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Finally got my corn to eat by feeding live, is this really such a bad thing?

I also forgot about males going on hunger strikes. I guess because it's not spring any more. But I do have a male kingsnake and he stopped eating for me around May. I just now have gotten him to eat last week. He also ate this week with no problem. So hopefully the strike is over lol.
 
He doesn't LOOK skinny to me. But it really depends on the weight, like others have said. I too forgot about hunger strikes during breeding season.
 
xStaticSnow said:
I tried everything I could to get him to eat. Wiggled it around, brained it, slit it, left it overnight, scented it with tuna water, and then chicken broth.. Finally a friend of mine who has snakes tried assist feeding, by gently holding his head and putting him nose to nose with the mouse. He refused to open his mouth.

Once he did decide to bite the thawed mouse a few times, but after realizing it was dead he lost all interest. I really wouldn't have been that nervous except for the fact that he is so skinny! You can distinctly see his spine along the length of his body and his jaws stick out a great deal from where his neck begins. It seems alarming to me, but then again I could be worrying too much..

I've had him a little over 6 weeks like I said, but I've only attempted to feed F/T 3 times. The first week I didn't try to feed him, then he refused the second week, the third week he went into blue and had a bad shed, the fourth week he refused, the fifth week he refused, and the sixth week he accepted a small live mouse immediately, killing it literally within seconds. 2 days later he pooped and now he seems as happy as can be.

I keep hearing and reading insistent opinions that feeding live is a bad thing. I understand the mice can bite but my snake was raised on live mice and it's obviously his preference. I think I would rather just supply a live mouse every week than poke and prod and worry when he refuses to take a frozen one..

Is this reasonable or are there major risks which would make it a better option to continue trying to feed frozen? Maybe I should feed him live until he gets some weight on him and then try to switch over to frozen? I'm not sure.. but feeding day is tomorrow and I was planning on heading back to the pet store for another feeder.

thanks guys
Click to expand...
The thing is....... We are snake charmers.... With experience you will learn about corns and know what floats their boat... You will learn the zombie dance, warming, and certain lady produces that vibrate and 'sound' like a thousand foods running along, and trigger a feeding response.....
feeding live to get a means to an end is dangerous and, well, the easy option......
see what I am saying, and where I am coming from.....
We are in this for the long game....
 
I see what everyone is saying. I'm sorry if my eagerness to feed him live upset those here. Next time I'll try all the options suggested here.

I still do stand by what I said about being treated in a way that hurt my feelings, but I respect what's been said and I also admit and agree that I haven't been dealing for snakes for very long and haven't had to deal with a snake that's a picky eater before.

Sorry for any upsets, next time I'll try to avoid the hot button topics and comments. I'm trying my best
 
And finally, maybe I'm just paranoid but he looks healthy in this photo?

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He looks so much thinner than some of the other snakes on here... I will try to get a weight on him as soon as possible.. he's about 3 1/3 ft long
 
I think a lot of the snakes on here are bigger because they are used for breeding and females need to be big in order to lay eggs because it takes a lot out of them. There are also a lot of people who have chubby snakes and know it. It's not that they power feed. I think some snakes just pack it on easier than others.

He looks a little thin in that picture. But not unhealthy. If he continues to eat he'll probably put on some more weight. Though he may just be small.
 
I always enjoy reading the information that others put on these threads, I am only a pet keeper of 2 corns and 1 is male, and it is very helpful to know that males can go on hunger strikes. Hopefully if it happens I wont freak out lol.
 
He really does not look that thin. Honestly, his body type is closer to what a corns should be.

Healthy corns look like a loaf of bread if you were to take a cross section out of their middle. There should not be any gaps between the scales and the body needs to have good muscle tone, not feel flabby.

Really many of the corns you see posted are technically overweight.
 
This is one of my pairings from this year. To me, the Cinder looks super skinny, but that's just his body type. He eats a large adult mouse every week and just maintains his current weight. He's solid muscle though, so it's all good...

