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How long can a baby go between meals?

D

dpkeys

New member
My corn snake, Bob, hatched on August 18th. When I brought him home on Sept 29 (sunday) he was fed the weekend before.

So when I brought him home I waited 5 days then fed him a f/t newborn pinky. (Oct 4th) I didn't watch him eat it, I just lifted the hide, waved the pinky in front of him for a bit, then put it down on a piece of paper, locked up the viv, and shut off the lights in the room and left. An hour later I check on him - mouse was gone and there was a lump in his belly. Great. (Basically here, he went ~12 days between meals due to timing and the mandatory 5-day "settling in" wait.)

Four days later (I'm going with the Munson plan here although I don't yet have a scale) I went to feed him again but he didn't come out of the hide at all. (Oct 7) I even tapped on the hide to "wake him up" but I didn't lift the hide this time. I figured he'd smell it and investigate. Left it on a piece of paper again and left the room for an hour. Came back, mouse still there. Re-heated, tried again for another half-hour. Mouse still there. Alright then, no dinner for you, Bob. I'll try again in 5 days.

Saturday October 12th, I notice he's been nowhere to bee seen for a while. Lifted the warm hide and I noticed his eyes were juuust starting to tinge. He was also pretty lethargic so I began some light misting (brought the humidity from 30% to 55%, I'm trying to hold it at about 50% for the time being). Left him alone.

Two days later, (Oct 14) checked on him, yep he's definitely in shed. Eyes are very blue. Oh well, guess I gotta wait to feed him now.

Another 2 days later, Wednesday Oct 16th. Still waiting. Lifted the warm hide and he was balled up underneath. I didn't see his head but he moved, so at least he's alive. Replaced his hide and changed his water.

I really hope he sheds soon! It's been 13 days since he last ate, and before that it was about 12 days. Certainly when he's done, I am going to feed him in a separate lidded container, put the brained pinky in, put the lid on and leave him until morning. I want him to freakin' eat!

James
PS I don't have any pictures of him yet but he looks exactly like this guy. What exactly is this kind of corn snake called?
 
If they are blue they usually won't eat until they have shed. Be patient, it will happen soon.

Your little guy is a normal corn.
 
Wait till he sheds, then offer food. He's told you he doesn't like to eat when he's blue. Next time (in about a month) don't even bother trying until after the shed.
 
My girl seems to have no issue eating when JUST starting to shed. I upped her feeding when I noticed her skin was duller in color.
 
on another note, you should try taking it out of its viv and putting it in a smaller enclosure (like a tupperware container with air holes of course) with the mouse, and no hide. Pretty much forces the snake to have it in his face constantly. that may make him eat.
 
Spencer said:
on another note, you should try taking it out of its viv and putting it in a smaller enclosure (like a tupperware container with air holes of course) with the mouse, and no hide. Pretty much forces the snake to have it in his face constantly. that may make him eat.
Click to expand...

I'm a fan of this method as well - separates feeding from home and is easy to monitor...
 
Spencer said:
on another note, you should try taking it out of its viv and putting it in a smaller enclosure (like a tupperware container with air holes of course) with the mouse, and no hide. Pretty much forces the snake to have it in his face constantly. that may make him eat.
Click to expand...


I also do this with my corn snake, but "forcing it" in their face is NOT a good idea. Having them in the container with it takes away distractions (putting a dark towel overtop for a time being also helps, so long as there is air flow).
What I mean is, doing the zombie dance with the f/t mouse on tongs is one thing. But do NOT jab it in their face, expecting them to get angry at it and eat it. That will only frighten them, and cause the opposite of what you want to happen!
I'm not saying that's what anyone is doing, but just deciphering between "forcing" and encouraging.

:eek:
 
I know they don't eat when they are blue.

I know not to feed when they are in blue.

Nanci, When I last attempted to feed him back on Oct 7 he was not yet going blue. His eyes didn't start to cloud over until the 12th, that's five days later. I left him alone at that point, and then checked on him again on the 14th where I saw he was DEFINITELY blue.

...

But it's all good now, this morning before going to work I lifted the warm hide and gave him a little poke, and his eyes were clear! Awesome. Then about 4:30 in the afternoon I got a text that there was a new skin in the viv. ...Finally...

Basically as soon as I got home I fed him. Used a separate container. I have a plastic Folger's coffee container that works great. I'll use it while he's still young. While the pinky was defrosting I did some tidying, changed water, etc. Warmed up the pinky and brained it with a toothpick, held it in front of him and he struck at it within 3 seconds! I was able to watch him eat, very cool.


...

Anyway, I want to reiterate the reason why I started the thread is not that he was refusing to eat for any reason, but simply how long can baby corns go without eating. I mean, I know now that some babies go two months before they start feeding, much to the stress of some breeders.

I was just getting a little nervous. Basically from September 22nd until today, October 18th (oh hey, he's 2 months old today!), a span of 26 days, he only ate 3 times, inclusive.

At least now, he's finally settled in, he's finally shed, and now I can finally get him on a normal feeding schedule (4-5 days).

Thanks everyone,

James
 
3 times in 26 days is almost once a week, so I don't think that's any reason to worry at all :) unfortunately I do not have the answer to your question, but I'd say "awhile". That's very vague, I know. I hope you get some more specific answers!
 
(I typed a reply to this last night, and then the site went down! I see it didn't make it).

I don't worry at all if a hatchling misses one or even two meals. Three or four, it's starting to concern me, although I don't think a healthy hatchling is in danger of starving at that point.
 
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