First force feed attempt.

[Sacred_Nightmares]

Just want to throw my situation out here to the forum for any advice you all can help me with!! It all will be greatly appreciated. :]

I'll keep things simple, I visited a friend whose dad breeds corn snakes, and browsing through his hatchlings, I checked out his non-feeders he was trying to jump start and one caught my eye so I brought him home. He is an amel stripe het/poss homo blood. Gorgeous little bugger.

So for the past 18 days, I've tried multiple attempts with pinky cutting/scenting to no avail every 4/5 days. The breeders had been forcing feeding egg yolk in the past. Since I didn't have the equipment, I did some research on here and just force fed about 1/2 of an adult mouse tail about 15 minutes ago. Hopefully I'm doing everything right to try 110% to kick start his appetite and feeding response. :[

Here are a couple [no so good] pictures of the little guy. I only took these pictures as to try to avoid disturbing him as much as possible.

 

[raynefyre]

Such a gorgeous little bugger.

 

[psychoprimate84]

Such a cutie! Did you try anole scenting?

 

[tom e]

I had one who was a very dedicated non feeder. I force fed mouse tails between many unsuccessful pinky attempts. At the same time I had breeding zebra finches, and it turned out she was not actually a dedicated non feeder, in fact was a very aggressive feeder with birds, and anything bird smelling after that. I mean it was just like night and day. She went from spitting out mouse tails that I managed to get down her and running from pinkies, to suddenly attacking me for baby finches (and later pinkies rolled in finch feathers from the bottom of the cage..)!
I know baby finches are probably not easy to get, but go to the pet store and pick up some feathers from the bottom of the cage, just might work!

 

[psychoprimate84]

I had one who was a very dedicated non feeder. I force fed mouse tails between many unsuccessful pinky attempts. At the same time I had breeding zebra finches, and it turned out she was not actually a dedicated non feeder, in fact was a very aggressive feeder with birds, and anything bird smelling after that. I mean it was just like night and day. She went from spitting out mouse tails that I managed to get down her and running from pinkies, to suddenly attacking me for baby finches (and later pinkies rolled in finch feathers from the bottom of the cage..)!
I know baby finches are probably not easy to get, but go to the pet store and pick up some feathers from the bottom of the cage, just might work!

Oh wow that is amazing! I will have to remember that when I have any other problem feeders. All the ones I have had went with the dead lizard scenting very well. Have heard about gerbil scenting as well. Have even scented with my AFS rats with success.

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

I haven't tried anoles yet, but have heard many success stories with it. I never noticed any pet stores selling them, however. Do they have any special name or anything??


And to tom e, next time I'm at the pet store I'll ask them for a handful or feathers and definitely give it a try. Thank you! :]

 

[CrousesCorns]

I have had a lot of luck with small brown paper bags. Place the snake and a small pinky in the bag, roll the bag down some, place a piece of tape or clip on the bag, and place it in a kritter keeper or something safe, leave it for a few hours, and then check it. I have had to leave them in it over night before.
Good luck! It can be a huge reward for a keeper and a huge regret!

I have a 08 female ghost motley that I have been force feeding or pinky pumping since may 2008. She just wont eat on her own. I have tried everything! She is too beautiful to give up now. I am hoping one day she will take off, but as of now she still won't.

Here's a link to her: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/album.php?albumid=257&pictureid=1511

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

Wow that is a beautiful ghost. I think with this nonfeeder I too just have too big of a heart. I too think he's so gorgeous and I'll keep him as long as i can get food to his tummy. Even if it means force feeding for years to come!

I'll give the paper bag a try, too. I have them already in the pantry so that will be easy! I'm just gonna wait until Monday or Tuesday so he can rest undisturbed for a while. Thank you for the advice! :]

 

[Nanci]

I haven't tried anoles yet, but have heard many success stories with it. I never noticed any pet stores selling them, however. Do they have any special name or anything??
:]

If you're in Fort Laurderdale, just catch your own!! That's what the local cornsnakes are eating!

 

[Nanci]

Have you tried washing in ivory soap, or raw chicken juice scenting, or cooked chicken fat scenting, or tuna scenting? I just heard a new one: put the snake on top of the washing machine when the machine is running. (I'd be careful with a hatchling, though- you'd have to have it in something that won't fall off- maybe put the deli cup in another, heavier container!)

 

[Caryl]

I had one who was a very dedicated non feeder. ...it turned out she was not actually a dedicated non feeder, in fact was a very aggressive feeder with birds, and anything bird smelling after that. I mean it was just like night and day.

I've had a similar experience with more than one "non-feeder" when offering gecko tails. We have a lot of invasive Mediterranean/house geckos in my area. I've yet to have a non-feeding baby turn down a gecko tail. Most of them are eager for pinkies that have been scented with gecko. I'm talking about serious non-feeders here, including those who've been force fed.

There's always a risk in feeding wild-caught food items. (I know, most anoles and geckos in many pet shops are caught by people like me.) The tails are unlikely to transfer parasites, but the risk can be further minimized by freezing for 24 hours. I now have 4 captive geckos, just in case....

I imagine that if the hatchlings could talk, most of them would say something like, "Finally, some FOOD instead of this inedible stuff I've been getting!" We've got to remember that nature programs corns to eat other things besides mice. Some babies seem to have that programming heavily slanted toward some other food source while they're small.

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

Caryl, what you say makes perfect sense. And I've been avoiding catching wild anoles for the risk of parasites or anything like such. All that you just said makes me feel more confident about giving the anoles a try.

Nanci; I wasn't sure if they were just the common brown anoles or something special I never knew about. xD I always take the extra step of caution!! And no I haven;t tried all of the mentioned feeding attempts yet. :3

 

[tom e]

If you decide to try the feathers, remember to wash the pinks with a mild smelling soap first. He might be so disgusted with mouse smell at the moment that he won't go for it if it's underneath.. Also I used them really dirty, like right off the cage floor, the more 'smelly bird' the better. Even if there was a little bird urates on the feathers, I would not clean them off.
The first thing she took wholeheartedly was actually a baby finch that was tossed from the nest. I understand that's kind of a tall order though unless you know someone with a bunch of zebra finches (assuming they'd even be willing to give you one of their babies for food!)..