Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Would it be safe to say that a frozen/thawed pinkie that isn't eaten overnight should be discarded in the morning?

I had five hatchlings in September. Four of them had no problems eating. I found homes for those four. The last one is a problem feeder just like his father. I have tried everything that I know of: live, frozen/thawed, tuna water on live and f/t, braining, bleeding, force feeding a head, leaving prey in overnight and in darkness (am I missing something?). I have had to force feed after every attempt.

Are there just some individuals who must be force fed their whole life? Is there something else I could try?

I need to get him eating on his own so I can find him another home. I have had to reduce my personal zoo since I am back in school intensively full-time. I would have a whole house-full of reptiles if I had the time and space

have you tried putting feeder and snake in deli cup overnight?

I haven't had a deli cup available. I have tried putting him in a very small plastic pet carrier and blocking the outside light with paper. He wouldeither stay in the corner away from the prey, or slither right over it with no interest at all and try constantly to get out.

Try a small luch bag, fold the top. Sometimes they must have complete darkness. Leave the snake in with the pinkie as long as possible. Good luck
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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

I have had no luck with my problem feeder as well. I have had to force feed a adult mouse tail to him. I was told to do this every three days if I have to. I have gotten him to eat once after I did the mouse tail. He ate on his own. Some snakes are just "defective" and just don't have that food drive. If you find some new trick, let me know. My problem feeder is the anery, and much smaller than its siblings.

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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

I saw your previous post. You have a beautiful trio. Best of luck to you as well.

and bring it out slowly and then introduce it to a live pink. sometimes you have to cool hatchlings down they are good with out food for a while but give it water constantly.
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0.1.0 normal corn het hypo,anery
1.0.0 snow corn het hypo,anery,amel
1.0.0 amel corn unknown hets(4.5ft long)
1.0 sinacorn
0.0.2 snapping turtles
0.0.1 3 lined mud turtle
1.1 kenyan sand boas

I honestly don't think mine could survive without food for a couple weeks. she is so skinny at this point and does not move around much. I wonder if the breeder that I got her from knew she was a problem feeder, or ever fed her at all for that matter. I will be shocked if I can keep her alive for another month, but I am going to try my hardest.
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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

>>I honestly don't think mine could survive without food for a couple weeks. she is so skinny at this point and does not move around much. I wonder if the breeder that I got her from knew she was a problem feeder, or ever fed her at all for that matter. I will be shocked if I can keep her alive for another month, but I am going to try my hardest.
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>>------Misty-------
>> Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

Misty,
You need to start giving it something more substantial then mouse tails. Mouse tails are not as high in nutritional value as the head and body.
You need to try to start forcing pinkie heads down it.
I had some non-feeding hatchlings in '04 (a few I hatched and a few rescues) that I had to resort to force feeding.
It is more difficult then mouse tails but it is more nutricious.
I started them on pinkie heads.
I alternated through all of the tricks and each time a trick didn't work I force fed them.
It took several months with all of them.
I started with pinkie heads and as they grew I finally got to the point where I was force feeding them whole pinkies.
This whole time I kept alternating through the different tricks. I had a couple that started feeding on tuna scented f/t and didn't take long to continue on without the tuna water.
I had one that just simply decided f/t was good enough, one that started eating live and finally switched over to f/t and I had one die before it ever ate on its own and one that died after feeding on its own for a little while and then quit feeding again.

So even though you may have to resort to force feeding keep alternating through all of the tricks and try to get a little more nutrition in them, then mouse tails.

There is the other alternative.
Euthenise them.
I know this can be hard sometimes but unless you are willing to spend the time it takes to get them feeding it is probably better to euthenise them as opposed to prolonging their deaths.
Simple fact is, though, some just will not make it. Some die.

I kind of worry about the original poster wanting to get it feeding so she can get rid of it.
Do you plan on selling this snake without informing people it was a non feeder?
It is not very wise to incorporat non-feeders into breeder groups. It can pass on the poor feeding response.
If it is going to someone as a pet only, that is one thing, but they still need to know the non-feeding history.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

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Thanks for the info. I know the mouse tails are not very nutritional, but I was hoping to start her metabolism. She ate once on her own after being forced a tail. I have tried the pinkie head today. I have tried it before, but the snake is soooo tiny, I did not want to break her jaw. I wish the breeder had told me she was a problem feeder. I didn't handle her before I bought her and wonder if she was a lost cause then. She has never moved around much, so that leads me to believe the breeder never got her to eat. Still, I need the experience because I will be breeding my own this spring and need to know what to do when they don't eat. I definitely think people have a right to know that the snake they are purchasing is a problem feeder because they need to be experienced enough to deal with it. I do not plan to get rid of mine, it will be my pet for as long as it its alive. Wish me luck (or should I say wish my snake luck), and thanks again for the advice.
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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

