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Still not eating

A

Anubisyn

New member
Hey folks, i posted a few months ago that my male corn "Sam" wasnt eating and i couldnt find that thread so had to start this one. On that thread somone said they wouldnt start to worry unless he dosent eat for like 3mo. Well its been 3mo and probably a lil more and he still hasent eaten. He drinks water fine. Ive tried mice, fuzzies, and pinkies. Im running short on $$ so i cant take him to the vet for a while. Hes had issues since ive had him, BAD uri when i got him to the point of almost having to have a nebulizer (sp) but 3 or 4 weeks of injectable antibiotics got it. And he is in a constant shed... well not constant but he just shed yesterday and he will probably go into blue again in like 2-3 weeks... if he keeps to the pattern. He has never shed correcly aslong as ive had him, he can alwayse get it off his head but then it rips and i have to peel it off him like a sock from there down so i KNOW he dosent have any left on him. Anyone ever had one like that? tried shed boxes and all... no luck... but back to the not eating... the other day i was eating a can of sardines and put the can on the table (in water not oil) and he went straight for it and drank the sardine water out of it... so figured maybe put a fuzzy in the water and see if he would take that... nope.... i read somwhere if u cut up a pinkie that may entice him more... but do yall think the fish water would have enough nourishment to hold him until i can get enough $$ for a vet visit? All ideas are welcomed :) Sidenote: my almost-yearling eats at every meal with no problem... no matter who is around or where she is. Their temps are the same so its not environment.
 
Sry, just read the cutting up a pinkie thing tonight so havent tried it yet... fyi, and i take him out every so often is how he got to the sardine can... i dont just leave him out :)
 
Hm. I know corn snakes that live wild in Florida tend to eat lots of lizards naturally and plenty of species of snakes feed on fish. I wonder if there is a suitable fish for corn snakes that yours might take interest to? Or perhaps try lizards, crickets (I know that can't be a long term solution but perhaps a temporary measure), chicks, other mice species...I'm grasping at straws here, but maybe? You've probably tried everything, so forgive me if any of these are redundant, but things I can think of that don't require extra money spending:

Have you tried braining (piercing the skull to expose the brain) a pinkie? I hear that tends to work. There are also various ways of "preparing" the dead mice: rinsed, warm water, dangling, brained, slit, cut, stabbed, scented with various prey animals, I've even heard scented with bar soap. Maybe try dipping a pinkie in sardine water? Even making cuts/slits along the pinkie and then dipping it in sardine water? I'm assuming you're using f/t by the post. Have you tried live/fresh killed?

Then there's the various environments to feed in. Perhaps he doesn't feel secure when he eats? There are several variables to try. Location: feeding in the vivarium, in a separate container, or in a smaller container within the vivarium. Temperature: warm side vs cool side. Time: night feeding vs daytime feeding. Apparently corns are nocturnal-ish, so perhaps nighttime feeding would make most sense, but maybe your individual is an oddball. Try feeding with lights on and try in the dark. Try offering the food inside a favored hide, covering the feeding container with a sheet or towel and leaving the room. Try feeding while holding (seems really strange, but it could happen).

If he hasn't eaten in a while, I would suggest sticking with small prey (pinkies and such) and small meals until he's eating reliably. Possibly try to time feedings to right after sheds to minimize coinciding with sensitive shed times.
 
I've read about the anol scents and other prey, but where do I get them? Gonna try and go "child's play" on a pinkie today and see what happens. I've left him over night in various containers... box, bucket, styrophome cooler, etc occasionally over the last few months. He's a lil over 4' long so he's on the longer side and he used to eat small rats. Would rat pinkies smell any different to him than mouse pinkies? Thanks fornthe ideas, I'm grasping at straws now too :)
 
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