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Juvenile not eating

S

Snakeadmirer71

New member
Hello everyone, I'm sure this has been discussed a million times but it seems each persons story is a tad bit different..so here is mine. I work at a vet inside a pet store 3/24 we got a juvenile corn that wasn't eating, after our exam we figured we would thaw a pinkie to see if he showed any interest, at first no but after the audience let him be he began to eat! So we deemed him as healthy and sent him back to the pet store. I did a follow-up on the little guy on my day off ( 4 days later) & they said he's still not eating and that they force fed him a pinkie. After viewing his chart I saw where they had been trying to feed this little guy EVERYDAY! fast forward to 4wks later I now have him, he's in a 20g tank plenty of hides (he loves the plastic plants) and his temp settings are A1, I've had him for 3 days of course he's getting adjusted, I work long shifts so I'm able to give him his space so he can get used to things..I know snakes are nocturnal but even during the wee hrs of the night he doesn't do much exploring mainly "sleeps" or is hiding in the plants. I'm concerned because it's been about 4weeks and he just doesn't seem interested in the food, he turns away from it like the plague! I feed him thawed pinkies, I've brained it, died it in tuna juice, made sure it was a nice temp, tried to get him to at least lash out at it but....nothing he more so runs from it. I am a new snake owner so I'm still learning but any suggestions?? He appears fine, no RI, or mites. Has not defecated but then again he hasn't eaten, and to my knowledge he has not shed.....please help!!
 
Usually when you get a new snake you want to let them settle in with no touching/feeding for 4-5 days. So it is possible that he is still too stressed/nervous to eat.

Am I correct in understanding you are feeding in the viv? If so, then definitely try DollysMom's suggestion of feeding in a covered deli cup or even a brown paper bag. Sometimes the privacy of darkness can get them to eat. That link DollysMom posted is also great.

Also, how big is he? Do you know his weight?

And of course, welcome to the forum!
 
Dolly thank you I will, Def check her tips out. @ jagodzinski the first time I tried feeding him in a seperate organizer type of bin, he showed no interest, I then tried in his viv, no interest, then last night I put him in a deli cup in the dark w/the tuna scented pink, no interest although I'm not sure how long I can leave him in there..left him alone for 45 mins but due to me getting sleepy I just put him back in his viv instead of leaving him in the deli cup...each time he seems afraid of it, so I'm gonna back off for a few days then try again. I have not weighed him yet I plan on getting a scale this weekend!
 
Have you tried braiding a pinkie and placing it inside his hide and leaving him with it overnight?
~Beau
 
Thank you all for the good ideas. Yesterday I went out and got some ivory soap, thawed it as mentioned in the soap, then rinsing it put him inthe deli cup and....no dice! He did not touch it. It saddens me to say that this am I woke up to him looking very frail and doing this corkscrew like behavior with his neck. After taking him to the vet I did not return home with him 😢😢 he was euthanized..& this is making a long story short. I had my doubts about purchasing him from a pet store but I thought I could lower his stress by giving him a good home...anyway I enjoyed him while I had him & I look foward to getting another one, only this time it will be from a breeder.
 
I might have misread something, but I don't think you were supposed to actually thaw the mouse IN the soap. The idea behind the soap is to get rid of it's smell (or that is what I got from that). Simply washing it with soap should be sufficient. If soap were to seep into the digestive track of the mouse and then become injested by the snake, I am pretty sure that would make the snake very very sick....
~Beau
 
@beauboi the dish soap was something that was recommended by a snake breeder Nanci, the technique is too real so SCENT the pinkie with it, not feed it a soapy pink, sorry for the misunderstanding, here is her post about the ivory scented pink.
Nanci said:
I thaw the pink in very hot water with a big squirt of dish soap. Then rinse _a little_ in hot water- but still leave some soap residue/scent.

With any of the other scents- tuna, chicken, etc., I feed it with lots of the scent right on it.
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