Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female corn I bought in January, she was eatting live and frozen pinkies. She was born in Aug 06. The breeder I bought her from said she was eatting two pinkies. When she first came home she ate one pinkie just fine. When I gave her two she regurged both pinkies. I waited and fed her again just one and she was fine. She has also shed since I have had her. She has now stopped eatting. I have tried to feed her one pinkie several times. I feed her out of her tank and she seems not to be interested. She poops in the container and just moves around alot. I puntured the head of one of the pinkies but this did not seem to make a difference. She has not eaten since the beginning of Feb. I am worried, she is very inactive in her tank and basically stays in the same place most of the time. Any ideas?
Jess

Here are my thoughts:

The breeder may have been feeding her two pinkies, but there also may have been a size difference between the pinkies the breeder was feeding her ( perhaps smaller, instigating two at a time ) and the ones you have ( which may be bigger, instigating the regurge).

How long was the wait between regurges and feeding? You should always wait at least 10 days before feeding again. They need time to build up stomach acid again. Then, feeding them a smaller meal than what the snake was used to eating to help her stomach build back up. Pinkie heads are great for the next few weeks when you feed them again after they regurge.

Also, I never recommend feeding two pinks at a time. Yes, you have baby snakes that can, and a lot of the times, they can do fine. The thing is, I believe that your snake basically let you know that two pinks is too much. One pink each feeding is great, perhaps every 5-7 days ( I feed every 7 ).

While feeding outside the tank is practiced by many with good results, snakes are individuals and while one handles it fine, another may feel more insecure to be eating outside their home. I would try to feed in the cage. If you use aspen bedding and don't want any of the aspen to cling to the pinkie, simply clear a spot out where the hide box is at, so that the bottom of the cage is all there is showing, then put the hide box back on top, throw the pinkie in, and then direct your snake towards the hide box. The snake may feel more secure eating inside what she feels is a safe place to relax and hide.

Also, how much are you handling your snake? Excessive handling after something like regurge can actually be too stressful. When they regurge, I would again wait 10 days before feeding again and keep handling to a bare minimum if not none at all.

Make sure her waterdish is where she can easily drink out of it. Snakes, thru regurge, I believe can become dehydrated. Pick her up and see if she will drink if you lower her to the water dish. The whole puking thing may have just been such a stressful thing that perhaps she hasn't been drinking as much as well.

In all, provide security with her hide box, keep handling to a bare minimum, make sure temps are good, and feed her small items again once she starts eating. Try the pinkie-in-a-hide-box method. The overall theme is keeping stress at an all time low so that she can bounce back.

I hope she recovers!
-----
Genesis 1:1

Thanks for the advice. I did wait 10 days before feeding her again after the regurge. She did eat 1 pinkie since then but it has been a few weeks since then. I tried feeding her a frozen pinkie in her tank, but she was not interested. I have only been handling her when I take her out to put her in the container where I feed her. I also bought a live pinkie and tried that. When I put her in the container she inspected it to the point I thought she would eat, but when it would move she would move away. I also put her back in her tank and put the live pinkie in there over night last night. She is just not interested. She is drinking though!
-----
Jess

How is her weight? Is she getting skinny at all?
Have you tried putting a defrosted pinkie in her tank overnight?
-----
Genesis 1:1