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Am I just bad at feeding snakes?

R

recrdchaos

New member
I have a lot of difficulty getting my 3 month old corn to eat. The breeder said he was a fantastic eater, but it took him a while to take it the first time I fed him, and now we're on his second feed and he hasn't taken it yet. Is there not enough warmth in the mouse? Do I need to leave him more? If I dangle it for him he lunges but doesn't actually strike and get his jaws around the pinkie. It usually takes a decent amount of following around and harassing to get that, too. If I leave it with him he kind of just ignores it and crawls away. Is this normal? I admit I'm pretty paranoid after the death of my first baby (sold to me too small).
 
How I feed is I put the baby in a very small container. That way he can't wander off and forget the pink. I never feed from tongs. I heat the pink to as hot as my tap water will go (125ish???) and cut several small slits in the back. Then I just leave the baby alone. If he is sketchy about eating, I cover the feeding container and leave the snake alone for an hour.
 
Thanks nanci, that sounds like a great way to do it. He really does seem to forget about the mouse in his tank. However, taking a good look at him his eyes are all foggy so I think he's going to shed. I put him in a covered tupperware with the mouse for a while so he'd have a fair offer of food if he was interested, but he still didn't go for it so I'm leaving him be now until he sheds.
 
Feeding while in blue is one of those semi-controversial topics. Unless the snake is in very deep blue or it's one I know won't eat while blue, I offer food when scheduled to my own snakes as many will eat without any issues. Yes, some will eat sometimes and not other times, some never eat anywhere near when it's time to shed (and I'm talking at least a week before going blue resulting in 2-3 skipped meals in a row and a very slow growth rate), and some will eat no matter how blue they are, if they're in the actual process of shedding (what will get to the mid-point first...the mouse or the roll of shedding skin?), or if I'm dangling them by their tail off the edge of the roof over a pot of boiling oil (*joking). Have I had a regurge due to feeding in blue? Yes, one or two, but honestly, I can't swear that it was caused by being in blue as there are other factors that could have contributed to the regurge. But, that's me and what I do with my own snakes based upon my own personal experience. You can never go wrong by holding off feeding on a snake in blue, just to be safe.
 
I figure, in nature, the snake would be hiding away, not out hunting and eating. I would estimate something like 80% of the resurgence I've seen have been during the snake's blue period.
 
I have not bought my hatchling yet but I have all my research fresh in my head so I figured I would share. When younger corns won't feed lots of people cut the head so the brain is exposed because it can trigger appetite and their hunting instinct. I hope my newby advice wasn't too unwarrented.
Good luck.
 
I routinely cut the head and back of everything I feed up to adult size. It makes the prey easier to digest, and much yummier to smell! For all snakes.
 
Nanci said:
I routinely cut the head and back of everything I feed up to adult size. It makes the prey easier to digest, and much yummier to smell! For all snakes.
Click to expand...

When you say easier to digest do you mean like the time it takes for them to digest? Would that mean you had to feed them more offten on like a five day cycle instead of a ten?
 
New2this<3 said:
When you say easier to digest do you mean like the time it takes for them to digest? Would that mean you had to feed them more offten on like a five day cycle instead of a ten?
Click to expand...

It allows the stomach acid faster access into the preys body, You wouldn't have to feed them any more because of this, it's just thought to aid in digestion...
 
Slitting pinks was an actual experiment done by Connie Hurley, which included a control group. The babies that were fed slit pinks gained weight at a faster rate than those who ate unslit pinks. So actually, it makes the pinks more digestible, so the snake gets more nutrition out of them. And grows more.

Some people think "oh I don't need my baby snake to grow fast," but the benefit I see from it is, easier digestion = less possibility of regurge, which is simply the inability of a meal to be digested before it rots in the stomach, leading the stomach getting rid of it the fast way. And bigger babies faster = less time in that fragile hatchling stage.
 
Thank you so much. Have you ever had a hatchling not take a cut pink? and this is a little off topic but you brought up growing quicky. If my hatchling is in a 10 gallon long what length should I move up to a 20?
 
You can put a hatchling in a 20L at any time, providing there is lots of cover for hiding.

No, I haven't ever had a hatchling not take a cut pink. When I start feeding babies I do the first meal slit and covered, the second meal slit and uncovered, and the third meal unslit, as a trial, then I go back to slitting. No one has ever refused the unslit, either, if they ate the two previous meals.
 
I think Nanci means she feeds first in a covered container and then with the lid or whatever off the second time. Nanci can I ask, does it get very messy slitting them? And did you say you do it with all your snakes even if they're adults?

Btw, OP good luck with your new snake, hope he feeds for you and has a great shed :)
 
The container always has a lid on it. By covered, I mean, with a towel or t-shirt or whatever, so the snake can't see out and get distracted.

I stop slitting when the snake starts feeding on adult mice.

It isn't usually messy. Thawed mice _can_ leak a little , anyway, particularly blood from the nose/mouth. If the snake gets mouse juice on it, I just run the snake under room temp water from the faucet. They spaz out the first couple times, then could care less. I have never has a stress-induced regurge from rinsing a snake immediately after eating. I also rinse the deli cup if it has mouse juice in it.
 
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