• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Not eating, please help us!!! LONG

M

mlyn

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new to this and I really need help, with our new corn....

I bought a corn (about 15" long) on 12/24/04 for my son (I wanted one too). When I bought it at the pet store they said it had eaten a few days before and to wait 4 days to feed him again. I bought some frozen pinkies and everything else we needed for him. So I get him all set up in his new home, with an under tank heater, carefresh substrate, and a water dish. His home is a 40 gallon tank.

So time comes to feed him and he won't eat, I called the pet store they said to wait and try again, so 2 days later still nothing. I called again they said just wait, again nothing. So I take him to the pet store and the guy there showed me how to brain the pinkie, he offered it to him and he ate it.

I take him home and wait 5 days and nothing again!!!! I wait and try and over and over he doesn't want it!!! 3 weeks go by and still nothing, so I take him back to the pet store and they said he wasn't dehydrated but was a little weak. They told me to get a heat lamp and try to warm him up more. So I do that wait a couple days, I offered him a head and a full one and nothing!!

Again I go to the pet store they said maybe his home is too big, so they loaned me a 10gal tank and told me to try that. That was Sat night, they said to wait until Tuesday to try to feed him.

Last night I took him out and on his mouth it looks greyish like it's an old scab, and above his eye looks like he has a sore. It's not white or anything it looks like he rubbed it raw kinda.

I will try and post some pictures of him tonight after work.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted to get all the details in. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mindi
 
Well for starters, a 40 gallons is HUUUUGE for the little guy. Open spaces = huge stress. No matter WHAT size tank you use, place LOTS of hiding spots. And I do mean a lot.

Next is the temps. Make sure they're set properly... 83 on warm side, 73 on cool. Water stays on the cool side.

Next is NO HANDLING. The snake definitely sounds like it's stressed out. Put it in the viv, and give it at LEAST a few days of complete solice (don't "stare" at it), then offer food. The easiest way to get a (healthy) cornsnake to eat, is to first set the husbandry correctly, then completely remove stress.

As for his mouth, I'm going to let someone else answer that. I'm not too sure what that can be.
 
When I got him, they knew what size tank I was using, I wish they would have told me it was too big at first. Now he is in a lot smaller space, with 2 hides, is that enough one on cool side and one on the warm side. Do I need more?

I will make sure he is left completely alone for a few days, then try again. We really haven't handled him very much, he is usally left alone, except for me trying to feed him. I really hope he gets better, he is so cute!!
 
mlyn said:
Now he is in a lot smaller space, with 2 hides, is that enough one on cool side and one on the warm side. Do I need more?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Two is all he really needs, but little snakes can get stressed very easily, and the best way to cause that stress is by not making them feel secure. And a stressed snake is a snake that won't eat.

You're definitely on the right track, but you'll get better help here than from the pet store.

If it's been a while since he ate, place more hides in the viv (toilet paper rolls, empty margerine containers (small), silk plants... etc), and leave him completely alone for a few days.

Another problem with non feeders is trying to feed too often. If you keep offering, and he keeps refusing, the snake is likely to become turned off against that particular meal. Does he seem healthy otherwise (in your best opinion)?

Good luck!
 
A big tank is not nessasarily bad. Some react poorly to all the estra space~ but often it is no big deal as long as they have plenty of hides. Probably the pet store was just trying not to oversell you on every little thing. Good for them for a change!

I'd like to see pics of his face~ I'm afraid I just can't picture what your describing.

Meanwhile~ make sure his temps are good and he has hides. Then leave him alone for a couple days. In a couple days~ get yourself a deli or yogurt cup. Something reasonably small with a tight fitting lid. Warm up your pinkie~ brain it like the pet store did~ put the pinkie and the snake in the cup~ put it in the warm side of his cage. Cover it with a towel so that it is completly dark~ and leave the snake alone over night. NO PEAKING. In the morning let him out of the cup. Hopefully that delicious brained pinkie he spent the night with will have been too tempting and he will have eaten it!

Good luck!
 
Okay so here's the plan......

More hides both on warm and cool sides, make sure temps are correct 83 warm 73 cool, leave him ALONE for what 3 days you think? Then the yogurt, braining, covering, and put him on warm side of cage overnight plan. Sound good?

Oh and I will get some pics of the stuff on his mouth and head, will it be okay to do that since he is so stressed?

By the way thanks guys!!!

Mindi
 
If you think there is something wrong with his mouth~ then yeah~ try to get some pics. If not~ leave him be for a couple days.
 
update

I did everything to try and help it. His temps were correct and gave him lots of hides. I peeked in on him this morning and he was fine, when I checked after work he was dead...... :cry:

We want to get another one, any advice on where, when, or anything else? I'm not going back to the same place when I went back there one time one of the girls slipped and said yeah a lot of people have brought thiers in because they aren't eating. When I called the manager he played dumb about that one. When I asked him who the breeder was he said one of his friends. I know I should have asked that before I got it, but live and learn.

thanks
 
OMG! I'm soooo sorry! What an awful experience... but don't let it deter you from getting another corn. Did you at least get your money back or a credit (to be used towards viv supplies)?

:(
 
I called them to tell them it died, they said it only had a 24 health guarntee. I bought it on xmas eve so I'm outta luck there. I was thinking of going to Pestmart or Petco what kind of reputation do they have with snakes???
 
Their reputations are less than stellar, and the prices can be high. I would get a new one from a reputable breeder, either here on the forums, or locally to you. You might also think about going to a reptile show so that you can check them out there. My amel was from a show, and he's been awesome. Make sure whoever you buy them from can give you a feeding schedule and tell you how many times the snake has fed. The larger the snake, the more it's probably fed. 18" is a good start. 22-24" would be great. You know they wouldn't get to that size unless they ate. There are lots of really great sources for snakes here on the forum, and most of the larger breeders have a feed guarantee. You also will most likely not run into a problem with getting a new snake if you had it die in similar circumstances from a reputable source. The only drawback to the reptile shows would be not having that. Good luck to you, and my condolences on your loss.
 
I'm sorry to hear he didn't make it.

Try running an add in the wanted section of this web site. There may be a breeder close to you.

Good luck
 
I got both my corns from pet shops.. first one got theirs from a breeder in Maine, and the second one, won't tell me. From experience I'd say go breeder direct, pet shops suck hehe... er least the big ones that just wanna seel and don't care about the animals. And they do majorly overprice.. got Treasure for $200.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top