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Help-she's not eating!

C

corner

New member
Hi All, I've had my corn (hatchling) about a month/ month and a half now. She ate fine up until a few days before shedding. I fed her once a week, pinkie. It has been a week and a half since shedding and she still won't eat? Though she always ate well in her viv, I put her in a smaller (carrier), still no luck :cry: Any suggestions? When I first got her, I tried the box (covered) - She did NOT like that, moved to viv, fine until now. Please help a newbie :sobstory:
 
First of all calm down, a week and half is not that long. Is there anything that you have changed recently (temps, handling, etc)? You need to leave her alone for a couple days and not bother her. THen you can try and feed her with a cut pinky. Try putting her in a deli cup and leaving the mouse in with her overnight if that doesnt work. Dont keep bothering her and trying to feed her like a zillion times a day, this can cause stress. Just leave her alone and then try. If that doesnt work then there are alot of other things to try but it is always best to work your way up with the methods. WHen she does eat again I would suggest you get her on a every five day feeding instead of every seven day feeding IMO.

P.S.
Make sure your pinky is COMPLETELY THAWED and warmed. If this does not apply to you then disregard it. :-offtopic I recently had a guy buy one of my hatchlings and couldnt get it to eat. He at once told everyone that I had sold him a non feeder. I reviewed his methods and found that instead of taking my advice of thawing the pinky in hot water COMPLETELY he was placing it under a heat lamp for a short period. Needless to say the pinky was still frozen and that was why the snake wasnt eating.

GOOD LUCK
 
Thanks for the help

Thanks, I will leave her be. I really haven't changed her routine at all. She ate 3 times, and we take her out everyday for about 15-20 mins. to get her used to us (me and 2 kids). She seems fine with us. So really, a deli container overnight? I will try that in about 2 days. It has actually been about 3 weeks she hasn't eaten - 1 1/2 before shed and 1 1/2 after her shed. That's why I was freaking out.
I'll try your suggestions, I appreciate the help :)
 
Try and not hold her or let the kids bother her for a couple days and then try to feed. There are lots of tricks to try to get her to eat. Just search the forum for them.
 
thanks

That's what I am trying now. We haven't played with her for 2 days, we're giving it another 2 or 3 then I will try to feed. But it's sooo hard, she is so darn Cute:) Thanks for the help:)
 
Live or thawed?

Did you start out feeding the hatchling live food? Just curious I didn't get it out of your first posting. I was just reading some of the advice. While it's typical to feed hatchlings thawed I started mine on live and it was fine. I was just gonna say if you did start live, you may want to reconsider feeding it thawed because it will have to adapt to trying to eat something that has no movement and may be a little confused. While snakes rely on heat to tell where their prey is they also concentrate on movement. I was just wondering.

Anywayz I see also you like to hold the snake quite a bit 15-20 mins a day, I'm a sucker for my corn as well but typically limit it to 5-10 mins as too much time in your hands or being held can result in stress. Definately good advice on the previous poster (who I showed some rep power love to) with the telling you to wait a few days before handling, and good job of you listening but you may also want to cut back a bit from here on out or limit it to like 5-10 min sessions a couple times a day instead of all at once. I've read a lot of postings on this subject and if you surf through this section of postings you should find other methods such as temp regulation, lighting, and force feeding (last resort). Good luck on this though and let us know how it turns out.
 
According to your post, your snake stopped taking food when you started trying to feed in a seperate container. I would go back to feeding in the viv until your snake feels a little more comfortable with eating in another place. I had two of mine that I had to feed in the viv for a while as they were too nervous to eat outside of it. Up to the time that you changed it's feeding area you said it fed fine, even with handling. I'd be willing to bet that it will eat the minute you put the food in the viv.
 
I had almost the same scenario..Annie ate fine until she shed (first time with me) She had eaten live fine and I tried f/t after her shed...I tried braining, scenting with a live Anole...nothing worked (I even tried live pinkies again) until I washed the f/t pinkie with Ivory soap. I took a piece of Ivory soap (about the size of a marble) and dissolved it in a plastic cup with warm water, I put the pinkie in the soapy water for 10-12 min and then ran the pinkie under luke warm water for a minute or so. Annie has eaten both times within 10 minutes after doing this.
Washing the pinkie seems to be very popular and successful.
Good Luck with your little one!
 
ivory soap

good tip!

Ruby refused 3 feedings, thats a lot for a 14" snake...she was starting to look skinny. i tried a brained f/t, wouldnt take it...i then tried a live one. i tried to first feed her in her viv. and then tried to see if she would take it in a feeding tub. wouldnt eat it. i tried to feed her last week, and she still wouldnt eat. so i left her alone for 5 days. crossed my fingers that she would eat when she got hungry enough.
i went to the store yesterday, picked up a small live pink on my lunch break and put Ruby in the feeding tub with nothing in there but her and the pinky. i covered the tub loosely with a towel. and when i came home from work she had eaten the pink. finally.
she was taking f/t no problem until recently.
sometimes it just takes patience and having to resist the urge to check on them every day. and it's getting cooler...when the weather gets colder, my reptiles always eat less often. even if i keep the temps in their vivs up.
 
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