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Help Me So I'm ready...

Jenstar

Jenstar

IN OVER MY HEAD ;)
I'm getting a non feeder next week and I want to learn all about different ways to get her to eat... I know I'm taking a chance by buying a non-feeder but she is a ultramel lavender and I'm willing to take the chance... I was wondering if you guys could recomend books or websites and even personal experiences to help me out... I want to be ready to do my best to get this little girl to eat...;)
 
Braining is the first thing I would try. After that scenting it. I haved used chicken stock and it's worked for me.
 
My little girl was a non feeder as well. Strangely, the ONLY thing that worked( I tried them all) was washing the pinkie with non scented soap and warm water. Then I left her in a deli cup over night.

As for sites, here will be the best. Just do a search on non feeders. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
 
Deer mice (wild type mice) are miracle workers in my experience. But each baby is different - you never know what a particular one wants until you try various things. However, if you can buy a pair of deer mice (or at least some dirty bedding to use for scenting regular pinks), it might be what your baby wants. If not, try all of the various suggestions you will find in old threads on the subject.
 
I had very good luck one year with live gerbil pinks. They're a bit large, so if these are 3 gram hatchlings, that may not work. May be easier to find than field mice. Or you could try dwarf hammeys

The washing in soap thing has worked for me, too. I've heard it has to be Ivory bar soap & that's what I used, but I've also heard of people using other brands.
 
Sometimes, scenting a pinkie with the oil from a can of tuna can help stubborn ones get the idea. It's not a 100% successful method, but it works for me on the odd one and is a cheap thing to try (plus you get lunch out of it).

(The tuna, not the pinkie...!)
 
Depending on the Nature, Aggressive or passive, you might also try to aggravate it. I mean get it to go into attack position, then threaten it with a pinkie. Or Hold it close to its head and poke its nose with the nose of a pinkie. I have a little hateling who wont eat any other way. :poke::shrugs:
 
I disagree with the aggressive attack mode. The last thing you want is for the snake to fear the mouse. When in defence mode, the snake isn't thinking about food, he is thinking about fight or flight.

Do you know the history of your new snake. It would be really helpful to know what has been tried if anything.
 
There was the best post on here, by a breeder, listing in order what she tried on non-feeders. I tried to find it for someone else last week, but couldn't.

I think something that really helps is a SMALL quiet covered undisturbed feeding container.

Superhot pink, braining, Ivory soap washing, lizard scent, tuna water scent, chicken broth scent, withold water one day then very wet pink, strike feeding, hold snake in one hand and hold pink against snake's nose till he takes a bite, dirty mouse bedding scenting, slitting, paper bag treatment for any of the above, live in combination with any of the above except braining or slitting, although you can rub frozen brains on a live pink.
 
I did ask the breeder what he had tried... The baby I'm getting has been given f/t and live... I believe one time each and refused both attempts...
 
Maybe too early to call him a non-feeder, then! Hopefully he was just too stuffed with egg yolk to be in the mood.
 
About aggressive attack - I have had excellent success with tease feeding, but it's not going to work if you poke the snake in the face with the pinky. Instead, hold the snake and bump its sides with the pinky. It may or may not strike, and may or may not hold on. The most imporant thing is to freeze once it does bite the pinky so it forgets you are holding it, and relaxes enough to finish swallowing. It is time consuming which is why I think it doesn't get reccommended much.
The ones that eat for me this way will usually go on to thrive but it's important to not frighten the baby with the pinky. If you are putting it right in their face they can indeed learn to fear food.
Kathy Love's book has good pictures and I also wrote a thread on how to tease feed here.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54474
 
Nanci said:
Maybe too early to call him a non-feeder, then! Hopefully he was just too stuffed with egg yolk to be in the mood.
Click to expand...

I hope your right... Maybe she will start eating when the time is right for her... I'm getting her next thursday, how long do you think I should wait till I try to feed her again??? Should I try to give her f/t or live again before I try any of the other ideas you have all given me...
 
I'd wait five days. It will give her time to get settled into her new home and build up an appetite.
It is very common for new hatchlings to take a while to get started, they hatch with their first meal already in them from the 'yolk belly" and this sustains them for a while.
And yes I would try f/t and live again and overnight before trying anything else.
 
O.K. That sounds like a good plan... She should be nice and hungry by then and she'll hopefully know what she needs to do...
 
i had a lil guy that had some trouble eating, he had his first feed then skipped four. i got him to resume eating by heating the pink up really hot and then a tip was to put him in a paper bag in a sealed container so that he could be not disturbed. I tried it and now he eats just fine... i left mine in the bag oh say 2 of 3 hours in a warm area and i didn't check on him once i just let him alone (this was a f/t pink by the by). If she's just a hatchling Egg Yolk could be getting digested still but it's all worth a try. you might want to try the chat room for reptiles at www.kingsnake.com the people there are pretty bright and thats where i go for a lot of my questions!
 
I did use a brown paper bag to feed my first two corns, because the reptile store did it that way... It worked good and they always ate... Maybe that will make her more secure when she is feeding...I will definetly try that... Thankyou...
 
I am so HAPPY :)

OK, I wrote this post before I got my baby Ultramel Lavender non-feeder... Not to mention I got her I decided to get a bloodred het lavender non-feeder too... Well they were delivered on thursday and I decided I would try to feed them today only 4 days after there arrival... I bought them both a live pinky and I asked for an extra bag to feed them in... I went home dropped a pinky in each bag and put a snake in each bag and left them alone for an hour... I came back opened the bags and to my surprise I had two fat baby snakes... I am so happy after all of my worrying wondering if they would eat or if I would have to watch them die, they ate without a single issue... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will continue to be good little girls and eat... Thankyou to everyone that replied to my original post, you all gave me lots of ideas for the future non-feeders I drag home... :)
 
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