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Hatchling isn't eating after shed, worried.

S

smokie

New member
My 2 month old Anery corn has no interest in feeding after her first shed. I tried feeding her a brained pinkie, dangling it to make it seem alive, putting it up to her nose and she just wanders around the feeding box with zero interest. The breeder I got her from a month ago was feeding her a pinkie every 4 days, I've stuck with that schedule and up until now she has been a hearty eater at home. I've fed her five pinkies since I've had her and she's been great about it. She's been pooping daily so not blocked up.

Some info about her setup if it helps at all..
I have her in a 10 gallon with an UTH as her heating source on one end, the warm end is generally between 80-88 degrees and the cool end is between 70-75. Substrate is aspen, 3" thick just in case she feels like burrowing. She has a hide on either side, and a fake plant over her hide on the warm end that she spends a lot of time in. She only ever wanders over to the cool end to drink, which she has also been doing fine. I do handle her every day but always wait 48 hours after a feed to do so.

The last time she ate she was blue, it was three days before she fully shed. It's been almost a week now and I'm wondering how often I should keep trying to feed her? Is it normal for a hatchling to not eat after their first shed? She's my first corn and I want to make sure I'm doing everything right and in her best interests. Thank you in advance.
 
Considering it is 2 months old I don't think this is the first shed it's had in it's life. But anyway, she just might be being picky. I'd stick to the regular feeding schedule, I feed my hatchlings every 5 days, so if one refuses, I try again in another 5 days. I wouldn't worry too much yet.

Are you sure it's been pooping daily? That's a lot of poop.
 
Yep, she pooped on me tonight and last night :shrug: Could it be she is stressed? Maybe I should not handle her every day and give her a break. I have read if I keep offering her a pinkie when she is not ready to eat she will associate feeding time as a stressful time and try to avoid it. Is this true? It has been about a week, so I should wait a few more days to try again and not handle her until then? I don't want my baby to starve. Thank you for your response :)
 
That's the general rule. I would wait 3-4 days between attempted feedings. Trying to feed every day will most certainly stress her out. She'll eat when she's ready. :}
 
How about handling? Should I leave her be for 3 days? She's not skittish and is pretty docile when I handle her, weaving in and out of my fingers before curling up in the palm of my hand. It's tempting since she's so good natured, but if there is the possibility that handling her is stressing her out to the point of not wanting to eat, I will leave her alone in that time.
 
Since she's eaten for you five times already, it's unlikely she would just stop eating. Sometimes snakes just aren't hungry right sffter they shed. With an established feeder, like you have, if she refuses a meal, I'd just wait the normal five days and try again. But I wouldn't handle in that time period. Then I'd give her the best chance to succeed with a really hot, slit pink.
 
smokie said:
Yep, she pooped on me tonight and last night :shrug: Could it be she is stressed? Maybe I should not handle her every day and give her a break. I have read if I keep offering her a pinkie when she is not ready to eat she will associate feeding time as a stressful time and try to avoid it. Is this true? It has been about a week, so I should wait a few more days to try again and not handle her until then? I don't want my baby to starve. Thank you for your response :)
Click to expand...
That sounds more of a musking thing to get you to put her down.....
Try not handling for a week and then offering the food....
 
Some good and bad news. She ate a small brained pinky on the morning of the 18th, and I fed her again on the 21st. She is still a hatchling, only 16" long, and has so far had a mostly healthy appetite. Today I go to spot clean her cage because I smelled something a bit foul. Expecting fresh poop, I instead found a partially digested pinkie. I immediately put in more fresh water, haven't handled her but she has been active since. I know for certain it was a regurge, and to wait atleast a week to try feeding her another pinky. This is the first time she has regurgitated, there has been no temperature change in her enclosure (though she still spends most of her time up in the plastic tree over the heated end). As long as I change out her water every day she should be fine for a week even at her age, correct? I'm worried about her and I don't want to find anything like that ever again.
 
You are feeding her way too close together for her to digest! I'd switch immediately to a five day schedule. Now you have to wait eight days before you attempt to feed her, and then you can only feed her half a pink. She needs to be built up to a whole pink again slowly.
 
I was afraid of that :( The lump had totally disappeared and she was overly active last night, like she is when it's feeding time. How long should I feed half a pink until switching back to a whole? And half a pink every five days after eight days is enough nourishment until she should be ready for a whole pinky again, right?
 
I gues I'd feed the two halfs, five days apart, and then feed a whole, the very smallest you can find. If you can't find a very small whole pink, then I'd to three meals of 2/3. And when you feed the whole pink, I'd cut it into thirds, first, for a couple meals, feeding all three pieces, and then halves, and then finally move to a whole pink. And when you go to a whole pink, uncut, I'd slit the back quite a bit.
 
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