Last night I attempted my first feed with my new corn snake. It did not go well at all. It has been a week since I got him. Waited for him to get over the stress of the move. Any way last night I thawed a large pinky for him and he was just not interested at all. I jiggled it in front of him and nothing. I just layed it in the smaller critter keeper I plan to use for feeding and nothing after an hour. My questions are how do you keep the snake warm while in a feeding box ? How long should I leave the food in there before I give up and put him back in the viv ? How warm should the food be when I put it in there ? How long should he stay in the feeding box before moving him back to the viv ? Any help and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Sorry so long.
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First feed failure
- Thread starter 8292tom
- Start date
medusacoils
Mr. Enigma!
Done good! Maybe he just needs a little more time? :shrugs:
I wouldn't worry too much about keeping a snake warm, when feeding. Unless it's really cold in your house. Usually feeding is a short period of time.
About an hour is good. If he keeps giving you a hard time, then try over night.
about 95-100F That's the average temp of a live rodent.
You can move the snake back to its viv as soon as you notice he is done swallowing and the bump has moved almost half way down his body.
Since he skipped this feeding, wait at least five days before you try again. Attempting too soon will just stress him out. Don't worry about him not eating, you have time.
Good Luck
Wayne
Nanci
Alien Lover
This is what I would do. Wait four or five days. Do not handle the snake in that time. Feed at or after dusk. In a quiet room. In a tiny container- margerine cup sized or the deli cup the snake came in. Thaw the pink for a minute or two in hot water. Right before placing it in the feeding container, hold it under the HOTTEST water for a few seconds. Cut four slits in the pink's back with a tiny scissors. Put the pink in the container. Get the snake. While holding the snake gently, just offer the pink with your fingers a couple times. If he takes it, freeze! If he isn't interested, or is frightened, just put him in his deli cup with the pink, cover with a dish towel or T shirt, and do not disturb for an hour. NO PEEKING! If, after an hour he hasn't fed, reheat the pink to very hot, put it back in the deli with the snake, put the whole thing back in the snake's viv with the lid on the deli and the cover on the viv. Maybe toss a paper towel over the deli so the snake can't see out. Check him in the morning. If he hasn't fed, repeat in five days. If he still hasn't fed, ask for more help, here.
The key points are:
Stress-free snake from not being handled or otherwise disturbed.
Hungry snake from waiting four or five days between feeding attempts.
Very hot pink.
Small feeding container so the snake can't wander off and forget about the pink.
Feeding at night at the natural time a snake eats.
Covering the deli cup so the snake isn't trying to escape and isn't watching you.
Giving him plenty of undisturbed time to decide it is safe to feed.
The key points are:
Stress-free snake from not being handled or otherwise disturbed.
Hungry snake from waiting four or five days between feeding attempts.
Very hot pink.
Small feeding container so the snake can't wander off and forget about the pink.
Feeding at night at the natural time a snake eats.
Covering the deli cup so the snake isn't trying to escape and isn't watching you.
Giving him plenty of undisturbed time to decide it is safe to feed.
Porro
New member
Yeah, I had a simliar situation when I first got my snake, he didn't eat for over 2 weeks which really freaked me out because he was young and I thought for sure he would have eaten at least twice within that time!
After freaking out about it for a little I did as was suggested on here, put him in a smaller container, sealed it up and covered it with a t-shirt. I look a half an hour later and *BAM* the pinkie dissapeared!! Made me so happy.....
The best part is, I have fed him since then in a similar manner but last time I tried, he started eating before I could even find something to cover the container with! Makes me feel that he's getting more comfortable with eating and makes me happy
After freaking out about it for a little I did as was suggested on here, put him in a smaller container, sealed it up and covered it with a t-shirt. I look a half an hour later and *BAM* the pinkie dissapeared!! Made me so happy.....
The best part is, I have fed him since then in a similar manner but last time I tried, he started eating before I could even find something to cover the container with! Makes me feel that he's getting more comfortable with eating and makes me happy
Nanci
Alien Lover
He's probably right for that rectangular Gladware. You can punch holes in the lid with a hole punch if you are careful. After that I go to the Sterilite that is for holding CDs. The thing about putting a smaller snake in that one is there is a ledge they can climb up in, if they are small enough, and then they forget about the mouse. I'll try to post some pics when I get home.