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Health Issues/Feeding Problems Anything related to general or specific health problems. Issues having to do with feeding problems or tips.

new hatchling, tail kink and feeding issues
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Old 05-30-2018, 07:21 PM   #1
bekahbear
new hatchling, tail kink and feeding issues

i got a baby coral snow morph corn snake from an add on the kingsnake classifieds. she was delivered on 5-15-18. last night was her 3rd attempted feeding since i got her and she has refused all 3 meals so far.

here is a little more background info. the picture in the add i bought her from showed the whole clutch instead of individual pictures. i contacted the seller to see if he still had any females available and he said "I have one really nice female left right now" so i paid for her and she was shipped out a few days later. once the snake arrived i immediately noticed that the baby i was sent has a deformed tail tip. it appears to be something that the snake was born with and not an injury. i contacted the seller and attached pictures of the tail. his response was "surprised i missed that" buy offered no apology and did not offer any compensation for selling a snake that was not as described.

i attached some pictures of her tail. the defect is just after her vent so i don't think it should affect her ability to eat and digest her food.

there was no info sent with the snake so i asked about her hatch date so i could put it on her ID/feeding card and if she had been eating live or frozen/thawed with him. here is the response "Ate both. Her clutch pipped 4/4 - 4/7/18"

now I'm wondering how many meals she could have actually had before i got her if her clutch only just pipped around 4/7/18. i bought her on 5/8/18 and she arrived 5/15/18.

i waited 3-4 days after she arrived then offered her a small frozen/thawed mouse pink. she showed no interest when i showed it to her with the tongs so i left it near her in her tub overnight. it was still there in the morning so i threw it out. about 5 days later was her 2nd feeding attempt. this time i used a live pinky but she again showed no interest and it was still there in the morning. i then waited another 5 days and tried to feed her another live pinky last night. same as before she has shown no interest.

she is currently being housed in a shoebox sized tub in a snake rack. the warm side is 85 and the cool side is about 75. she has a small water dish. she is on aspen bedding and has several toilet paper tubes that are cut in half to make tiny half log style hides on both the cool side and the warm side.

i have experience with breeding and raising boa constrictors and ball pythons but i only recently got into corn snakes. a baby corn snake is so little compared to what i am used to. i worry about how long she can go without food. if someone has any tips or tricks to get her to start eating for me i would be really grateful
 
Old 05-30-2018, 08:20 PM   #2
Twolunger
Well, you apparently did 3 things wrong, but one thing right. Bought a snake from someone you didn't know, who doesn't seem to be standing behind his/her hatchlings, bought a very young hatchling with suspect feeding record, and bought a snake with a deformity, albeit a minor one. If it were mine I would insist the breeder take it back, although the shipping cost may approach the price of the snake. I don't mean to dwell on the negatives, I've made mistakes too, and you did the right thing by seeking help from the forum to hopefully get her eating. Scroll down to the member's blogs and look for Nanci's blog Snickersnake. She has an excellent post on getting hatchlings to eat, which is the main concern at this point. Good luck. Your corn can have a long life with that minor kink, but I would never breed her, as you don't know if it is a genetic defect.
 
Old 05-30-2018, 09:10 PM   #3
bekahbear
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twolunger View Post
Well, you apparently did 3 things wrong, but one thing right. Bought a snake from someone you didn't know, who doesn't seem to be standing behind his/her hatchlings, bought a very young hatchling with suspect feeding record, and bought a snake with a deformity, albeit a minor one. If it were mine I would insist the breeder take it back, although the shipping cost may approach the price of the snake. I don't mean to dwell on the negatives, I've made mistakes too, and you did the right thing by seeking help from the forum to hopefully get her eating. Scroll down to the member's blogs and look for Nanci's blog Snickersnake. She has an excellent post on getting hatchlings to eat, which is the main concern at this point. Good luck. Your corn can have a long life with that minor kink, but I would never breed her, as you don't know if it is a genetic defect.
I checked the fauna board of inquiry before purchasing from him and everything I found on him was really good so I thought I could trust him as a breeder.

I was really surprised when I asked him about the hatch date after the baby arrived. I even asked him to confirm the date a 2nd time because I thought the month must have been a typo at first. I never would have bought the baby in the first place had I have known how young it was. I thought she was at least a couple months old. (the ad for these babies had been listed for a few weeks already when I bought her)

I was very upset when the baby arrived and I saw that she had a tail deformity. he described the baby as a "really nice" female and knew that I was getting her as part of a future breeding project. after I told him about the tail kink and sent pictures he then tried to tell me that she should still be "absolutely fine to breed". I told him that I would never breed any snake with a tail kink. I told him that physically the kink may not be an issue for her breeding, but morally it is because there is no way to know if it was just a random fluke or if it is something that she may pass down to the next generation.

I am very disappointed in this breeder and the experience I have had with him. I will definitely never be purchasing from him again in the future.

