Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Out of my 12 hatchlings, 10 have eaten, 8 twice. My question is, the two that haven't eaten, have pooped?? How is that possible? I do have these little white moths in the house, I see them every few days or so I'll catch one flying around, and I did see one in one of the baby's water dishes. I'm wondering, would the two that haven't eaten a mouse yet have tried a moth? All 10 of the eaters are GREAT, I think they've even grown already, but these two who refused their first mouse have popped, one only once, the other about 3 or 4 times. Just tiny poops, nothing compared to the sibs after mouse poops, but not just pee either. Do snakes have that same poo-plug that human babies do? Where they can poop that black icky no smell poop for a few days after being born? Or are these two babies sick? Someone suggested worms?? How would two babies out of 12 get that when they are from the same clutch but since hatching have been kept seperately from the other 10?
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

Try not to worry. I have not seen this with baby corn snakes (I suspect only because I have never owned a neonate corn snake) but it seems to be quite normal in baby Ball Pythons. Usually they will shed, and have a bowel movement before they take their first meal.

If it is not something to worry about in neonate BPs, then I don't think you should worry with your neonate corns.

Try offering them a meal now.

Hope I do as well with the my baby corns when they hatch as you seem to be doing! ~ 2 more weeks! Eggs still look good (one has turned yellow? Nice, big plump lemon yellow egg! I suspect it has something to do with the peat moss I am using as a egg medium, they all have some yellow spots, but one is all yellow!)

My guess would be it's like it is with human babies. Even though they haven't eaten anything, they do have waste. Snakes absorb their egg yolk and continue to feed off of it for a week or so after birth. The poops could be the remnants of it as it was digested and processed.

I doubt that it could be worms already. They've been kept separately from one another and from the rest of your snakes, and I see no connection to where worms could have come from. Unless you reused water dishes that weren't thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before their use with the hatchlings. Most snakes get worms from the rodents they eat, the worms in their prey's gut. But since most of us use frozen/thawed mice these days, the likelihood of tainted mice would be very slim. And the fact that these two haven't even eaten yet, just further disproves that.

In my experience with baby birds (chickens, guineas, and peacocks), they too defecate after hatching having not eaten anything for a couple of days after hatching. So I don't think it's anything to worry with. I would be more concerned with trying to get the two hatchlings to eat something. =P

Hope that helped some.
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~*Taceas*~
rain@mainecoon.net

"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee. Power hath decended forth from thy hand so our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. And we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." - The Boondock Saints

I've really been worried about them pooping, but if it happens in other neonate snakes, I guess I'll just get the new pinks and offer them food again.

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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents