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New baby corn --feeding help

S

Sharp_ex

New member
This past Sunday, I bought a healthy-looking corn snake from a local PetCo. The seller told me that it was feeding normally and it had last been fed the previous Tuesday.

Perhaps unwisely on my part, I thought I'd try to stick to the same schedule and tried to feed it yesterday. Although it is very docile and seemed to have no problem with me at any time or to be frightened, it refused the pinkie even after I brained it.

I decided to leave the feeding for another try this Sunday, but I have a couple of questions. I've read that leaving them alone in their new surroundings is a pretty good idea, but that same source said that they should first be fed in their own cage. This snake liked to burrow at its old residence, so I bought aspen shavings for it to burrow in here. Because of that, I would think it's a bit dangerous to feed it within its own cage.

For that reason, I'm having doubts about leaving it alone until Sunday. If it isn't used to handling, then how will it feel when I take it out to feed it in a separate enclosure? I'm well and truly lost as to how to proceed.

I'll be seeing the carer at the PetCo today or tomorrow to ask her how it was fed before (live/dead, time of day, type of enclosure, etc.), but I wanted to hear some advice from you guys before going back.

Any thoughts/ideas? Thanks for any and all help.
 
Sharp_ex said:
I decided to leave the feeding for another try this Sunday.
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I would wait until tuesday. Just to give it a little extra time to relax and get accustomed to it's new suroundings.
Sharp_ex said:
I've read that leaving them alone in their new surroundings is a pretty good idea, but that same source said that they should first be fed in their own cage. This snake liked to burrow at its old residence, so I bought aspen shavings for it to burrow in here. Because of that, I would think it's a bit dangerous to feed it within its own cage..
Click to expand...

You are correct in not wanting to feed in an enclosire with aspen substrate. Its easiest to take the snake out & put them in a small deli for feeding.

Sharp_ex said:
For that reason, I'm having doubts about leaving it alone until Sunday. If it isn't used to handling, then how will it feel when I take it out to feed it in a separate enclosure? I'm well and truly lost as to how to proceed.
Click to expand...

The snake will be just as easy to handle on sunday as it would be if you waited till tuesday. After you get them settled and leave them alone for about a week then you can start handling them more.
 
Thanks for your help, it's really helped ease my mind a bit.

Side note: It hasn't left its hide since I returned it to its cage on Tuesday. Should I be worried? Should it not be moving around its cage at least a bit?

--Thanks
 
Sharp_ex said:
Thanks for your help, it's really helped ease my mind a bit.

Side note: It hasn't left its hide since I returned it to its cage on Tuesday. Should I be worried? Should it not be moving around its cage at least a bit?

--Thanks
Click to expand...
He's probably moving around the cage a lot actually - just around 4am when you're asleep. Heck, I have corns that won't eat unless they're left overnight much less actually move around the tank. Most of my hatchlings I don't see during the day but I'll go in there about an hour after the lights in the room shut off and surprise them all...it's funny. :grin01: Definately don't worry though, he's just getting used to his new home.

~Katie
 
I use aspen as well, and i have e just recently started feeding them in their tanks.. i clear out a patch of aspen, and lay a strip of card board down ontop of it.. than the grub on the cardboard. i've kept an eye on em when i do it, and so far no problems... and about them coming out at night, i love it!! i work a night **** and i get home around 4am, and while i unwind b4 bed i get to watch them both cruise around their vivs!!!
 
Sharp_ex said:
This past Sunday, I bought a healthy-looking corn snake from a local PetCo.
Click to expand...

thats your first mistake all snakes that i have gotten from petco have been in horrible condition me not knowing this because when i got them i was a beginner

and about the feeding yes you should let him/her be alone for a while it's just the personality of the snake some will eat like little beast as soon and you put them in a tank and others are more high strung and like to adjust to there new inviroment try feeding him maybe on the next thursday
 
There are many ways to feed a juvenile corn and there are even more tricks you can use to get him to eat.
What kind of prey did you try to feed him? And how big is his housing?

First of all, personally, i think it is not nescessary to wait with feeding for so long, i always feed my new animals the same day or the day after.

There is one trick that almost always works and that is to defrost a pinkie in boiled water, so that it is very hot or even cooked well-done in the water.
Let it cool down a bit before you place it in the tank.
Then put the tank away and do'nt look untill the next day. I prefer feeding late in the evening, because corns are stil nocturnal.

About the risk of swallowing some bedding.
I sometimes put a little piece of toiletpaper on top of the substrate and place the prey on it. When you feed pinkies you should make sure the pinkie is dry before you feed, that way no bedding wil stick to it.
But i think everyone can be creative in finding solutions for this matter.

Right this moment i have some juvenile corns here from a friend that wouldn't eat for about 3 months now. 10 out of 14 ate within 2 weeks when i started my tricks :)

This is one of the rascals that did not eat for a few months and is eating his first pinkie, wich i cooked well-done. :D
IMG_0602.JPG


If i can help some more just let me know...

Arjan
 
boaboi said:
thats your first mistake all snakes that i have gotten from petco have been in horrible condition me not knowing this because when i got them i was a beginner
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Not ALL PetCo's sell horrible snakes. I know many people in my area that have gotten Corns from the same PetCo where I got my Amel, and none of them have had any problems. Infact my Amel has always been incredibly friendly, easy to handle from 1 month of age even because of the great care and handling given by the staff at PetCo. The Corns at PetCo's come from breeders. Any snake can have a problem, heck, a friend of mine ordered a Blood from an online breeder and it died after a few months of not feeding. Circumstance of the snake.

Anyway... point being... not ALL pet store are pure evil.
 
I just think the risk is to great to feed off aspen. (IMO) We have snakes that once they realize that they are in their feeding tub are all ready for that mouse.

I just know I would worry to much just leaving the mouse on a paper towel on aspen.

Just my .02 I'm not :flames:
 
I had some non feeders that I ended up feeding in the viv. I took out the aspen and put in paper towel. At dark, I'd put a well warmed pinky in front of whatever hide they were in and then left them alone. I never had them fail to eat that way. After 3 or 4 feedings, they would start to come out for the food, and then after that, they were fed in feeder boxes as normal and the aspen went back in the viv. As long as I handled them and went in their vivs between feedings, I never had an issue with biting from a feed response.
 
No worries--he's eating!

I went back to the store and found out that they had been mistaken on his last feeding by a couple of days. Nothing life-altering, but that was that.

He seemed to be really settled in, and I was really bored, so I decided to attempt another mouse, even if it meant a wasted pinkie. I warmed it up (in warm water so it was beyond room temperature and closer to a live mouse) and he went over and almost immediately started gobbling it down!

I've never seen a snake eat before. That was COOL!
 
Excellent news! I'm glad you tried warming it up well. I usually mention that, but failed to this time. I can almost always get a decent response if the mouse is warmed to near the normal body temp of a live animal. It is pretty neat how they can get those suckers down without hands.
 
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