Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello again,

So my 1 surviving baby corn snake shed for the first time yesterday. I put a f/t pinky in with it over night but he didn't eat it. So...how do you all get your hatchlings to eat? Should I try live? I've never had a hatchling before. All the babies I've had were from shows where they have eaten couple times.

>>Hello again,
>>
>>So my 1 surviving baby corn snake shed for the first time yesterday. I put a f/t pinky in with it over night but he didn't eat it. So...how do you all get your hatchlings to eat? Should I try live? I've never had a hatchling before. All the babies I've had were from shows where they have eaten couple times.

give it a couple days and then start with the simplest step. wash the pinkie with ivory, or regular dial, soap and rinse thoroughly. Sometimes that's all it takes. If that doesn't work then there are several more things to try. Live is one. scenting is another. there are quite a few things people have used to scent their pinkies. I have had success with tuna fish juice. Just the type that comes in it's own juice. I would just pour a little in a bottle cap and place the pinkie in that for a little while and then put the pinkie and hatchling in a deli dish and leave them for several hours. You can scent with lizard. there are several ways people do it. I usually just remove the tail so the lizard can live, squeeze the end of it and spread the "juices" over as much of the pinkie as I can. Some people will place lizard skin over the head of the pinkie, I know of at least one person who blends whole lizards and freezes this lizard paste. he just thaws a little at a time...seems to work for him. people have scented with rats, hamsters, tree frogs all kinds of things.
Each time you try a something new give the little guy a couple of days between attempts.
If you start to get worried you can "assist" feed it. Some people use mouse tails, I don't really know just how nutritious they are, I will feed them a pinkie head. If I'm scenting I will scent a pinkie head and leave that with the hatchling....If it doesn't eat it on it's own I will force feed it. I usually won't do this until I feel the hatchling won't make it otherwise.
but there are so many tricks, hopefully more will be listed in response.
good luck
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Corn snakes and rat snakes...No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

Jimmy gave some great tricks or options to use. However, is your snake baby set up properly with temps, hides, etc.?? It may be as simple as offering food in a deli cup. Snake cannot lose the prey and is likely to be in contact with it more in a restricted environment. If you are dropping a pinky in a 10 gallon tank or something similar sized, the little baby may have just not found it. Also, if too cool, hot, or stressed from lack of hiding spots, may not feed as well either.

I wouldn't resort to any "tricks" (washing pinkies, scenting pinkies, splitting the heads of pinkies, etc.) if the snake didn't eat the first time you attempted to feed it. That happens somewhat frequently. I have a striped ghost corn that hatched on July 31. It ate its first meal this week. Some snakes wait awhile before deciding to eat.

Having said that, Kevin's comment about proper setup is important. I have found that small snakes feed better when kept in small enclosures. I also wouldn't handle the snake or bother it, or subject it to bright lights, etc., until it is eating on a regular feeding schedule.

Tim

Third Eye

Thanks for all the advise.

I have the baby housed in a container. The kind you get at shows when you buy a critter. Its not a small one but little bit bigger. Has a little container with water. paper towel folded up with a little spagmum moss spread around. Then that container is in a 5 gallon tank setting on a shelf next to my other tanks. Its getting a day / night cycle like my other snakes. I have handled it couple times.

I agree with Tim to not freak about it right away. One of my holdback anery corns from this year refused to feed for two or three weeks after its first shed. Then she just decided to turn on and is now taking two f/t pinks per feeding like clockwork. If the snake is set up at room temps, make sure the temps are at least 75-76, and not more than 82-83 IMO. Not too hot or too cold. Providing a heat gradient would be better, but not possible with a small container like that. To be honest, all this years holdback babies are in the large deli cups adult snakes are sold in at shows with substrate and water bowls. The containers are kept at room temp, between 75-85 degrees. So far no problems with feeding or regurging.

I did the same thing this year: Housed all my baby corns in 7 inch diameter deli containers. I hatched between 50-60 corns this year and only had one of them that did not eat - though it hatched out quite small (5-6 inches).

To the OP - if your container can fit in a five gallon tank, then I think you're OK when it comes to enclosure size.

Tim

So I was at a reptile show / sale. Brought home a live pinky for my hatchling an he's not eating it. I've put hatchling an pinky in a little deli cup an will leave them alone over night. I hope he starts eating soon. He's active an looks good but he won't eat. Getting worried.

I spoke with a vendor at a reptile show yesterday about the fact that one of my 8 hatchlings is not eating. She said the problem is that I have so few. I gave her a confused look and she went on to explain that when you have lots of babies every year like she does, you quit worrying about the few that don't feed right away. She said she had a few June hatchlings that didn't eat until August.

So, I am trying not to worry about my non-eater. She is still very active, and hopefully will eventually eat. Hopefully yours will too.

There is lots of good advice on these forums to read and re-read.

This is my first hatchling ever, from back in 2004.

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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
0.0.3 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
0.0.5 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas

Wow...thats a long time for a baby to go without eating isn't it? How often do you try to feed yours? I'm gonna try again when I feed my adults in a few days. Thanks for replying. Pretty baby you have there.

My other hatchlings are eating about every 4 or 5 days, so I offer the non-feeder a pinky then also.

I don't still have the snake in the photo, but I posted pics of some of this years hatchlings on the forum, see the link. I plan to keep the lightest of the hypos from this year, which happen to be a pair. If I get the non-feeder to start eating, I might have a hard time parting with it also. It has a wishbone shape on its head.

Link

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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
0.0.3 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
0.0.5 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas