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hatchling not constricting?

KatieL

KatieL

Sienna, Trogdor & Melony
Hi Everyone!

I just bought a hatchling corn snake and I had a quick question. When I bought her on Friday they said her normal feeding day was Monday, so we got her a pinkie and she ate it right away…the part that I found surprising was that she didn’t constrict it. Is that normal? I’ve seen adult corns eating, and I know that they are constrictors…but maybe the pinkies don’t need to be consticted? Or maybe she is still adjusting to her new surroundings? I was just curious. I work a lot with juvenile and adult snakes but never with hatchlings, so this is all new to me. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I just wanted to say that you guys were all a big help when I was doing research on corns before I got her. Thanks!

Katie
 
No pinkies often aren't constricted but eaten alive. They don't pose much of a challege apperantly.

I understand you feed hatchlings even week like an adult? About every 5 days would be fine to. They use the proteins to grow, instead of to build a fat reserve.
Also, it's better to wait at least a week to let the snake settle to his new surroundings before feeding. But it seems you already fed him.
 
Don't worry about it my yearling is 50/50 weather or not he will constrict. He has started to more as he's got older (15 monthe's now), and he's on frozzen small-medum mice now. Live food might be a differant matter but, as i don't feed live i can't give an comparision.
 
Funny thing is, if their used to dead, it may happen their not constricting life anymore.

It was so funny when i gave my bloodred 2 small live mice. He had no idea who on earth his food was moving. So he just went to business as usual. The next one his instincs kicked back in. Still, he looked so funny and was so suprised when suddenly the food woke up again.

Since that incident i switched to f/t.
 
This one time...

I gave houdini 3 live pinkies and he just swallowed them alive. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They screamed all the way down. Needless to say I never did that again, I can still hear them. I always feed frozen now. :crazy02:
 
Last night for the first time Bob constricted a f/t fuzzy! We've never fed hime live lol. Was cool to watch though.
 
What seems to happen in my collection is this. Some hatchlings constrict and others don't. I feed most of my snakes f/t, very few live. But once they get to larger prey items, such as fuzzies or crawlers, that's when the constricting instinct kicks in. Once they have hair it seems. Still some of my yearlings and adults don't constrict though, I guess they are just that comfortable with me and they prey items?!

Just an observation,
Quigs
 
Thanks everyone who replied, you put my mind at ease. :)

I took your advice and started feeding her every five days (well, the first time was yesterday). She was definately ready for more! The exciting part was she constricted this time! The "large pinkie" they sold me was pretty fuzzy though...it even had one eye open and was scampering around. It was about an inch and a half though, which was the size she has been eating (according to the guy i bought her from). She struggled a bit to get over the shoulders but after that it was smooth sailing. I know they eat things that seem very big compared to them, but I was just wondering how you know if it's too big? She's a month and a half old, 18 inches long, and about as thick as a regular Sharpe marker. Is this what she should be eating?
 
Pick a food item that's about 1½ times her diameter at the fattest area and move up a size when the food item no longer leaves a bump in her belly.... Also, there's no need to actually feed live food (and personally I feel sorry for the little mice who have to suffer for a minute before expiring) and it'll be a lot cheaper in the long run to buy your prey items in bulk frozen. My snakes have never eaten live food and it does them no harm at all, in fact it's probably better for them considering freezing kills a lot of the bacteria and parasites mice carry that can harm your snake....and in the future, when you're feeding an adult mouse with sharp teeth, if your snake aims badly and the mouse turns around and attacks back, your snake could be badly hurt or possibly killed. Just my 2 cents!!


PS - my snakes often constrict their food even though they've never eaten anything they have to constrict, so if you'e looking for the 'thrill of the kill' you don't need to make a little mouse suffer in the process to see the constriction. -not a personal attack, just a suggestion.
 
No offense taken, thanks for the suggestions.

I had been looking into the frozen pinks and fuzzies and decided they were probably the way to go (esp. as her prey is starting to be coherent now). However, Sienna had only ever been fed live food when i bought her, so I figured i should let her settle in here before changing yet *another* aspect of her life. I'll probably be switching soon, just have to pic up a seperate freezer; some of the parasites mice carry cannot be "frozen to death" if they are in the cyst form (i think thats what its called, its been a year or two since i took parasitology) and I'm not willing to risk my family's health as well...I'm already nervous enough about the snake's. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!
 
KatieL said:
I'll probably be switching soon, just have to pic up a seperate freezer; some of the parasites mice carry cannot be "frozen to death" if they are in the cyst form (i think thats what its called, its been a year or two since i took parasitology) and I'm not willing to risk my family's health as well...
Click to expand...

And I thought I was being overly cautious! ;) I have the pinks in their original packaging, then double-bagged with the Ziploc freezer guard bags, and then in a tightly sealing rubbermade container. I don't want mouse-flavouring in my food either, but I did it that way more to ward off freezer burn than anything. Should those of us storing the mice in our personal freezers be THAT worried about bacteria and parasites if we handle them appropriately? Have to wash your hands and any surfaces anyway, just like with your own meat. Just wondering!
 
Wilder said:
And I thought I was being overly cautious! ;) I have the pinks in their original packaging, then double-bagged with the Ziploc freezer guard bags, and then in a tightly sealing rubbermade container. I don't want mouse-flavouring in my food either, but I did it that way more to ward off freezer burn than anything. Should those of us storing the mice in our personal freezers be THAT worried about bacteria and parasites if we handle them appropriately? Have to wash your hands and any surfaces anyway, just like with your own meat. Just wondering!
Click to expand...

I keep mine in a ziplock bag in an air tight box in the freezer, and have never had a contamination isue with my food. I have kept snake's for 20 year's without a problem, so i wouldn't worry 2 much about bacteria and parasite's. Yeah be cautious and wash everything down after use, using a sutable cleaner, but i personally havn't had a problem using frozzen.
 
Haha, for some reason I never recieved notification of the last two posts on this thread and just discovered them when I dug up this thread to reference in a reply.

Anyway, as an update: I have switched to frozen, and they are in my normal freezer. I looked into little freezers and they are very expensive, so I gave up on that idea. I may be obsessive, but they are triple-bagged (the 3rd bag is just brown paper so I don't have to look at them when I'm getting dinner out of there), and have their own shelf on the freezer door where nothing will come in contact with them. Another thing is that I realized that the majority of encysted parasites are found intramuscularly (i think), sooooo they shouldn't be a problem, right? Until I start playing with the whole pucturing thing, which I do. Anyway, I'm just being careful and hoping for the best now.

Sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I felt it deserved a response (especially since I've buckled under the pressure, hehe).
 
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