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okay to put a pinky inside a hide box?

larryg

larryg

New member
I have two young Corns, and they both act differently. One is aggressive and ate right away, the other didn't eat when I first tried, but I'm trying again tonight (3 days later.) I separated the snakes and put a couple of live pinkies in with the one that hadn't eaten. After a couple of hours, I peeked in and decided to put one of the pinkies in the hide box, and the snake actually went in the hide box right after that. It's just a little cardboard box with two holes cut on opposite sides. Is there any reason a snake wouldn't feed inside a hide? This snake seems a bit more timid than the other. The other baby struck at me a few times, but doesn't anymore. The breeder told me to try not messing with lizards since this one has already eaten live pinkies, but he/she definitely wasn't the first one to eat. Hopefully I'll check tomorrow and at least one of the pinkies will be gone (no more peeking for at least the next 10 to 12 hours.) He told me just to leave them in there for up to 2 days, so that is the plan, if they aren't gone tomorrow. I did peek in shortly after putting the pinky inside the hide, and the snake was still in the hide, so I don't think it was scared away by the pinky, whether it ate it or not.
 
It souldn't be a problem. I feed mine in deli cups and find that some will eat without any hesitation while others will eat if there isn't anything/one moving around. I check back a little later and there is only a snake in the cup with a lump in it's belly.
 
My amel wont eat unless their is noone watching/moving, and it's vertually pitch black. I wouldn't worry to much just leave the snake overnight with the pinkie ans see what happens.
 
Good advice above on feeding techniques above. I usually leave reluctant hatchlings overnight with a pinkie. Some seem to like eating under cover, so it should be fine to put the pinkie in the hide box.

I wasn't sure from your post if you're keeping the snakes together. If you are, it's possible that the more nervous one isn't keen on sharing and might be stressed by the other one - this can show up with a refusal to eat. If you don't see an improvement soon, I'd try keeping them apart for a couple of weeks and see if things get better.
 
I tried leaving the two pinkies overnight, and the snake didn't eat. The pinkies were pretty big, and I decided to get smaller pinkies (on the advice of the breeder.) I also moved that snake to a different, quieter room, as suggested here and also by the breeder.

So, three days later, I'm trying again with smaller pinkies. I actually just heard a 'squeak' sound that could have been from one of the pinkies I put in there about an hour or two ago. Do pinkies normally 'squeak' loud enough to hear through a closed door? It could possibly have been a bird or something else, but I sort of doubt that.

Before, I had that snake in my computer room, with too much activity. I have multiple dogs, and they were probably also being too much of a distraction.

By the way, I didn't want to waste the other two pinkies I had bought, so I fed them both to the other hatchling. It was four days since he had last fed, and he ate them both while I watched. He hasn't regurgitated or anything, so I may give him two from now on (two good sized pinkies.) I'll probably wait at least 5 days between feedings, if he'll be eating more.

This is sort of off topic, but does anybody know if male or female hatchlings are normally better eaters and less timid in general?
 
Chances are pretty good that if heard a sqeak through a door it has been tagged by the snake. In the future you may want to only give it one pink at a time. The two at once may be a factor it refused eating. With only one thing to deal with at a time it may relax some.

I haven't noticed any tie between disposition or eating issues to the gender :shrugs: .
 
Thanks. The first time I tried it was with just one pinky. I tried slicing it in half before I gave up, as I think I mentioned. The breeder told me he just throws a couple of small pinkies in with each hatchling and checks on them the next day. If she/he won't eat this time, I'll try with just one the next time, in another 3 days. I really want to open the door and peek in there, but I'll wait until the morning, since I don't want to go through this again if I don't have to.

My Okeetee yearling regurgitated last week after I handled him too soon after feeding. It's been 7 days today, and I put a hopper in his tank a little while ago (he'll probably wait until dark to eat, based on past experience.) For anybody else reading, I didn't think he would throw up from just a bit of handling, but he did! From now on, I'll be following the 'no handling for 2 days after feeding' rule more closely.
 
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