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First he ate now he won't

Z

zebedeepink

New member
I got my first corn snake 2 weeks ago and was told that he had recently had 2 pinks. I got him home, got him settled and left him for the first couple of days. 5 days after getting him, we successfully gave him his first pink - this was 10 days ago and he hasn't taken one since although we have offered on 3 separate occasions. My hubby brains them (the pinkie that is) and puts them in a separate tub and then puts the snake in. He just slithers all over the place and totally ingores it.

The 2nd snake we got at the Donny show on Sunday has also not eaten anything yet and is very skittish compared to the 1st one, who will happily crawl around on you for ages, although she does calm down after a while.

Apart from feeding brained, hot pinks, what else can I do? What does the lizard scenting mean as I also have a bearded dragon. Does the tuna water thing really work as I also have some tuna at home.

Any advice would be much appreciated :cheers:
 
It might be worth feeding in the viv. I've had hatchlings that just get so stressed at being handled and won't eat. Make sure your animals are on newspaper or paper towel substrate though.... aspen can be ingested and cause problems. I usually try to make as little noise / movement as possible....and just drop the pinkie in and leave the room.

Good luck!
 
Drew's suggestion is good.

The most likely problem is that the snake is nervous with his new home. Making him feel at ease is the best thing you can do. Make sure he has places to hide. Put a pinkie outside his favorite hide and then just leave him until the next day. I bet he eats it.
 
When I wiggled the mouse for my little guy he almost instantly noticed. You might want to try teasing him with it, putting it close to his head and wiggling it. Just don't poke him in the head with it, then they get scared.
 
Well I separated them last night and tried feeding Slim Shady again and he still wasn't interested. I left the pinky in with him overnight and he hasn't touched it. My newer snake took 1 pinky last night, that makes 3 in 5 days.
 
You should only attempt to feed every 3-4 days when they refuse.

If you have not tried it yet, next time try slitting the back of the pinky and soaking it in warm chicken broth or tuna water. Then put the pinky in the feeding container with your snake. Make sure he gets plenty of privacy. Let us know how it goes.
 
zebedeepink said:
Well I separated them last night and tried feeding Slim Shady again and he still wasn't interested. I left the pinky in with him overnight and he hasn't touched it. My newer snake took 1 pinky last night, that makes 3 in 5 days.
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I'd suggest leaving the refusnik alone for 5 days or so in his new home, to let him de-stress, before trying to feed again. (Also 3 pinks in 5 days is a very heavy feeding schedule for the other snake, 5-6 days is more usual for hatchlings.)
Good luck with Slim.
 
I have left Slim in the original container with his favourite skull hide and put Ruby (the newest one) in the new container with her favourite hides. I'm worried about Slim though because he was 6g when we got him, went up to 9g a couple of days after his first pinky and is now back down to 6g. He's very active and seems to love being handled. Regarding the chicken broth, would a chicken stock cube disolved in hot water work? Not actually sure we can get chicken broth over here (UK). I have tuna though so could try that
 
After a serious weight loss of 3g in a hatchling, his best chance, honestly, is to stop handling until his feeding pattern is re-established. Offering feeds too often can actually reinforce the refusing behaviour.
(How do I know this, I went through hell with a refusing hatchling 2 years ago, and advice and support from members on here is the reason Lil is a big healthy snake instead of a sad memory)
 
When he is fed, what is it like exactly, do you put the tub out in the open with a lot of movement? I'm not sure if you're watching him eat or not. But when you do feed him again stick him alone in his tub in somewhere dark with no people (like hiding him in your closet or something), leave him in there for 30 mins - an hour (maybe that length is a bit excessive, but it can't hurt.) and don't peak in on him. That's my advice anyway.
 
Try NOT braining the F/T pinky as well trying a live pinky. Others have already mentioned the different types of scenting, but I'm not sure if they mentioned removing all scent by washing a F/T pinky with plain Ivory bar soap. That's been known to work as well. And you must understand that sometimes, despite our best efforts, hatchlings will sometimes refuse to eat...ever, even after eating before.
 
I tried him again today after leaving him alone for 3 days. I put him in a small, secure container and put the pinky in and put him back inside a darkened viv and left him for about an hour. Still nothing :twohammer I'm at my wits end now. He's very active, unlike my other lazy slob who just sleeps all day in the same spot. I really don't want to do live as I think it's cruel. I defrost the pinkies in a cup of hot water - is this wrong? What would be the best way?
 
Have you tried leaving him over night with it, in his feeding container? You're defrosting it the right way. Is the mouse VERY hot, as hot as your tap water goes?
 
I tried an old trick on some non feeders for the first time last night and got pretty impressive results. While still frozen, was the pinkie in a good lather of Ivory hand soap. It should thaw out for the most during this process. Rinse it well and then offer it. I got 13 out of 40 long term problem feeders to take pinks last night this way.

Sometimes the goofiest things work
 
Suncoast Herps said:
I tried an old trick on some non feeders for the first time last night and got pretty impressive results. While still frozen, was the pinkie in a good lather of Ivory hand soap. It should thaw out for the most during this process. Rinse it well and then offer it. I got 13 out of 40 long term problem feeders to take pinks last night this way.

Sometimes the goofiest things work
Click to expand...
Great tip! For the UK version of it, I used fragrance-free Superdrug own-brand shampoo!
 
UPDATE

Friday night I fed my female Ruby, who is a fantastic eater and has never refused once. She had a bit of a traumatic time as one of the pinky's hands was at a right angle to her mouth and she couldn't get past it so after an hour of trying to get past it, in the end up i had to gently pull it off her - I think she was relieved. Anyway, I put her back in her tub to rest up a bit and thought I would try Slim just for the heck of it. I put a warmed pinky near the entrance of his skull hide and turned the light off. I just happened to peek in about half an hour later and the pinky was gone :dancer: I was so chuffed :D

This was Friday and today, Slim has had another pinky given in the same fashion and Ruby has just taken two out of her tub. I know 2 in 3 days is a lot for Slim but he has just gone nearly 3 weeks without and he won't usually get fed this amount.
 
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