I am new to the forums but am on a bunch of other reptile sites! Sadly one of my two babies I have now will not eat. her tank temp and everything is perfect, but she just will not eat. We tried to force feed her on monday, but tuesday when I got hom from work she had thrown it up. this will be week three without eating,(she goes for another force feed tonight) Being almost 3months old she should be about 18" long, and she's very thin and hitting about 12" and she has lose skin. She will drink if you hold her there, but if you let go, she will totally sink into her water dish. her brother is 18" thik and has a lot of energy...(yes they are in differnet tanks) I guess some are ment to live some aren't....if this force feed doesn't work, I have a gut feeling she will pass away in the next few days. A lot of people have given me suggestions... and I have read through the other threads on this topic... we've done almost everything mentioned... I think tonight we are going to try and get some whipped egg into her and see if she will keep that down. This is not fun.
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doesn't look good
- Thread starter bean
- Start date
Plissken
Crazy Snail Lady
Maybe I misunderstood, but you're force feeding a snake that hasn't eaten for three weeks? :eek1:
The weakness of her doesn't sound good, but I just don't understand why she's being forcefed if she ate three weeks ago. Also, her sibling is 18" thick? :shrugs:
If you've tried every method you've been given, including force feeding all within 3 weeks, the poor thing is probably totally stressed. Sorry if I'm missing something in your situation, but I guess I only know what you've told me and your post isn't very clear, to me anyway. Could we have more details so we can help you?
The weakness of her doesn't sound good, but I just don't understand why she's being forcefed if she ate three weeks ago. Also, her sibling is 18" thick? :shrugs:
If you've tried every method you've been given, including force feeding all within 3 weeks, the poor thing is probably totally stressed. Sorry if I'm missing something in your situation, but I guess I only know what you've told me and your post isn't very clear, to me anyway. Could we have more details so we can help you?
jazzgeek
The Rule Of Thirds.
A force feed is a very stressful and traumatic situation to a hatchling corn. Granted, I understand your concern and sense of urgency, but putting a small snake through an ordeal like that every 4 days may do more harm than good; compound that with a regurge, and you're just asking for trouble.bean said:
Do a search on the forums for "regurgitation" and the procedures once this has happened. I think Joe may have it outlined in the "Feeding/Health Issues FAQ", but I'm not sure.
My two cents.
regards,
jazz
okay I realize now that I wasn't clear at all, sorry. the male is 18" long and has a nice thinkness to him, he's very healthy. Eats every time. in almost 2 months the baby girl has only eaten twice, and had one shed. We have only force fed once, and that was on Monday. before that we tried brained, live and pinkie pieces... she won't give any food the time of day. I have had her in my care for almost three weeks. The breeder, and people on other sites instructed me to try every 5 days to feed, which is what I have been doing. SO that's three times before the force feeding. The only reason for the force feeding is that if she doesn't get something in her, she is going to die. Another breeder wants to try and tube feed her with egg, but I'm just not sure if I'm okay with that yet. I would wait longer between this feeding, but honestly I don't think she will live much longer if she doesn't get some kind of food. I don't know, I posted for a reason, all the breeders here are telling me the same thing, but I wanted your opinions!
dawnrenee2000
Contributing Member
Please DO NOT put that snake through another force feeding. It us totally unneccesary. that should be a last resort if a snake hasn't eaten for months on end, not just a few weeks. Snakes can and commonly do go for weeks without eating. The stress of the force feeding can cause long term damage that is much worse than not eating for a little while.
okay then what do you suggest? if I do not put her through another force feeding, or somehow make her eat she will die, 2 other people have looked at her and said the same. so can you please tell me what to do? Just watch her for a few more days? Don't touch her at all for a week?
jazzgeek
The Rule Of Thirds.
As I stated, do a "search" on the forums for "regurgitation".bean said:
Once that happened, it became the bigger issue than non-feeding. Follow the suggestions on handling a regurge. Provide plenty of water, make dang sure your temps are good, and look at the possibility of using a probiotic like NutriBac or Nature Zone Essential Probiotics before you even consider feeding her again.
