• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Nonfeeder success!!

Floof

Floof

New member
Last week, I got the wild idea to email on a KSL ad for some corn snake hatchlings. The ad was normal enough, advertising Snows and Amels het anery, except one line toward the bottom mentioning two non-feeders he was offering cheap "to good home." These being approximately 3-1/2 month old snakes (hatched early November).

I like a challenge, and I'd been wanting to get another snake or two, so I made an offer, and he accepted it. I picked them up Wednesday, and found out he'd only tried live and f/t... Huh? Nearly 4 months of refusing to eat anything, and the guy didn't try anything but plain live and f/t... And, yes, he was aware of simple scenting methods. Sometimes I wonder...

Okay, I'm already getting wordy, so I'll cut to the chase.

Last Wednesday, I tried tuna scenting. The amel took.. YAY! ... But the snow didn't. Maybe because tuna doesn't float his boat, or maybe because he needed that time to settle in first, who knows...

Today, the amel took an unscented f/t pink, and the snow took a live lizard-scented (courtesy of my male dragon's beard) pink. Woohoo! Maybe a little extreme to jump right to lizard scenting... But, to be honest, I'd rather have to work him off lizard scent (or live, either way) than continue to watch the little guy deteriorate... I'm just happy he ate! (And it's not like I have a shortage of lizard scent.. Man Ray's always happy to donate his beard, lol!

Now fingers and toes are crossed for no regurges and continued success... I love the crap out of these two. They're docile, handsome, and, heck, they're corn snakes! Who doesn't love corns? ... Okay, who here doesn't love corns? lol!

Here you go, what I'm sure you all really opened this thread for (;)), pics! These are from last week.. Just a quick shot of each, as I didn't want to disturb them too much.

First is the Amel (taking his first meal!<3)
61286_131448_Large_gjyKEJBDcY7m.jpg

Second is the Snow
61287_131449_Large_3wtkMAEjHv.jpg


Thanks for looking! :)
 
Congrats!
I went through something similar with a baby Cali king. The pet store owner had about 30 snakes in little deli cups in the corner of a cold room and had told his wife they were non-feeders.

I talked him down to half of what he wanted for the baby king, and then got it home, let it rest for a week, and it took down its first pink.

I thought it was because he had horrible temps, and really doesn't know as much, about the animals that he sells, as he thinks.
 
Thanks!

And, dang! Glad it took so readily for you. I bet you're right, it was just the guy's bad set-up...

I couldn't honestly tell you, in the case of my two, whether it was something the guy did (looked like they had appropriate heat and all, just didn't have anywhere to hide--just a piece of paper towel for substrate), or if they really did just need that scented kick-start to understand that pinks are food... It seems like the scented vs plain issue is all that the Amel needed, but I do wonder if the no hides thing played a strong part in the Snow's case. I guess I'll never actually know...
 
It is a possibility. If you were "out in the open" with no place to hide, you would probably be too scared to eat too...
 
Yeah, that's my thought, too.. I mentioned the theory to their breeder in an update email tonight. Hopefully he'll consider tossing hides in the hatchling tubs from here on out. Even toilet paper rolls are better than nothing...
 
Yea! Congrats. Our Apollo and Adonis were that way last year and our Ball python so we used chicken broth to thaw them in and it worked.
 
Thanks, everyone. I'm still giddy over their eating. Even better, the snow didn't regurge! I was concerned because the pinky I gave him was a wee bit big (smallest live pink I could find at the store), but he's managed to keep it down no problem. :)

Now they both just need names!! :D
 
Great news! Make sure they don't ingest substrate with those feeders. I'd use paper towel instead if you're feeding in the tub.
 
Thanks, Wendy and Meg!

Meg, the substrate issue hadn't even crossed my mind. I feed my other two snakes in their enclosures, on aspen, with no issues, most weeks, and it's a routine I've become used to. For either of them, at their size and age, a couple pieces of aspen here and there doesn't hurt--and even that's pretty rare, mostly due to their personal feeding styles. It's been awhile since I've had such small snakes as the two little guys, so substrate concerns didn't actually occur to me.

As it is, I don't, and never have, had issues with pinky mice on aspen, simply by merit of how fast they dry out. I'm not too keen on changing their tubs now (unnecessary stress) and I doubt the snow would be willing to eat in a deli right now, but now that you have reminded me of the safety concern, I'll begin feeding the amel in a separate deli... And, when the snow is better established, I'll do the same for him. :)
 
Lol!!
I have been eyeing those snakes for a while!
I was going to make an offer, but never did.

I can't believe he didn't try anything but plain mice.

How much did you end up offering him, out of curiosity?

They are pretty.
 
Naagas-- Lol! Great minds think alike? (Or is it "addicted" minds..)

I offered him $5 each. Only half off his asking price, but not a bad deal considering both are now feeding. :)

Funny enough, I never got a response from the guy after my last email. I guess he was put off by my input (about the hides thing)? Ah well. Can't win them all. :p
 
Sweet. Good deal.

I'm glad that they were easy to feed!

Nice to see another Utahn on the board!
 
Congrats on getting these babies and getting them going! I'm never surprised when lizard-scenting works, since wild baby corns eat lizards. I ALWAYS shake my head when tuna-scenting succeeds. I know it does, and I've had it be the key for a stubborn little one. It's just the mental image of a corn snake (perhaps on a surf board) trolling for tuna! :roflmao:
 
Naagas, same here! Always nice to see someone from the same area. :)

Thanks, Caryl! Tuna-scenting is a weird method for corns. The only reason I tried it first was because my dad took the tuna-scenting method as the perfect excuse to have tuna sandwiches for dinner. Works for me. lol

Anyway, both ate again this week! The Amel took an unscented f/t again. The Snow wasn't interested in plain live, but took it without hesitation once it'd been scented on Man Ray's beard, so next week I'll just phase out the live and see how he takes to scented f/t.
 
Just a wee update. The snow took an unscented f/t today!! I don't know if it's just that I've been too impatient, or if he had been wary of the squeaky, squirming food things (stranger things have happened), but I decided to just toss the unscented pink in with him in the TP tube he normally eats in while I went about feeding the amel... By the time I put the amel away and checked in on the snow, he already had the pink 1/3rd of the way down! Woohoo!!

So my two little "nonfeeders" are officially on regular, unscented f/t!! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top