she didn't feel hungry or simply couldn't eat. She is still active and has good bounce to her body, so just maybe she will now thrive. . . . . . I pray. I wanted to update everyone so we are all on the same page. I will keep updates coming with the impending attempt.

Fingers crossed for your little one eating soon

Heavens! I second the motion for a vet visit if you're suspecting internal necrosis. For what it's worth, there's no way she'd be active and behaving normally with intestinal necrosis. Fingers crossed here, too.

My caramel stripe has suffered from similar difficulty. Ever since I've had her, her digestion was extremely slow, she never regurged, but would even deficate partially digested pinkies/fuzzies. So, to protect her, she has always had much smaller meals than "normal". It took a year and a half for her to grow out of it, but she did. She's now two years old, and finally getting to eat "normal" sized meals for her size.

Getting yours to eat is the first hurdle, but after that, it'd probably be wise to keep feeding her very small meals, even a year from now...once she's eating, you don't want to jeopardize her health if her digestive system isn't good.

This sounds very simular, to what you have experienced. Did it take a good while to defecate as well? She has done one stool pass, although there is more to clear the path. I check her every other day for progress. A question for you, when did you decide to feed again? Was it after the food left the stomach or did you wait till the entire system was cleared? That would be really helpful if things to in a positive way. I just don't know if she will eat with stool in the intestinal tract. I could use some thoughts on that, and what seems safe.

She has always deficated on a "normal" basis....a few days after eating. But when she wasn't completely digesting her meals, the most important thing I did was to be super careful about the size of the meal. But I also did not feed her quite as often...instead of 5-6 days, I fed her 8-9 days.

But again, now's that she "healed" she's eating on a regular schedule, and passing normal stools...and growing (finally) too! And even if your's has a little stool in her intestinal tract, it wouldn't prevent her from eating, you just have to use good judgement on the timing and size of her meals.

It seems as though she has delayed stools as well. I would like to try another attempt to feed since her stomach is clear once a gain, and the thoughts are of a safe nature. If she still refused meals at this point I think there is a real chance of her not making it, she had that meal with her for a month and I believe that is the only reason she has made it for as long as she has. I will still pray for her to live and thrive. I so appreciate the information. I will give it a shot for her to eat tonite. I will place her in the shipping cup with the smallest of pinks for a over nite try. I will post what takes place to keep all updated.

Try a washed pink in hot water tonight if you haven't tried that yet.

And glass-half-full, as it may be unclear what's wrong with her yet, even a hatchling snake can live quite long time without meals and still be o.k. One of my hatchlings this year at it's first offered meal, then didn't have a single morsel for exactly three months to the day! Then out of the blue, she's eaten the last five (washed) pinks I've offered her. Don't lose hope, way too early