Newbie! Question about feeding.

[Cmmngskm]

I am from Maryland and I just got my creamsicle corn snake, Jynx, about a week ago. He is fairly calm and very nice for a baby. A friend of mine set up his tank for me last night, I have him in a temporary house. I havent placed him into the tank yet because I'm waiting for it to completely set and for some of the fumes to dissapate.

I tried to feed him a frozen pinkie the day after I got him (they told me he was due to eat that day) but he didnt eat it. I waited a few more days for him to settle and I'm going to try again tonight.

I'm a little worried the cage switch might be stressing him out so I'm not sure if hes going to eat or not. I guess I will know tonight. How long do I wait before I know for sure if he's going to eat it or not? And how long do I offer it to him again if he doesn't eat it?

 

[bitsy]

We normally recommend that you don't offer new arrivals food for a week, even if it's their due day for feeding. This lets them settle in - you're right about the stress aspect and this will affect some of them when offered food too soon after a move.

I'd leave the pinky in with him overnight. Some of them feel more secure about eating if it's dark and there's nobody watching. If he doesn't eat (which hopefully he will), you should throw the pinky away and try again with a fresh one in 3 or 4 days time.

Don't offer food every day, as this can be a further cause of stress and ironically, may make the refusal problem worse.

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Are you offering it still frozen? That could be an issue as well. Make sure it is totally defrosted and warm not cold but not hot either.

I'm not too sure about your setup, how are you going to clean out the pool I see on one end? I'm not sure there is enough floor space either as corns, while they like to climb, are basically ground snakes from what I understand. How are you going to be heating the setup? Ang is your lid secure enough with all that stuff at the top? Remember corns are notorious escape artists.

 

[Cmmngskm]

We normally recommend that you don't offer new arrivals food for a week, even if it's their due day for feeding. This lets them settle in - you're right about the stress aspect and this will affect some of them when offered food too soon after a move.

I'd leave the pinky in with him overnight. Some of them feel more secure about eating if it's dark and there's nobody watching. If he doesn't eat (which hopefully he will), you should throw the pinky away and try again with a fresh one in 3 or 4 days time.

Don't offer food every day, as this can be a further cause of stress and ironically, may make the refusal problem worse.

The pet store owner did tell me he wouldn't eat the next day but I tried anyway just to see. I guess I shouldn't have but I haven't since. And I will leave it in there overnight tonight and see what happens in the morning. I already knew not to feed them every day. I read once a week but it's a baby so should it be twice?

 

[jlindp]

Snakes that are still on pinkies (under 25 grams or so) generally get fed ever 5-6 days. It's a good idea to find a decent food scale (one that measures in grams), so you can keep up with his weight and feed accordingly.

Also, I have doubts about your set-up, as well. How much floor space does he have? Since he's a hatchling still, he won't need that much, but it's generally accepted to keep corns in 20 gallon long tanks or larger once they reach adulthood. Corns are not huge climbers, though you do get some that seem to be more arboreal than most. Are you going to heat the tank with an UTH or a light? An UTH is a much better approach for a tank that's as tall as yours, since you'd have to have a mighty strong bulb to dissipate heat down far enough to be useful. Corns usually utilize belly heat instead of ambient air. Just some things to keep in mind. Otherwise, welcome to wonderful world of snake ownership and to this forum! :}

 

[Nroc]

The pet store owner did tell me he wouldn't eat the next day but I tried anyway just to see. I guess I shouldn't have but I haven't since. And I will leave it in there overnight tonight and see what happens in the morning. I already knew not to feed them every day. I read once a week but it's a baby so should it be twice?

You have much to learn. First, assume everything you learned in the pet store was wrong. It may have been 100% right, but for now, assume its wrong. OK...look up Munson Plan here on this forum (or use google, this site will be the first link). You'll have to go to the first post of the thread if you use google. It will give you general feeding advice, and for a young corn, every 5 days is generally accepted as the most frequent feeding schedule.

Some important questions and observations have been made by carnivorouszoo. Please address them so that we can provide additional advice as needed.

 

[Ruderacer]

Please tell me thats not your viv set up. It looks like it is set up for an amphibian. Please do a little more research on housing a corn snake before putting it in there. Here are a couple sites that may help.
http://www.reptilecare.com/CornSnakeCaresheet.htm
http://www.reptilehabitat.com/corn_snake_care_sheet.htm
http://www.cornsnakes.net/care.php3

 

[Cmmngskm]

Are you offering it still frozen? That could be an issue as well. Make sure it is totally defrosted and warm not cold but not hot either.

I'm not too sure about your setup, how are you going to clean out the pool I see on one end? I'm not sure there is enough floor space either as corns, while they like to climb, are basically ground snakes from what I understand. How are you going to be heating the setup? Ang is your lid secure enough with all that stuff at the top? Remember corns are notorious escape artists.

Yes I am feeding him frozen. Is there a process where I can switch him to live? I might keep him on frozen but I'm just curious if you can switch?

