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New ghost, noob feeding concerns...

C

chris_choall

New member
Hey guys,

my g/f and i just got our first baby ghost corn yesterday!!!

his name's ELVIS... :cool:

we got him home asap and put him in his viv. the shop keeper said it was feeding day so we were to feed him a pinky in the evening.

we defrosted the pinky etc... put it in warm water and all that jazz but when we tried to give it to Elvis he didn't want to know!

i'm gonna try again tomo night in a seperate box so hopefuly he'll be ok, less stressed and more settled.

does this sound like normal behaviour for a new corn in a new home?

i've done lots of reading around the forum but i thought i'd ask for personal opinons.

Thanks,

Chris :)
 
the shop keeper told you to feed it the same day you brought it home???


even being new to this, I know that is not right, and you were given very poor advice from someone who should have know.


No worries, not any wrong doing on your part ;)

do not try feeding him again tomorrow....

Your new baby corn should have been brought home, and left alone for 4 days at least. No holding, feeding.... for 4 days. They need time to settle in. You were told to feed way too soon, and that's why your little one refused. I would wait 4 days from when you tried to feed it, no bothering it, just leave it to adjust to its new surroundings, and then try again in 4 days.
 
I always try to feed new snakes either when they first arrive or when I first bring them home.... 9 out of 10 will eat. :)

try again in 4 days... put the snake and the pinkie in a seperate container and leave alone for atleast 2 hours. It helps to feed at night because that is when they are more normally active but some will eat any time of the day :) When you offer the pinkie make sure it is very very warm.... touch it and if it feels very warm to you then offer it.. if it feels cool or even luke warm... reheat in hotter water (just dont cook it ;) )
 
I agree with Bluebird. The shop keeper did give you bad advice on this.

Give your new lil snake 3-5 of peace to get adjusted to his new home before you try to feed again.

But you do need to try to feed him in a separate container.

Keep us updated on how he is doing. And if possible get some pics for all of us to see your new lil Elvis.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys!

That's eased my worries now, and i just told the g/f what you guys said and she's happier now lol.

We already love Elvis like a child!

I'll do my best to get some pics for you guys, maybe even some feeding ones too :)

We'll need help determining what type of ghost he is too.

Thanks,

Chris :)
 
Yeah everyone here has given you the right advice. Like they've said, just give him 5 relatively stress-free days and he should be fine. But yeah, that's very poor advice from the shop keeper.
 
Thanks for the advice :)

By 'stress-free' does that mean that we can't sit by his viv and watch him or is it ok to do that?!

He's quite active atm, well i guess he would be at 10:30pm lol.

We've decided to feed him on thursday...can't wait!

Also, is this an ok feeding plan for now? -

First 3 weeks => Feed him every 7 days..one pinky

4th week onwards/until further notice lol => feed every 5 days..one pinky

Until he gets a bit bigger then we'll change it - i plan to follow...THE MUNSON PLAN

:flames:

Thanks,

Chris
 
No watching him is fine, providing you don't stay there for huge amounts of time and don't constantly make rapid movements lol. Oh and just out of curiosity, your feeding plan sounds fine, but how often was he fed before you got him?
 
the shop guy didn't say much about it, apart from feed him once a week. but he's only a baby and the munson plan recommends a feed every 4-5 days, i also referred to the plan by that lady that wrote a corn book (oops i forgot her name)

i'm new to this so forgive the confusion!

thanks,

Chris
 
Lol don't worry mate, everyone goes through it. Kathy and Bill Love wrote the book you were referring to. The Munson Plan seems pretty solid and I think most if not all of the people on here agree with it. But yeah, feeding one pinkie every 5 days is fine. My Amel is now on double pinks, so he's still quite small. As he's coming up 5 months he's a little small for his age, but they only fed him once a week in the shop, which is fine, it just doesn't encourage rapid growth.
 
:) thanks for the sound advice...

hopefully on thurs i'll feed him in a separate shoe box or plastic box.

Corn VS. pinky lol

when i get pics i'll post them up 'cos we don't know exactly what type or corn baby Elvis is!

Thanks,

Chris
 
chris_choall said:
Thanks for the advice :)

By 'stress-free' does that mean that we can't sit by his viv and watch him or is it ok to do that?!

He's quite active atm, well i guess he would be at 10:30pm lol.

We've decided to feed him on thursday...can't wait!

Also, is this an ok feeding plan for now? -

First 3 weeks => Feed him every 7 days..one pinky

4th week onwards/until further notice lol => feed every 5 days..one pinky

Until he gets a bit bigger then we'll change it - i plan to follow...THE MUNSON PLAN

:flames:

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...


Some snakes won't eat when you watch them at least at first anyway. Once they get used to you they will allow people to watch them eat. When I first got one of my snakes and tried to feed him he waited until I left him alone to eat. Some people worry about substrate being ingested if you put a paper towel in the enclosure first and wiggle the mouse on the paper towel they will avoid ingesting any of the substrate then you just take the paper towel out. Hope that helps anyone thats confused :).
 
I wouldn't feed a hatchling or very young corn on substrate, with or without a paper towel. They tend to drag their food around and will probably drag it off the paper towel into the substrate anyway.

If you want to feed in the viv, which I do with my BPs but not corns, just keep them on newspaper or paper towel substrate and there shouldn't be any problems with ingesting shavings or other particle substrate.

With corns I always feed in a separate plastic container.

As for the feeding frequency, every 4-5 days is fine, or you can follow Kathy Love's instructions and feed a smaller prey once a week for 4 weeks first to get them settled in. I did it that way with the Okeetee I bought from Kathy Love, which is now huge at just over a year old, but all of my others I started on a 4 day schedule right away. Didn't seem to make any difference either way.
 
i was just wondering (watch out stupid question alert) if i should put the lid on/close the shoe box when i'm feeding him? he'll be ok eating in the dark?

dumb question i kno, just want to get it right :)

Chris
 
Yeah they prefer eating in dim/dark conditions, just make sure he can't escape and has plenty of air holes lol. Just leave him for an hour, then come back and check on him. If he's eaten it, great! Just gently pick him up and put him back in his tank, no real handling, just a pick up and put back job.

If he hasn't eaten it, then you could either leave him for a little longer, or cut a slit and warm up the pinky again. Let us know how it goes.

All the best

David
 
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