Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my baby snow corn is still not eating!!! i put in the tank with the live pinkie and her in the covered deli cup all that accomplished was pissing her off, and killing the pinkie...what should i do im getting very worried about her i cant get her to eat i know she is hungry...b/c when i defrosted on of the frozen pinkies right after i realized the pinkie had died she popped her jaw and put her mouth around the head of the pinkie but then left it...it was almost like she was measuring it and then leaving it when she realized it was just to damned big for her...im scared b/c i cant find pinkies smaller than the ones i got and they seem to be to big!!!! what do i do please help!!!!! what can i do??

thanks for everything you can do for me

Chris

Chris, first of all, relax a little. Can you provide more info (maybe you did in a different thread...if so,sorry) Otherwise, Did your snow ever eat at all since you've had her? If yes, how long has it been since her last mean? If she has not ever eaten, can you contact the person or business you bought the snow from and find out how they were feeding it.

If you were attempting to feed her a f/t pinkie just after you attempted live, you could have been stressing her out. To get an idea if the pinkies are too big, you can visit rodentpro.com's website and they have pics with coins (to scale) to give buyers an idea of how big/small mice are. Visit that site b/c you can get an idea if your pinkies are large or small and then go from there. The fact that the corn started to eat is a good sign so I would not worry too much just yet.
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Sincerely,
Jason
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

Hey Chris. First, the fact that your little one killed the live pinky and also "mouthed" the f/t one is a great sign. That's a good feeding response rather than shying away from the prey items or just striking defensively. Were you standing there watching as you tried to feed your baby? It sounds like both times, something disturbed your snake before it got a chance to finish the job. Give it a few (3-4) days with NO disturbances (do not handle, clean the cage, change the water or even open the lid of the enclosure) and try the live pinky in the deli cup trick again, but do it once the lights are out and leave it overnight. Chances are the pinky will be gone in the morning. These tiny little babies get really stressed out easily and will drop a meal if they feel that they might in turn become someone else's meal while in that very vulnerable position with their mouth full. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Billy

I had over 120 babies with the first group of eggs and most of them ate with no problem at all (thank god) but the ones that would simply not eat within a hour or so, I left in the deli cup over night with the f/t pinkie. 3/4 of them ate the first time with the over night routine. the complete silence must have been what they needed. Since then I have gotten each and every snake to eat with only a few (5) needing live pinks as their first meal.
But try leaving them in complete darkness over night ans see what they do
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

Everything that others have said is all great advice, but I have one more little thing to add. If for some reason, you think that the pink is too large, you can always just offer a head, or head an little bit of shoulders at first. (do this on a frozen pink, since if it is thawed it can get kind of messy) I had to do this a few time this year, and in the past. Like Hoppy said, put the food item and the snake in a deli cup, over night, with complete quiet, (don't peek) and most of the time this works on the first try. In fact I may have to try that with a couple of mine tomorrow on feeding day.
This is what worked for me.
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Paula
19 Corns,6 Ratsnakes, 1 Ball Python, 1 Hognose(for now)

Snake Addict
"Always Learning"

I do the same thing with picky eaters. Pop a frozen pinky in half, thaw it in warm water, and offer half to the snake in a deli cup overnight. Picky eaters seem attracted to the "goo" oozing out of the raw end, and the halves are usually small enough for tiny hatchlings to eat. Works like a charm!

Good luck,
Ronda
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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture

thank you guys for all of your help i am going to put a pinkie in the cup with her tonight just before i go to bed thank you for all your help i will post tommorrow with my results and hopefully it will be good results so do me one mor favor and wish me luck and my snow corn celeste luck thank you!!!!

chris