My friend and I discussed your concerns and we are going to make some adjustments. She's going to show me how to clean the pond (we just set it up last night so we haven't went over that yet, thanks for bringing it up) and I have a lid for the tank, just did not take a picture with it. I have a light for heating, we were going to pick up a heat pad but they were out. I am going to pick one up when they are in stock again

 

[Cmmngskm]

Also if this set-up doesnt work out, I do have a horizontal tank that I can set up instead and I haven't put him in it yet. So it's not like I have to move him again.

This is why I posted the pictures on here.

 

[Ruderacer]

Your snake will die if you are trying to get it to eat a frozen pinkie. Please tell me your thawing it out first. Corns do not need a pond. Here is an example of what a viv should look like.

Note that is dry for the must part.

 

[Cmmngskm]

Your snake will die if you are trying to get it to eat a frozen pinkie. Please tell me your thawing it out first. Corns do not need a pond. Here is an example of what a viv should look like.

Note that is dry for the must part.

I am not literally giving him a frozen pinkie, I know it has to be thawed out first. I am considering giving the tank to my friend and doing a new set up with the horizontal tank tonight. I'll post pics when we finish it.

 

[airenlow]

I would recommend setting up your other viv from the start. The one in the pictures won't last long at all. These guys grow like weeds! Make sure to get a thermostat or dimmer when you pick up your UTH, as well as a thermometer with probes. An unregulated UTH can reach temps of 120*.

 

[SRCiv05]

No need to tear her apart... Clearly looking out for the snake, Seems like she has taken all the nessasary steps to make sure the snake is in a suitable home. The proper corrections will be made in the new Viv,

 

[SRCiv05]

And no one is hopefully dumb enough to toss a rock hard pinkie in a tank

 

[Nroc]

And no one is hopefully dumb enough to toss a rock hard pinkie in a tank

I am quite sure it's happened before. Stupid people are everywhere.

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Yes I am feeding him frozen. Is there a process where I can switch him to live? I might keep him on frozen but I'm just curious if you can switch?

My friend and I discussed your concerns and we are going to make some adjustments. She's going to show me how to clean the pond (we just set it up last night so we haven't went over that yet, thanks for bringing it up) and I have a lid for the tank, just did not take a picture with it. I have a light for heating, we were going to pick up a heat pad but they were out. I am going to pick one up when they are in stock again

Frozen then Thawed is the most accepted way to feed, it is not only convenient for the keeper but safer for the corn as a live mouse will harm possibly kill a snake. The question was do you thaw and warm the frozen mouse as a frozen solid when fed mouse can kill a snake that eats it in that form.

I'm glad you are willing to make adjustments but are you aware the size of cage will probably only last a couple of months if you feed properly? Corn snakes get 4 to 6 feet long. They grow fairly rapidly if fed propperly too, my 1.5 year olds are in tubs with 1.5 times the space of a ten gallon tank (floor space that is). I am very concerned your snake won't have the proper environment in there. When I saw the setup photos I first thought you may have been showing us some anoles or something then realised you mean this to be the home for your corn. Lack of heat as well as too much heat can kill corn snakes especially young ones like yours. As I said your setup would be awesome for some anoles. Please do more research on propper housing for corns, it could save your new pets life.

 

[SRCiv05]

She did note that she is changing tanks.
And I am sure someone has fed a snake a fully frozen pinkie
which is sad

 

[carnivorouszoo]

:sidestep:uke01:

And no one is hopefully dumb enough to toss a rock hard pinkie in a tank

You would be amazed how dumb people can be. I was too late to save a baby the other day (baby corn). I got a call from a guy who wanted to know why his corn would not eat the mouse he had given it. He got my number from a mutual friend. I asked how big the snake was and he said about the size of a ruler (12 inches) I asked how big of a mouse and how did he heat it. He said heat it? You are supposed to heat mice? I said yes snakes can't eat frozen. He wanted to know how to freeze a live mouse. I asked him how big of a mouse he said adult. Just as he said that I heard mouse squeeks of a violent kind. He started screaming that the bleepity bleeping mouse had killed his snake. By the time I got to his house he had mouse bites all over his hand, a very traumatized adult male mouse and a dead snake. I will not discribe the snake as I puked several times from the sight of it. It was obviously not very old, very small should have had pinks. When we were calm enough I asked why he thought that tiny think could eat that huge mouse and he said, no one said there were different sizes of mice . :awcrap: I am just now recovered enough to share this. :sidestep: uke:

 

[Cmmngskm]

Yes I know they need to be thawed out first. I was only curious about the switch because I know you can feed live but a dramatic switch to live wouldn't work out.

I also stated Im setting up a horizontal tank tonight. I already had the horizontal tank but I was trying to make use of the vertical. Since it's not going to work I'm giving the tank to my friend who owns dart frogs.


I'm new at this so that is why I posted the pictures, before placing him
in the tank, to make sure I was doing the right things. I'll make the switch and adjustments so he has a home he is safe and happy in. I appreciate everyones advice but some of you were a little harsh. This board is for people who don't know much about snakes. You can't treat them as if they are idiots just because you know more than someone at my level. Thanks.

 

[SRCiv05]

Omg, I have sadly seen that happen. ( I worked at petco an we had just hired a new girl..she tried to feed a baby rosy boa an adult mouse O_O)
I flipped,