I want to give this little snake the best chance at a good life that I can even if she will only ever be a pet. Sending her back Is not a viable option. Money for shipping aside, we are now getting into our summer weather here. A couple weeks ago when I got her we were only about 80 degrees for our high temp. we are now well over 100 degrees. (it is supposed to get up to 107 or 108 by the end of the week) so it would not be safe for her to try to send her back.
 
Old 05-30-2018, 10:16 PM   #4
Twolunger
It's funny that reputable breeder didn't notice the obvious kink? I had a nice female snow hatchling last year and my son was helping me by double checking the sex on a whole clutch that I sold. He pointed out that the female in question had a tail kink. I said no way, as I handled her several times. I ran my fingers down her spine and sure enough, there was a kink you could barely feel, and wasn't obvious just looking at her. Luckily I had a friend looking for a pet corn for her daughter, so was able to give her away. I'm glad that you were able to check the BOI, but now you should probably relate your experiences with the breeder on the BOI, after giving him a chance to rectify the problem. A refund, or partial refund is what a reputable breeder should offer, considering the kink and feeding problem, although you may get her eating using Nanci's suggestions. I sure wouldn't want to deal with the breeder under the circumstances you described.

Obviously, shipping is out of the question now, but a refund, or partial refund is in order.
 
Old 05-30-2018, 11:31 PM   #5
bekahbear
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twolunger View Post
It's funny that reputable breeder didn't notice the obvious kink? I had a nice female snow hatchling last year and my son was helping me by double checking the sex on a whole clutch that I sold. He pointed out that the female in question had a tail kink. I said no way, as I handled her several times. I ran my fingers down her spine and sure enough, there was a kink you could barely feel, and wasn't obvious just looking at her. Luckily I had a friend looking for a pet corn for her daughter, so was able to give her away. I'm glad that you were able to check the BOI, but now you should probably relate your experiences with the breeder on the BOI, after giving him a chance to rectify the problem. A refund, or partial refund is what a reputable breeder should offer, considering the kink and feeding problem, although you may get her eating using Nanci's suggestions. I sure wouldn't want to deal with the breeder under the circumstances you described.

Obviously, shipping is out of the question now, but a refund, or partial refund is in order.
i don't know how he didn't notice the kink before shipping. my guess is either he did notice it and just hoped i wouldn't say anything about it or he's completely oblivious. I saw it before I even got her out of the deli cup. its easily visible.
I've been trying to stay friendly and professional with the him in all of our emails back and forth. I have also made it a point not to mention his name anywhere yet because i am still trying to see if he will make this right somehow. so far it doesn't seem like he is going to do anything about it but i want to give him a chance to do the right thing before i publicly call him out on the BOI for this.

i would really like an apology from him for shipping a snake that was not as described and at least a partial refund of the cost of the snake itself

if i was ever in a similar situation with a snake that i sold to someone i would be immediately offering a full refund of the cost of the snake. depending on the situation i might even refund the shipping costs since it would not be the buyers fault if i sent them an animal with a defect and did not tell them about it first.
 
Old 05-30-2018, 11:36 PM   #6
bekahbear
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twolunger View Post
...Scroll down to the member's blogs and look for Nanci's blog Snickersnake. She has an excellent post on getting hatchlings to eat, which is the main concern at this point. Good luck...

i was able to look up the thread with all of the suggestions for getting a hatchling started on eating. I'm crossing my fingers that at least one of them will work and that she will start eating and make it. thanks
 
Old 05-31-2018, 09:27 AM   #7
Twolunger
I have tried the boiled pinkie method, putting the corn and pinkie in a deli cup, covering the cup, and leaving it for a while. Surprising, to me anyway, the pinkie is often gone within minutes. Let us know what success you have.

I have to admit that I'm often too impatient for the hatchling to eat willingly, so resort to force feeding, inserting a pinkie, or part of a pinkie into their mouth. Sometimes the feeding response takes over and they swallow immediately, other times I have to push the pinkie into their throat. I have also started a few off by inserting the fat part of a mouse tail coated with Nutribac DF into their throat. But hopefully you can get her eating with the other methods.
 
Old 06-01-2018, 10:44 AM   #8
smale492
Tbh you should have waited longer than 3 days after getting it home to try and feed it. It was probably stressed out from the shipping and then you trying to feed it. I would maybe try and do the dawn dish soap method. It worked for my picky eater the very first time I tried. Now I haven't had and Issue ever since that first feeding.
 
Old 06-01-2018, 11:39 AM   #9
67temp
Have you weighed her? What is the weight/size of the pinkie?

I've had several that refused my normal f/t or my source for live. The prey was too large for them. I had to find another source for day old pinks till I started breeding my own. Here is a comparison of a pink that was a few hours old vs a f/t pink vs a dime. The day old pink was about the size of the f/t after 3 days. Sometimes they are intimidated by the prey size and need a few small meals to build up their confidence.
 

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