>>Thanks for the info. I know the mouse tails are not very nutritional, but I was hoping to start her metabolism. She ate once on her own after being forced a tail. I have tried the pinkie head today. I have tried it before, but the snake is soooo tiny, I did not want to break her jaw. I wish the breeder had told me she was a problem feeder. I didn't handle her before I bought her and wonder if she was a lost cause then. She has never moved around much, so that leads me to believe the breeder never got her to eat. Still, I need the experience because I will be breeding my own this spring and need to know what to do when they don't eat. I definitely think people have a right to know that the snake they are purchasing is a problem feeder because they need to be experienced enough to deal with it. I do not plan to get rid of mine, it will be my pet for as long as it its alive. Wish me luck (or should I say wish my snake luck), and thanks again for the advice.
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>>------Misty-------
>>

Good luck to both of you.
You would be surprised just how much they can handle.
I thought I was going to hurt them but after a few times It was obvious they weren't as fragile as they appear.
This may seem crazy but have you ever seen those little wooden dowels used to help hold book cases and computer tables together?
I used one of those to help push the meal down. (gently as possible of course)
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

_____

I could never in good concience hand an animal over to someone else without letting them know of any problems. It wasn't evident that the baby's father was a problem feeder until after breeding (he ate fine for me up to then), and I screened potential owners before giving him up. The new owner has extensive herp experience and is often called on to remove snakes from peoples yards. He also gives lectures on herps.

I don't want to give him up, and I didn't want to get rid of the ones I no longer have. My husband is in ill health and stresses extremely easily (he has already had a couple of heart attacks, one of them major). He told me that I could keep one tank, so I decided to keep two female bearded dragons since I have had them the longest of my reptiles. I even had to find homes for our 3 cats that we had for ten years. It has not been easy for me or the kids. My husband love animals too, but his health and state of mind must come first.

It would be comforting to me to get this baby corn eating on his own.

I had to force feed for the first 9-10 feedings. I used the smallest pinky I could find. It's not hard once you get the hang of it, just moisten it with water first. I used a lolly pop stick to slowly get past the neck area and then gently massaged it down to the belly. Once it gets half way to the stomach they usually finish pushing it down for you. I did this for almost 2 months, twice a week and eventually she ate one on her own but it took all night in a deli cup placed back in her tank. She hsa gradually gone from all night to a couple of hours. My last feeding was rewarding when she ate in the deli cup on my bed with me watching. Just have patience and eventually instincts will take over as they get older. I think that some people give up too soon. I would force feed for as long as it took if the snake was other wise healthy.

Thanks for the support. I know this is not originally my post, but I figure since I am having the same problem, i should get in the mix. I do not plan to stop any efforts with this little girl. I finally got a pinkie head down her yesterday. I can't remember where I read it(but figured since I had one, I'd use it), but I use the handle part of a hobby paint brush to help get it down her throat, then message it. We'll see how next feeding goes.
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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

if you got a head down, try a small pinkie. Wait a second after you get it half way in and see if the swallowing reflex kicks in, this eventually happened with me and the next attempt had the snake eating on her own!!

I have two new born pinkies just for this little guy. I will try a whole pinkie at the next feeding. If not, I will just do the head. I have waited on the tails to see if the snake will move it down on her own. Very little effort on her part so far, but I will keep watching and checking
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------Misty-------
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that!

Thanks for the encouragement. The last two times that I fed him I got the head in then put him in the feeder container. His swallowing reflex kicked in. Last time he used part of his body for leverage, almost like he was going to constrict the prey. Maybe there's hope for him.

If he doesn't eat the f/t pinkie overnight, can I feed it to him in the morning, or do I need to throw it out? By noontime if not eaten the pinkie starts to swell - yuk. That's when I start to get discouraged. The money spent on uneaten pinkies was wasted, and the store only gets them in once every two weeks, and they go fast. Money is very scarce with me going to school full-time and my husband unable to work.

sounds like you're almost there. If you keep him in a deli cup over night and he hasn't eaten it then throw it out and let him sit in his cage for a day then ff him. Sounds like he is progressing so I'd say that now would be a good time to try tuna water as well. Just pore some tune water from the can into a zip lock bag, place the small pinkie inside the bag and then place the bag in some hot water in the sink. Not too hot, just hot enough to where you wont scald yourself. This is kind of like basting the pinky. Remove pinky from bag and and place with snake in a deli cup with the lid on (air holes). Place the deli cup back into the cage and check in the morning or every couple of hours. Don't check too often or you'll keep startling the snake. It helps to cover the deli cup as well with something, I use a solid colored tupperware top, this helps keep snake from being distracted and helps with the over all feeling of being safe and secure. It was at this point with the snake swallowing on her own that I tried the tuna water and it worked even though it didn't work the very first time I tried 5 weeeks before. It's just all about patience and sticking to it.

Let me know how this goes.