New snake - feeding problems

[rosie]

Hi, we got a baby cornsnake (18in) abut 10 days ago. She, Rosie, regurgitated the first 2 snakes. We have gone through things. Her temp is right, she just has natural light, we thaw the pinkies with warm water. We have left her in a quiet place undisturbed now for 5 days straight and just tried to feed her again. Now she is not interested. Any ideas?

[bluetattoo]

Hope you mean pinkies and not snakes there.....lol!

You should not try and feed her after a regurge for 10 days as regurgitating is very stressful on the snake. Wait until the 10 days are up, and leave her as undisturbed as possible, then try again. If temps etc are OK she will hopefully be fine then.

Blue

[rosie]

Sorry, yes we fed her pinkies, not snakes!!!

Can you leave the pinkie in her cage for a bit? That is what I did and made it completely dark. She is active for the first time in days but still hasn't taken the pinkie.

[bluetattoo]

Hi again,

It really is best not to offer her anything at all until after the 10 days from the last regurge. Regurgitating really messes up a snake's digestive system and she will not be ready to eat until then. If you keep offering food when she is not ready to eat you could be exacerbating the problem and the snake could end up not associating the scent of the prey with eating, and developing an entirely separate eating problem. Don't worry if you think it sounds a long time - it's not really in snake terms!

There are lots of threads on here about regurges - just do a search. You will see that "the 10 day rule" is the standard.

Was she eating OK before you got her? Did you get a record of her meals and sheds etc from the dealer?

Blue