Yes, if she doesn't eventually eat, she'll die. But she may also die of stress from your zeal to make sure she eats.
regards,
jazz
dawnrenee2000
Contributing Member
Regurging is very rough on a baby snake... Turn her temps up a bit higher than normal and leave her alone in a dark area for about a week. This will allow her time to recoup from the stress and the regurge. Than after a week attempt to feed her but do not force feed if she denies the food.
How much does she weight, how long is she and and how old?
How much does she weight, how long is she and and how old?
I haven't weighed her, as states is about about 12" long and almost 3 months old. I've read up on the regurg facts, and I get it. Her temps right now are 83 on warm 74-76 on cool, and she has a cool damp papertowel in her hide to crawl on. If I may ask, why would two different breeder's tell me to force feed her again? You guys are VERY helpful and I thank you for your help... I'm just a bit confused and of course worried about my little girl
dawnrenee2000
Contributing Member
bean said:
I don't know why they reccomended that. We can all only give advice based on our own experiences and knowledge level a given situation. My advice is based on experience with hatchling feeding issues, studies of reptile medicine/care, and stats from other peoples experiences that I have heard of as well. Sorry that is all i have to go on so I can not speak for why someone else has a different thought process or opinion.
regards and best wishes for you and your animals.
starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
I am sorry you are having feeding issues. I have to agree though that things got alot more serious when she regurged. From what I understand after a regurg its best to leave her alone so her insides can heal. One of my 05 hatchlings regurged twice on me and after each time I waited 10 days before feeding her again. She is now a happy healthy keeper girl.
Also, think about picking up Kathy Love's book. It covers everything about cornsnakes and could be a huge help.
Also, think about picking up Kathy Love's book. It covers everything about cornsnakes and could be a huge help.
OnyxWerewolf
New member
I've had a snake like that before...
I don't want to be negative but my previous was in the worst condition. She was in extreme stress, didn't eat for one month and was lighter/weaker. I felt so bad for Rose but sooner or later she died only because she didn't eat for a long period of time.
So if I were you, try and take it to a vet. It could also be mother nature itself who chose the ones that would live and chose the ones that were meant to tour the world for a very short amount of time. Otherwise, see a pro...
I don't want to be negative but my previous was in the worst condition. She was in extreme stress, didn't eat for one month and was lighter/weaker. I felt so bad for Rose but sooner or later she died only because she didn't eat for a long period of time.
So if I were you, try and take it to a vet. It could also be mother nature itself who chose the ones that would live and chose the ones that were meant to tour the world for a very short amount of time. Otherwise, see a pro...
With seeing the specialists where I live, as well as many different breeders, and taking the advise on here. It is what everyone has told me all along, she was just too weak/small to survive. My other two babies are in amazing health and eat once a week. I know the only reason bubbles died was because she starved herself to death. Now I have no idea what to do with her little body...
Weebonilass
New member
Bean,
Unless you are a vet and have done a necropsy on that baby, you don't "know" that the only reason she died was because she starved herself to death. There are a lot of reasons a snake may die at any age. We recently lost a 5 yr old corn and the vet was able to reassure us that as far as he could see it was nothing we did, although he really couldn't determine what did the damage that he saw. Personally, I think it was related to possible damage that was done prior to when we first got her as a hatchling.
Just because two of the clutch are thriving doesn't mean that there wasn't something wrong with her. Thirty babies could be great and that doesn't mean there isn't one that has something wrong from the get-go.
Having lost our first snake just a couple of months ago, I can feel for you, but also recommend that you review what you did and if you followed the book, it just wasn't meant to be.
Unless you are a vet and have done a necropsy on that baby, you don't "know" that the only reason she died was because she starved herself to death. There are a lot of reasons a snake may die at any age. We recently lost a 5 yr old corn and the vet was able to reassure us that as far as he could see it was nothing we did, although he really couldn't determine what did the damage that he saw. Personally, I think it was related to possible damage that was done prior to when we first got her as a hatchling.
Just because two of the clutch are thriving doesn't mean that there wasn't something wrong with her. Thirty babies could be great and that doesn't mean there isn't one that has something wrong from the get-go.
Having lost our first snake just a couple of months ago, I can feel for you, but also recommend that you review what you did and if you followed the book, it just wasn't meant to be.