First and formost i want to say this a great site. The info is great and the people are even better. I for the first time, had baby corn snakes hatch. July 3-4. 4 of 6 eggs hatched. My problem is the feeding. One has eaten twice while the others refuse. I believed i have tried every method i have read. I live in South Florida, and went as far as chasing lizards in my backyard. I have scented pinkies with them, brained pinkies, pieced pinkies, tails of hoppers and even offered the small lizards themselves. I have done this with leaving the food in the container for 24 hours, without disturbing them. The next day i start out with fresh food and water. My concern is how long can the newborns go without there first feeding. I thought i read in Kathy Love's book, it could take up to 4 months. Can anybody tell me this is not an abnormal situation i have. And that you have overcome it. Thanks again Reg
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FEEDING PROBLEMS WITH NEW BORNS
- Thread starter REG
- Start date
herphunter
New member
well....
i think worrying point is 1 month. in the manual i think it says that hatchling that havent eaten after 4 months usually die or are poor feeders. i would try other things before taking drastic measures, try hamster,gerbil pinkies or even rat pink pieces. if they start looking really weak,maybe force feed a piece of a mouse tail.good luck with your babies,keep us posted on how they are doing
i think worrying point is 1 month. in the manual i think it says that hatchling that havent eaten after 4 months usually die or are poor feeders. i would try other things before taking drastic measures, try hamster,gerbil pinkies or even rat pink pieces. if they start looking really weak,maybe force feed a piece of a mouse tail.good luck with your babies,keep us posted on how they are doing
Have you assisted any of these little ones? If they havn't by now they are unlikley to take the food on their own. Try assist feeding mouse tails to keep them alive. Hopefully they will start eating on their own. I believe in the Corn Snake Manual it gives a figure of 4 weeks that they can go without eating. But that is just a guideline. If the hatchlings are small to begin with they might be in trouble before that or if they are big heavy hatchlings they might be able to go a little longer. Try the mouse tails and see if that works for you. I hope you can get them to eat.
Sorry I didn't see HerpHunters post
Sorry I didn't see HerpHunters post
Re: Assist
Hold them gently but firmly and open their mouth with the piece of mouse tail. Push it gently so that it starts down the throat. Usually at this point they start to swallow on their own. I set them down and let them finish swallowing. You want to get enough of the tail into the throat because they will throw their heads around and try to get rid of it I refer to this as assisting instead of forcing. Forcing is when I have to open their mouths in the fully open position and push food down their throat.
IMHO, that is a bit rough on hatchlings and can do more harm then good. Everyone has their own way of doing it and the main thing is getting food into them
REG said:
Hold them gently but firmly and open their mouth with the piece of mouse tail. Push it gently so that it starts down the throat. Usually at this point they start to swallow on their own. I set them down and let them finish swallowing. You want to get enough of the tail into the throat because they will throw their heads around and try to get rid of it
I refer to this as assisting instead of forcing. Forcing is when I have to open their mouths in the fully open position and push food down their throat.IMHO, that is a bit rough on hatchlings and can do more harm then good. Everyone has their own way of doing it and the main thing is getting food into them
Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
REG -
Since your hatchlings only hatched on July 3-4, and you've been offering them food every 24 hours since ?, you're pushing them too soon and possibly scaring the heck out of them! First, DO NOT force feed them just yet! Give them more of a chance to eat on their own. And only offer them food no more frequently than every 4 days. I also had a clutch hatch on July 3-4. They only shed on the 9th - 11th, and I didn't offer them their first meal until the 13th. Only 3 of 11 ate and I'm nowhere near panicing about the others yet. I won't offer them food again until the week-end. And they'll have to refuse at least 2 more meals before I even start to think about lizard scenting, let alone force feeding. As long as they seem active and healthy, DON'T PANIC YET.
If you haven't tried offering them their meal inside a small paper bag yet, most definately give that trick a good try! Some hatchlings prefer the dark close surroundings of the bag instead of their regular enclosures at first, even if it's a small deli cup (my prefered hatchling enclosure for the first month or so).
Since your hatchlings only hatched on July 3-4, and you've been offering them food every 24 hours since ?, you're pushing them too soon and possibly scaring the heck out of them! First, DO NOT force feed them just yet! Give them more of a chance to eat on their own. And only offer them food no more frequently than every 4 days. I also had a clutch hatch on July 3-4. They only shed on the 9th - 11th, and I didn't offer them their first meal until the 13th. Only 3 of 11 ate and I'm nowhere near panicing about the others yet. I won't offer them food again until the week-end. And they'll have to refuse at least 2 more meals before I even start to think about lizard scenting, let alone force feeding. As long as they seem active and healthy, DON'T PANIC YET.
If you haven't tried offering them their meal inside a small paper bag yet, most definately give that trick a good try! Some hatchlings prefer the dark close surroundings of the bag instead of their regular enclosures at first, even if it's a small deli cup (my prefered hatchling enclosure for the first month or so).
REG,
I agree with Susan's post. For some reason when I read your post I thought I read June instead of July. No need to worry yet. I count from their first shed. My first clutch that hatched in May shed 7 days after they hatched. I had one that refused food for 5 weeks after that. It was then that I started her on mouse tails. She is now taking Anole scented pinkies. I had a friends non-feeders too and they were also 5 weeks no food but all ate the Anole scented pinks. Like Susan said Don't Panic Yet!!
I agree with Susan's post. For some reason when I read your post I thought I read June instead of July. No need to worry yet. I count from their first shed. My first clutch that hatched in May shed 7 days after they hatched. I had one that refused food for 5 weeks after that. It was then that I started her on mouse tails. She is now taking Anole scented pinkies. I had a friends non-feeders too and they were also 5 weeks no food but all ate the Anole scented pinks. Like Susan said Don't Panic Yet!!
SUCCESS
I have to say thanks to everyone who gave me all the suggestions. Last night i was able to coax the three babies that would not eat. I did the mouse tail routine. And after a little work they swallowed them on their own. I know they feel better, I certainly do. Again thanks to all. REG.
I have to say thanks to everyone who gave me all the suggestions. Last night i was able to coax the three babies that would not eat. I did the mouse tail routine. And after a little work they swallowed them on their own. I know they feel better, I certainly do. Again thanks to all. REG.