DSC_0701.jpg
 
He does look pretty healthy to me. I have a male that is a slow grower, and I keep getting freaked out when I hear people who have snakes the same age, that weight twice as much as he does... I just do not want to end up overfeeding him and causing a regurge. Since he does look healthy to me... He may be ready by next spring for my first breeding, but if he is not, I am not worried too much...lol.
 
Okay thanks, good to know he's not too thin..

I guess its just from seeing the snakes on here.
I understand now seeing airenlow's post..
I always thought my snake should be about the thickness of your butter to be considered healthy.

Mine's not too far off from how your cinder looks in that photo
 
Go to Walmart.

Get a digital scale. One that can read 5000 grams will do. Cost about $25.00.

It also looks cool when people come over and ask about it.

Could be used for modern art too.

Go to Walmart
 
Or go take my dads that he never uses for free :)

Just gotta get the time to actually go over there and the courage to deal with my obnoxious father!

Thanks though, walmart will be option numero 2
 
i have owned corns for around 2 years now and have always fed two of my snakes F/T but have always heated it up in water, then wiggled the mouse around in front of it and pulling the mouse back and fourth to get the snake interested and they will take it straight away. if i leave the mouse in the tank on a rock forinstance it will wait about 5 mins sniffing it and then finally bites. my snakes naturally constrict the already dead mouse but this is natural and is less likely to happen if left in tank. I have read other forums and people say it makes the snakes aggressive if it constricts and strikes but mine have always been fine and have never bitten me but tbh if u have been feeding live it will be used to constricting and will not become aggressive. So i would suggest wiggling it infront of it and teasing it :) good luck
 
The easiest and best way to thaw a rodent is- placeing it in hot water in a plastic bag
The rodent wont get wet, u dont have to blow dry it and leave a burnt sent on it.
Easy as pie aint it?
 
I have a few snakes that will only eat live and I have tried everything to switch them over. Should you switch over a snake to f/t f you can? Absolutely. But if you have a snake that only takes live you will still have to feed it. Stunning the mouse will protect the snake if you are concerned about it getting bitten. While the picture of the snake with rodent bites all over it is pretty bad, that would never have happened if the owner had not taken a live rat, put it in the snakes cage, and WALKED AWAY.
Try and switch over if you can, let the snake get a little hungry too as suggested, I did find out a couple of mine that won't take f/t mice, WILL take f/t baby rats about the same size so that is something else to try. If none of those things work and you find the only way it will eat is live, then just do what you have to do and don't worry about people's opinions.
@ Josh- cinders are wiry little things aren't they? My juvie male looks similar to yours in body type.
 
I've been able to get all my snakes switched over to f/t mice for the past month or so now. Just thought I might mention a little trick I learned..

My baby garter snake eats diced up pinky mice, so I have to cut it into pieces and thaw those pieces in a bag. This leaves a lot of nasty bloody gunk behind. I've learned that if I thaw the adult mice for my other snakes in the same bag as the pinky pieces that gunk gets all over the mice and it must smell appealing because it hasn't failed once yet

Thanks for your post! :)
 
I've stunned mice by holding the tail and smacking their heads on a table. I did break some necks, but they were still twitching when they went to the snake. These were a friend's snakes, not mine.

I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats that hunted everything moving from butterflies to rats, even snakes. I learned to accept that many pets still retain the wild nature to hunt. I wont even get into dogs. To my understanding a snake that also wants to kill his own food isn't strange.

My first thought when reading this was the male breeding fast. I wondered why it took so long before that was pointed out. My second thought was that the frozen mice you got with the snake may have gone bad. I'd just throw them out to be safe.

I have a two year old snake who has survived four regurges. Your snake is no where near as skinny as mine. Don't worry to much, many keepers only feed their adult males every 14 days.

He is your snake so you must be the judge of what is right for him. I nearly got a live rat for my male ball python this past winter when Titus went months without eating. The husband would have ripped me a new one if I did. The snake began to eat f/t rats the next week and hasn't refused since.

Good luck with Ziggy.
 
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