Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Of the 15 corns I hatched out in June, only 2 became "problem eaters"...One had not eaten since June 18th, and he had only eaten once. The other, having eaten twice, had his last meal on June 30th. The others were eating f/t and growing big & strong.

I tried decapitation (a trick which usually worked for me). Even tried tuna water a couple of times. Today I went to the Ohio show, and in addition to the frozen rodents, I got two little live pinks. Both got eaten up at once!

So...Maybe next time one (or both) of my problem corns will take f/t for me. But at least I know they'll eat SOMETHING!

Yeah, I know...It's an old story. But it made for a pretty cool morning for me. Duffy

I always wondered why everyone else has live at the bottom of their "bag of tricks." I would much rather it eat live than eat nothing and starve for weeks....
-----
-David Harrison-
.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 Ball Python "Rocky Ballboa" (Didn't name her!)

"Have you ever tried simply turning off the T.V., sitting down with your kids... and hitting them?"

For me & many others, it's a matter of practicality and economics. I keep lots of frozen rodents in my freezer, re-stocking when needed. I picked up 100 frozen pinks today for 16 cents each. The 2 live, I bought for 50 cents each. At this point, it was a good investment & I was very happy to see the little buggers eat. If I buy a pink from the local pet store, it will cost me a buck. I am kinda a cheapskate (frugal?) in most matters, so most of my "tricks" will start with the 16 cent frozen pinks I have on hand. But if these two will only eat live for now...I guess I'll suck it up, confident that I will be able to switch them over eventually. Never a dull moment. Duffy

There is a difference between being practical and being stubborn The way a lot of people word it they seem like they would rather the snake die then eat a live mouse
-----
-David Harrison-
.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 Ball Python "Rocky Ballboa" (Didn't name her!)

"Have you ever tried simply turning off the T.V., sitting down with your kids... and hitting them?"

I had a beautiful 18 month old okeetee who was a garbage disposal. I bought a live pinkie for a problem feeder, who didn't eat it. So I gave it to the okeetee. On top of hearing the pinkie scream (which is VERY upsetting to me), it seemed to start a cycle of regurging with this corn. The corn actually ended up dying from the regurge cycle. And he was extremely healthy prior to that. I wonder if maybe there was some kind of insecticide on the pinkie or maybe they were kept on cedar? I will think long and hard about offering any live pinkies to any snake other than one who is in extreme danger of starvation. And I will probably never give another live pinkie (or mouse or rat) to a snake who is not in starvation danger in order to give the poor pinkie a relatively quick death.
-----
phflame
kingsnake.com host

I have never heard of adverse reactions to live ever before.. I am interested in hearing other opinions on this.. But, I would have to believe it may have just have been a coincidence!

~ Mike Russo

I would have to agree with you. I have been feeding live to those that refused frozen for years and years,and i have never run into any sort of problem like that.
-----
Arlon Delorge
Classic Constrictors

I'd suspect coincidence, poor rodent source, or trying to feed a follow up meal too soon after the first regurge.

You definitely need to be carefull of your rodent sources but that is true whether they are live or f/t rodents.

How long did you wait after the first regurge before trying a second meal? I don't know the exact wait time but if I remeber correctly you generally are supposed to wait 2-3 weeks before attempting again and then with a smaller item. Although if your doing pinks you can't go much smaller.

I've used f/t and live for my entire life raising reptiles and I've never had a negative response from live food. Normally the issue is getting them to start taking f/t again after giving live to a reluctant feeder.

I feel bad for your unfortunate loss.

Sean.

I waited 10 days after that original regurge, then 2 weeks after the subsequent ones. I also used f/t pinkies for these feedings. He had been on f/t hoppers before the live pinkie, but since he was my garbage disposal, I knew he would have no problem disposing of that live pinkie. I had a hard time finding live pinkies for the non-feeder snake, and of course, there were no reptile shows scheduled for several weeks. And of course, the snake who died from this was a beauty with a great personality. Isn't that always the way?
-----
phflame
kingsnake.com host

unfortunately it does. As they say "when it rains it poors".

Given what you just said I'd have to guess it was coincidence or a bad live rodent source. It sounds like you followed all the steps with the regurge.

I'm fortunate enough to have a very reliable source localy for both f/t and live rodents that are raised by reptile knowledgeable breeders specifically for use as reptile food.

Best of luck in the future and condolences on an unfortunate loss.

Sean.

Unless the live rodent carried some disease, I can almost guarantee the fact that it was live had nothing to do with the regurge.

One possibility - I heard a story about live mice that snakes would start to eat and then stop. When investigated, it was only live mice from a particular source - and it turned out the breeder for that source was using flea powder on the mice.
-----
11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

I always try live if they refuse f/t.
It's more expensive - but they can be switched after they start feeding.
-----
11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)