Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my baby corns r a lil over a week old and half have shed already and have taken their first meals..one has refused n its ony been 2 days since he shed so im not rightfully worried bout it but curious to know what r some tricks to get babies that refuse food to eat if they become a problem?...Thanx

You can take the pinky and gently pry the snakes mouth open and push the pinky in all the way to the back of the mouth. This works 75%-85% of the time. Lay the snake down very gently and hopefully it's feeding response will kick in. Good luck!!! Let us know if it works.

Yeah that will work, but I suggest you wait and try to get the snake to eat peacably. There are several tricks you can use including the one mentioned but I would try others first. Put the snake with the pinky in a small container over night. I use paper lunch bags which are put back into it's cage. Something that works very well is to take a dead pinky and use a razor to slice the head open a bit and squeeze some of the brain matter out just a little. Then place the snake in a deli cup or bag with the pinky and leave it alone for several hours. Then there is tease feeding which is where you take the pinky and rub it along the snakes mouth and try to get him agitated enough to bite the pinky. Then you have to try to stay very still if he grabs it untill he swallows the whole thing. I wouldn't try the tease or force feeding untill at least two months after hatching or sooner if the snake looks thin or weak. But try to get him to eat on his own many times before resorting to the more stressful tricks. It also helps to use the smallest pink you can find at first, then work your way up once he starts feeding.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>Yeah that will work, but I suggest you wait and try to get the snake to eat peacably. There are several tricks you can use including the one mentioned but I would try others first. Put the snake with the pinky in a small container over night. I use paper lunch bags which are put back into it's cage. Something that works very well is to take a dead pinky and use a razor to slice the head open a bit and squeeze some of the brain matter out just a little. Then place the snake in a deli cup or bag with the pinky and leave it alone for several hours. Then there is tease feeding which is where you take the pinky and rub it along the snakes mouth and try to get him agitated enough to bite the pinky. Then you have to try to stay very still if he grabs it untill he swallows the whole thing. I wouldn't try the tease or force feeding untill at least two months after hatching or sooner if the snake looks thin or weak. But try to get him to eat on his own many times before resorting to the more stressful tricks. It also helps to use the smallest pink you can find at first, then work your way up once he starts feeding.
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>>King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
>> J Sierra

I agree, too early yet for assist or force feeding...
there are several "tricks" to try...
One of the first "tricks to try is a live pinkie.
As mentioned, start by simply leaving the pinkie and hatchling in a small deli dish, in a quite dark space, for a few hours.
Then you can try braining as mentioned once again leaving the brained pinkie and hatchling in a small deli dish for several hours.
Each time you try a different method give the little guy three or four days to recover. If the first two methods don't work then you can try scenting. There are different methods of scenting. One of the easiest and most common is to scent with a lizard. You can get an anole, unfortunately you need to kill the anole, and either rub "juice" from the lizard on the pinkie or even put a piece of skin over the pinkie and place them, like before, in a deli dish for several hours.
Sounds crazy but another scent item is tuna juice. This should be tuna in it's own natural juice. drop a pinkie in a little of the juice and then place it and the hatchling in the deli dish etc etc etc.
there are still more scenting techniques but if it hasn't eaten on its own by now it would probably be a good time to start assist or force feeding.
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Every summer thousands of young men are needlessly injured after uttering this phrase "Hey, hold my beer"....So, please hold your own beer.....This has been a public service announcement..
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

I agree with both you dudes. I wanted to add that sometimes simply washing a pinky in Ivory soap and rinsing it well (removing the pinky scent) will induce a snake to eat. Also, "scenting" a pinky by rubbing it against a treefrog or lizards sometimes works too.

Babies seem to eat better for me when each is housed individually in their own small enclosure (the size of a shoebox or smaller).

Keep in mind that there are some hatchlings that never eat no matter what.

Tim

http://www.thirdeyeherp.com/

>>I agree with both you dudes. I wanted to add that sometimes simply washing a pinky in Ivory soap and rinsing it well (removing the pinky scent) will induce a snake to eat. Also, "scenting" a pinky by rubbing it against a treefrog or lizards sometimes works too.
>>
>>Babies seem to eat better for me when each is housed individually in their own small enclosure (the size of a shoebox or smaller).
>>
>>Keep in mind that there are some hatchlings that never eat no matter what.
>>
>>Tim
>>
>>http://www.thirdeyeherp.com/

good points Tim. I didn't even think about washing the pinkies...I've had that work quite a few times.
And you're right...some just won't eat, it's natures way. Some are meant to be food for others and some are simply meant to be fertilizer...lol
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Every summer thousands of young men are needlessly injured after uttering this phrase "Hey, hold my beer"....So, please hold your own beer.....This has been a public service announcement..
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

I can't remember ever having a corn that would not eat eventually, but some kings, that's a different story. I have a Thayeri from last year that still will only eat if I tease feed it. Another only eats brain feeding! Drives me nuts!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>You can get an anole, unfortunately you need to kill the anole

One tiny addition --

If you have a pet store nearby, you may be able to get an already-dead lizard from them. Pet stores, especially pet stores with lots of reptiles, may have dead lizards in their freezers. When one of my hondos was being an ass about eating, I was able to get a frozen chameleon from the local store. It's worth a try, anyway!
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0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
0.3 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Hari)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
0.0.1 Mexican black kingsnake (TBA)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters

I have had to use anole scenting on some super-stubborn Honduran's that I've produced in the past too.

I have one or two corns from last year that are STILL holding out for mice that are anole scented as well. Luckily, anole's are everywhere ya look here in Florida.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

>>I have had to use anole scenting on some super-stubborn Honduran's that I've produced in the past too.

In my case the scenting didn't work -- but I figured that might have been because it was the wrong genus of lizard. Errr....wrong *family* of lizard, probably....

This is the annoying hondo that finally started eating on his own, so the story had a happy ending despite my lack of success with the chameleon....

Hey, but speaking of lizards...I found a drowned skink in one of my dogs' water tubs the other day. I was tempted to feed it to one of the snakes, but: 1. I didn't know how long it had been dead; and 2. I didn't want to make the snake think it was gonna get lizards every week!
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0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
0.3 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Hari)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
0.0.1 Mexican black kingsnake (TBA)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters

yeah, that was probably a good idea!

I found a dead albino anole hatchling in my swimming pool skimmer once many years ago in Ft. Lauderdale..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

>>yeah, that was probably a good idea!
>>
>>I found a dead albino anole hatchling in my swimming pool skimmer once many years ago in Ft. Lauderdale..LOL!

Wouldn't ya know you'd find it dead instead of alive??
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0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
0.3 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Hari)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
0.0.1 Mexican black kingsnake (TBA)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters

lil anery still hasnt eaten yet...matter of fact..entire clutch ate great,3 meals and theyre all already sold..tried f/t,tried,live,tried paper bag and tried assist feeding. Still wont eat.whats the next route i take?