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feeding difficulties

robi Jun 10, 2004 12:23 AM

Hi! I'm new here but not new to keeping corns. I have a creamsicle that I purchased at a pet store about 4 months ago. She's just a baby. After I had had her about 2 weeks she stopped eating, started breathing with her mouth open and rubbing her nose against anything she touched. I raised the temp in her cage and watched her and finally decided to take her to the vet. He said it was an upper respiritory infection. She weighed 14 grams. She was on antibiotic injections for 6 weeks. While she was on antibiotics she ate a small live pinkie once a week. Towards the end of the injections, she continued to eat, but only held the pinkie for a couple of days. (It still very much resembled a pinkie when it came out, and I'm not sure which end it came out of.) Now she has stopped eating altogether. I'm very worried about her. The vet said if she hadn't started eating he wanted to force feed her but I'm really worried about letting him do that.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!

Replies (2)

duffy Jun 10, 2004 06:43 AM

Sounds like she's in pretty bad shape. Next time, make sure that you purchase from a reputable dealer.
You might try feeding her decapitated (headless) pinks for a few meals. The logic there, if she has been regurging, is that it will be quicker and easier to digest. Also, remember that if she has been puking (which she has), her digestive system needs at least a week to 10 days to recover before the next feeding. Otherwise, she will almost surely puke again and eventually die (which may be in the stars anyway, unfortunately).
Give her a solid week since her last regurge (no less, maybe 8 days), then try a headless pink and see if she can keep it down. Hopefully the smell of blood from the decapitated pinky will stimulate her to eat on her own. Put the head in the feeding container also, and squeeze it enough so that some of the brain matter oozes out the back...MMMMMMMMMM good!
Good luck. Duffy

Gargoyle420 Jun 10, 2004 07:43 AM

If I were you I would take the vet bills and the poor corn back to the petshop and raise hell.The breeders in my area dump the surplus runts and non-feeders off at the petstore for 5 dollars credit.I would do what duffy told you to do if you intend to keep the snake.And for gods sake dont let your vet force feed your regurging snake.I fought a downhill battle with a male guyana for about a year before he passed away.He wasnt meant to make it,and thats how it just goes sometimes.Just feel good that you tried your best.Im wishing you the best of luck and please keep us posted.

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