snake just wont eat

[teauvendar]

i had a new corn snake for about a month now everything is fine accept he will not eat no matter what hes not shedding or anything i tried every trick i tried peices of the pinkie, just the head , dipped in tuna and chicken broth, left in feeding container over night everything i could think of but no avail im starting to get worried he will just starve himself to death untill hes dead any suggestions.

[Hallie]

How old is the baby? Where did you get him? Were you told he was willingly feeding on his own when you got him? What is your caging like (size, temps, bedding, hides, etc.)?

P.S. Welcome to the forums fellow Pennsylvanian. :)

[teauvendar]

I am not to sure how old he is exactly but he weighs 12g about. And i picked him up from petco so haha i never asked if they were eating i should of though was my mistake. He has two log hides a 20 gallon tank aspen bedding warm side dabbles from 79 to 84 degrees during the day cool side is 70 to 75 degrees. Everything is perfect he loves chillin with me very calm and is in my room next to my bed, the girlfriend loves that haha so yea i am just worried i want him to eat and live a long happy life you know.

[Hallie]

Alrighty...thanks. Now for the advice...

He's probably a baby from earlier this year. A PetCo purchase probably wasn't the best idea, but I can't say too much against them, as I do have a PetCo corn myself (I got really lucky with him though, he has always eaten like a champ).

Your husbandry seems fine, but because he is such a little guy, I would actually think about getting him a smaller tank until he's a bit older.

How much are you getting him out? Did you give him time to settle in after you got him? It sounds like he's probably stressed, which would cause the unwillingness to eat. At that size, I rarely get my babies out, only to feed/clean/water. Once they are well established eaters, generally over 30 grams or so, then I start 'socializing' them and getting them out once or twice a week. It doesn't seem to affect their 'personalities' by not handling when they are really young. 95% of corns are very sweet by nature, that extra few months of minimal handling doesn't appear to change that.

My next suggestion would be to get a day old live pinkie and try that. I've only ever had one young snake (also about 12 grams) refuse a live pink (and she was an on-again-off-again feeder...huge pain in the butt!!). After that, they generally will take a frozen/thawed pink the next feeding.

[Nanci]

Is the pinky REALLY hot? As hot as your tap water will go? Cut slits in the back. Lizard scenting. Can you get an anole up there? You don't have to kill it, just rub the pink on it. Raw chicken juice. KFC chicken fat. Are you putting the snake in with the pink in a tiny container, like margerine container-sized (with air holes)? Covering it up? If you've had him a month, he's going to shed any day.

[Asbit]

looks like Nanci and Hallie seem to have it covered quite well, so I will welcome you and say good luck!

[haydnrobinson]

Any luck on it now? We have the same problem! Had the snake 3 weeks this weekend.

[teauvendar]

some very good news sorry it took so long to update but yes he did eat just yesterday at 8 o clock at night i bought a fresh batch of frozen pinkies that looked fresher then my other ones i was trying to feed him previously, so maybe that was it. But yea it was scary because it took him a little over a month to realize he was hungry and when i gave him the pinkie he did not hesitate at all to eat it lol no tricks needed to be practiced this time :) thanks all for the advice.

[haydnrobinson]

Awh that's good then teauvendar, glad the snake's nice and full now :) ours is too, high five! Haha :)

[Asbit]

congrats both of you!!!