Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a friend with a hatchling corn that he's had for 3 weeks. The snake ate the first week and has since refused 3 attempts including all the usual tricks. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. How long until I give up and try force feeding? And how do I force feed? He's definitely too wimpy for that so I know it will have to be me that does it.

Thanks in advance.

OK here we go. This is to help the novice who is having problems getting a hatchling to eat.

First and foremost, be patient. Most will eat when they get hungry. I have had hatchling go 50 day before they eat. If you have just purchased a snake give it a couple of days (around 48-72 hours) to get used to the new environment prior to attempting to feed. Even if it eats the first night, it will probably throw it up due to stress. If your snake has just hatched, wait until after the first shed to attempt feeding. It might also be in shed. Some snakes will not eat while shedding, and it is hard to tell in some hatchlings if they are shedding.

1. Hold the snake. Let it crawl around. The more active it is the more calories it uses. Thus, it will eat sooner.

2. Try feeding at night. This is when they normally eat.

3. Keep temp 75 - 80, drop it some at night from what you keep it during the day. (a couple of degrees)

4. Put the pinkie next to the hatchling in the cage without disturbing it. Give it overnight to eat.

5. Do 4 again but remove everything from the cage.

6. Feed it in a deli cup.

7. Try f/t pinkies (mice, rats, and any other rodent you can find). First, try pinkies that are thawed to room temperature. Next, try pinkies that you have warmed in water on the stove. I warm mine in a plastic bag in warm water. If you cook it directly in the water it removes some of the smell. The pinkie should be slightly warm to the touch. WARNING: do not use the microwave. Some breeders do this. I don't recommend it, because the microwave cooks from the inside out. Thus, the pinkie is slightly warm to the touch, but is extremely hot on the inside.

8. Try braining the pinkie. use a knife or spoon and open the head up to increase the scent of the pinkie.

9. Try different size pinkies. You can cut a pinkie in half long ways. Small hatchling sometime need to eat items like tails, legs, or middle sections until the grow enough to eat entire pinkies.

10. Try rubbing used bedding from a small lizard cage on the pinkie prior to feeding. Corn snakes eat lizards in the wild. This puts the lizards scent on the pinkie. Most pet stores will let you have a little bedding to try this. I do not recommend feeding the snake lizards though. It is very difficult to get them to switch over.

11. You can buy a feeder lizard (frozen) warm it up, cut it, and rub the blood on the pinkie. You can refreeze the lizard and little by little use less and less scent until it eats unscented pinkies.

12. Use "mouse maker". This puts a strong scent on the pinkie. It is a little difficult to get a snake to switch over from scented to unscented. “Mouse maker” is also a little expensive.

13. Try live of any pinkie rodent you can find.

14. Aggravate the snake. Take the pinkie and softly poke the snake about half way down it's body. The tail should start to rattle and shake. The snake should bite at the pinkie. Use hemostats or tweezers to keep from getting bitten and jumping. Hold the hemostats or tweezers steady if the hatchling grabs it and slowly let go, as to not scare the snake.

The following are extreme measures and should not be undertaken by a novice. If your not sure how to perform these recommendations please let an expert perform and instruct you on how to properly perform.

15. Force feed by hand. Slightly open the snakes mouth with a small probe. The mouth is very fragile so perform carefully. Place the pinkie in its mouth and let it eat it. Sometime forcing the pinkie part way down with the probe is necessary.

16. Force feed with a pinkie pump. Slightly open the snakes mouth with a small probe. Place the pump in its mouth and push a small amount of pinkie into the snakes stomach. A small amount goes a long way. To much with to much pressure will kill the hatchling.

These are just a few recommendations I can think of. If anyone has anything to add, let me know. I will put all recommendations in this document. I will post this once a week during the hatchling season , so that we the advanced (experts if you will) do not have to keep repeating ourselves. Feel free to correct grammar, spelling, and the order. Don’t get me wrong I love to help out, it just gets old repeating myself and seeing pages of posts about the same issue.

Tom

xtremeherps@yahoo.com

How long should one wait before resorting to force feeding? I know you mentioned one hatchling went 50 days but that has to be an extreme. I would thing by that time most hatchlings would be on the verge of death and too far gone to save.

Thanks for your effort in the above post,
Jonah

>>How long should one wait before resorting to force feeding? I know you mentioned one hatchling went 50 days but that has to be an extreme. I would thing by that time most hatchlings would be on the verge of death and too far gone to save.
>>
>>Thanks for your effort in the above post,
>>Jonah

I would wait til I knew it was losing weight. First thing I do with any new animal is weigh the little rascal. Then I have a baseline to work with if it doesn't eat. Or go by visual, but don't wait til it is skin and bone.
When and if you are TOTALLY desperate to feed I would work with a inch long piece of rat pup tail. Before that I would try overnight, in a deli cup with a live, beheaded pinkie(not a frozen/thawed). Gruesome for some but works with me.
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Sonya

I was unfortunate enough to lose a baby cornsnake to regurgitation and fasting last year.

It was 10 grams when I got it and it died at 4 grams. This will give you an idea about what is critical weight for hatchlings.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

Current pets:
1.0 '01 Hypo snow cornsnake (Tesla Coil)
0.1 '02 Ghost (pastel) cornsnake (Banshee)
1.1 '02 Bloodred cornsnakes (Desi and Luci Too)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Isamu, and Yuki; RIP Kabuki)
1.0 '99 American Eskimo mix (Rusty)

Next to be added:
0.1 BCI
1.1 Amber cornsnakes
1.1 Hypo Het Lavendar cornsnakes

Yes, If a snake goes 50 days it is extreme. I use a day count and weight to decide when to force feed. A large baby can go 50-60 days, but a small snake may only last a month.

I weigh them and use a 25 rule. If they loose 25% and go 25 days without eating (being offered food every 2-4 days) I will force feed. Now wait and see if the food is digested and it poops. I only give about 7-10 after this again until I force feed again. Do the same thing one more time 15-21 days later. I never force feed more than three times. After that I give up, not give up feeding, just force feeding.

As I said before force feeding is stressful and usually does more damage than good. Just have to believe it's god's will on which ones will eat and which ones won't. I know it is heartbreaking, because it upsets me evertime it happen, but something were just not meant to be.

tom

xtremeherps@yahoo.com

Sunday then I'll tell my friend to bring the snake back to the reptile store he got her from and let them feed her or give him a new snake.