• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Experienced snake oweners read this !

Take a deep breath and read all the good information above.

Are you a brand new snake owner? I had watched my boyfriend handle his RedTail Boa for 7 years & yet when I first got my corn, I had no clue what to do.

I came here & did receive some very good advice (albeit sometimes I felt like everyone thought I was an idiot) when I asked questions.

If you can get the answers to the temp questions and maybe even upload a picture of her Viv, then people would have a better idea of the situation.

My Rubi ate 5 days after we got her & then didn't eat again the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th times we tried. I tried it my way and other ways suggested by people here and she still didn't eat. I checked my temps & her Viv was within all the parameters I read about here. She was active and looked healthy. I took her to my vet and they said not to worry but never once suggested to force feed. (Obviously, as posted above, that would seem to have been a bad idea.) Rubi finally ate on her own and has followed a regular schedule after that.

Your poor baby has been moved & not allowed to adjust while being handled & force fed. I'm still new at this but I would suggest letting her relax a bit (give her that week to adjust) and as long as she seems healthy & lively, take your cues from her. Try to feed using one of the suggestions above, and she WILL eat if she's hungry enough.

Of course, if she starts looking sickly, take her to the vet.

Good luck
 
Here is a picture of her vivarium and. Picture of her compared to the size of her hide any advice or comments?
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    137.3 KB · Views: 99
OK first thing low watt red light on right side, put a hide or two toilet paper tubes work well as the snake wants to feel snug . Aspen 2-3 inches deep gives a lot of hiding space. I think beyond the force feeding it doesn't have enough stuff for it to hide., further stressing it.
 
I don't have a red light my light that I use at night it dark purple and the one that I use I bathe day is light blue
 
First off, why did you force feed so early?
Secondly, is that dial thermometer how you are measuring the temperature? If so you need a digital thermometer. There are reptile ones in most good petstores but a garden section in a dept store will have them too.
Thirdly, that is a huge tank for a baby snake. Can you get a plastic shoebox, make air holes and put it in the cooler end of your viv?. Use that as a baby sized home until she grows.
Then, leave her alone for a week. No handling, no feeding attempts. Then put her in a tiny deli cup (with airholes) in her shoebox with a boiled pinky overnight. No peeking at all. If you can get a live day-old pinky it may work better.
 
Thank you I will try that, I'm just worried she might starve because she hasn't eaten since last Tuesday, is that okay for a snake her size to go that long without food ?
 
I have had corn babies fast for 4+ months and survive, and had other species fast for a calendar year. NEVER force feed, shoving unwanted food down the gullet is the surest way to make a baby not want to eat. You've gotten excellent advice in this thread.
 
hannahr225 said:
Thank you I will try that, I'm just worried she might starve because she hasn't eaten since last Tuesday, is that okay for a snake her size to go that long without food ?
Click to expand...
Your main worry should be whether she will recover from her stress and eat voluntarily. There's no way to reassure you on that I'm afraid, you have given her a very bad start. The very worst thing you could do is to force-feed her again right now.
 
hannahr225 said:
So your saying I killed her
Click to expand...

Don't ask for advice then get defensive, please. People are trying to help you here. But I will say that if the baby doesn't eat again and dies, it is probably a result of being force-fed. Force feeding has a TERRIBLE track record in baby colubrid snakes -particularly with whole pinks being crammed down the throat with an object. It's massively stressful for them.

Call around your local pet shops for live pinks if "boiled" doesn't work. If the snake has been eating frozen before, live shouldn't be necessary. Don't offer food too often, no more than every 3-4 days. Good luck.
 
The pet store told me to force feed her and it bothers me that if she dies It will be my fault I put her in the small box inside her cage with water a hide and a small plant and I plan to let her get adjusted until next Sunday and try boiled pinky but what of she doesn't eat then do I wait another week and then try live ?
 
hannahr225 said:
So your saying I killed her
Click to expand...
No Hannah. By the sound of it you followed some very bad advice from your pet store. Personally I've rehabbed 2 non-feeders and am presently trying to rehab another. In these cases due to complete non-feeding for a length of time and loss of condition down to starvation point I had to force-feed. The hard part is getting them to ever feed again voluntarily. I'd NEVER try it on a baby that refuses a couple of times.
Don't lose hope or get defensive, you'll get good advice and help from here.
 
I would not take a baby on a hunger strike to a vet, personally, unless I suspected a health issue. I suspect a very stressed baby, and the trip and examination isn't going to ease that. You got terrible advice when you were told to force feed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top