Need help with baby corn!

[Snipes]

The last time the corn ate was about 3 weeks ago, and it has been refusing ever since. It goes to the pinkie and sniffs it and looks interested, but doesnt go for it. Last night i put it in a container with 1 and a half pinkies. This morning everything in it was sticky and slimy and gross and the pinkies looked sorta desintagrated. Did the snake regurg them? The temp that the container was is 70 degrees F. When it ate last time, i noticed that it swallowed a small bit of the strawlike substrate. Did the snake regurg? What should i do? Please help.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Yeah pinkies do that when they lie arround like that. The belly might pop open and all the stuffing comes out... yuck. Hope it wasn't a big piece of substrate because it might obstruct the food highway . But let's hope not.

If it seems interested then there is hope. When was the last time it shed? Might be up for it again perhaps?

Try again in a week. If it has water there will be no problem, it will make it.

Try to buy the pinkies from the same place all the time, my corns suddenly stopped eating when I got them different pinkies (which I think is really stupid, but try to explain that to a little snake baby!!)

Good luck! I know the feeling

 

[boidaddic]

If i were you i would raise the temp, a little bit like try keeping it at 85 degrees when it eats i've noticed that a raise in temps can induce feeding. btw good luck.
Eric

 

[Snipes]

i was under the impression that high temps are bad because the pinky can rot and the snake will regurge. I really hope the pinky went bad and the snake didnt regurg. One thing, the snake is kinda slimy and gross, would it be bad to gently give it a bath in warm water to wash it off?

 

[Snipes]

It last shed about a month ago. How long can they survive without food?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

With water, borderline 2-3 months, maybe even more if kept a little cooler. But that's extreme cases we're talking of.

 

[Carole]

Corns are eating machines (usually!), so if your'e baby isn't eating, then there's something going on that he doesn't like.
--What is his cage set-up like? Be as detailed as you can! Temps? Hide spots? Cage size? Does the room get a lot of foot traffic?
--How often have you been offering him food? Once a week? Every other day? (If you offer food too often when they're not eating it can actually stress them out more and cause them to really not want to eat)
--Are you holding him a bunch? He might be stressed out from that. Speaking of which, leave him alone as much as you can while he's not eating.
--If the snake regurged you'd know--it smells horrible! More than likely he spent the night cruising the container with the pinkie in it and just smeared the pinkie in the process.
--"Stawlike substrate"...are you using aspen shavings? Nah, it really shouldn't have been much of a problem.
--A quick bath will be fine
--Snakes will sometimes refuse food before a shed, but that usually is only a day or two before the actual shed....three weeks is too much for 'pre shed' appetite loss.
*I'm not sure what you're experience level with snakes is, so if these questions seem a little 'newbie' don't be offended

 

[Snipes]

i have dealt with snakes before, but i have not actually had one in my house before . I am off at college for most of the time, so i dont really know what goes on then. My orders to my parents are to make sure that there is water in the bowl. I try to feed it every other day when i am home. It is in the living room cuz my room is too cold and it can observe the day and night cycle and i can leave a nighttime bulb on at all times cuz of being able to see when it's day. I suppose it is in a semi-high traffic part, mostly from walking about ten feet away. My cat might be a problem cuz she is interested and sometimes she paws the cage, but that is happening less and less. The cage setup is like this: The substrate is about 2" deep of aspen shavings. At one end i have a heating pad on the wall and a heating bulb on top. The temp on top of the substrate varies from 79-83 degrees F during the day and during the night. That side has a glass jar that i covered with blue paper so it isnt transparent, and i use that as a hide. On the other side, there is a little box hide and a dish of water. The temp on the substrate is 70 F. Should i put a hide box in the middle? I do hold it quite a bit cuz i want it to get used to me. Should i stop for the time being?

 

[chris73]

Hi!

How big is the animal. If it's beyond pinkies, size wize, it's possible it's refusing the food because it simply dosent like it. Try fuzzies or hoppers. Have you tried scenting the pinkies? Young corns can be (occasionally) difficult to get feeding on rodents. Try rubbing a feeder anole or leopard gecko or whatever you have on the pinkie before feeding to the snake.

This will sound ridiculous to many experienced keepers, but it's my personal failsafe - even my most finickey feeding snakes always go for this. I thaw the rodent in warm water and offer it dripping wet. It seems to initate a strike almost instantly. It is the OPPOSITE of what is recommended in books and by the "knowledgable" keepers, but it works on all my animals. 15 years of healthy animals can't be wrong.

We'll get this one feeding. Don't sweat it. As long as it DRINKING we have a good shot.

 

[Carole]

Trying to feed it every other day can be a big part of your problem. Try to feed him once, maybe twice a week. Any more than that and he's just going to freak out from having food shoved at him all the time. The temps of the cage sound find, but how big is the cage? Something about shoebox size is all that a hatchling corn needs. The hides should be small enough that the snake can really jam itself up inside it....think small and tight! That how a snake feels secure. Yeah, i'd lay off the handling until he gets eating regularly.

Actually, thawing rodents in warm water is a pretty common practice. It gets the food item nice and warm, which helps get a feeding response from the snakes. Laying the head of the thawed food on a light bulb for about 30 seconds or so also works really well.

 

[Snipes]

i do the thawing in warm water. I actually just thought it would be a good idea lol. The hides i have now are pretty big, and usually i find it likes to hid under them. It is in a 10 gallon tank rite now cuz my cat busted the top of the 5 gallon one and i had to find a replacement.

 

[ingas866]

In my years of breading corns and catching them in the wild in FL I have never seen them eat anoles. Least thing you can try is to not feed for a week no touching and move to a less traveled area. Then cut the pinkes brain open with a knife, let the snake see it in a small bowl if in will not take it with in a few minutes then take it out and try in a day or so. this is the very very last thing is to find some one to force feed DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have had to force one or two in my time.