[the-tick]

he's shunned 3 feeds now (retries) last time he fed was the 14th Dec

he's active when handled and drinking water but as he's under a year, i am getting worried about the non eating

Just don't know what to do I left him in with the food over night and tried braining and that got some interest but no eating

 

[carl24bpool]

From what I've learned, 2 weeks of not feeding isn't much to worry about at this time of year.

As long as fluffy isn't losing loads of weight then you should be okay and fluffy will prob feed when ready.

Just keep trying every week or 5 days. Whatever your schedule is.

 

[the-tick]

I thought it may be the seasonal change but as he's a little bub he'd still eat....

I'll try again in a few days

Thanks for the advice

 

[rantasam]

I may be stating the obvious, so apologies if I am, but have you tried wiggling the pinkie with tongs (or chopsticks in my case - gotta improvise!).

I have a young corn and she often refuses pinkies left in the Viv, but gobbles them up once I tease her with them. You could also try leaving him/her in a small covered container with them for a couple of hours, such as a yoghurt pot with air holes. I've had success with this method too.

Good luck.

 

[the-tick]

yup tried them as well, fluffy on his first 3 feeds was eating fine just pop him and the pinkie in a small tub and 5mins later no pinkie,

But now quick sniff then ignore, I'll try again in 5 more days then I'll really panic

 

[jackmorris]

check your temps maybe? i dont know much about corns sorry, ask nige maybe?

 

[Dan]

Personally i wouldnt worry. Just leave him alone for a week or so and then try again. It isn't going to do him any harm to miss a few feeds

 

[the-tick]

check your temps maybe? i dont know much about corns sorry, ask nige maybe?

temps are fine 4 thermometers monitor the temps lol so I'm kinda covered on that front

 

[the-tick]

right 4th feed diary goes like this

20th dec refused
22th dec 1st retry refused
27th dec 2nd retry refused
31st dec 3rd retry refused

all with freshly defrosted pinkies, all bought at the same time and kept in the freezer in an air tight tub

now he's not eaten since the 14th dec and as I am new to this I am getting concerned but as advice taken I'll try again in about 5 days

 

[the-tick]

Tried again and this is the result

Does he look healthy enough ?? and that pinkie has still not gone :-(

 

[Miranda]

maybe you could scent it with another food, or cut it to let the scent comne out better?

 

[crosby]

I'm having the same problem as you but I'm slightly further along than you with trying to get her to feed.

Our corn had three feeds Ok with the breeder before we got her. She was couriered to us along with another corn in early November, both were offered a pinkie the day after they arrived (last ate one week prior) the Lav took hers but the Anery did not want hers. I put this down to the stress of the trip so did not worry to much. Continued offering a pinkie roughly every 3 to 4 days for the next 3 weeks.

For the last few try's I tried to encourage her to feed by trying some of the various tips and trips that seem to have worked for others including;

* Braining or decapitating the pinkie
* Washing the pinkie with a non scented soap
* Soaking the pinkie in Tuna juice
* Rubbing the pinkie in a piece of chicken skin
* Scenting the pinkie by rubbing it on the back of one of our Geckos
* trying to get the snake to strike the pinkie by tapping her in the middle with the pinkie.

None of the above worked for me but you may find one might work for you.

After her not having fed for about a month and following a chat with the guys in my local reptile store and with the breeder I started assisted feeding. This consisted of 'forcing' about 1 cm of mouse tail into her throat and holding her mouth shut until she took it down fully. This I did every three days for seven feeds.

I'm now doing similar but with small pinkies, she's now had two 'forced' pinkies with a one week interval. For her second one on Wednesday night I left a pinkie in with her to see if she'd take it but no luck so last night I forced one again.

It's hard work but on the plus side she shed for the first time with us last Sunday so I know she growing OK. Also while she wasn't feeding she was still drinking so I added a very small amount of vitamin supplement to her water every other water change to try and help maintain her while she was off the food.

I'd give it another few try's before you think about assisting and maybe for the next feed try one of the points above, it may work for you.

Where are you? do you have a good shop or an experienced owner nearby that you could chat to?

 

[the-tick]

I've tried all the option posted here and in the kathy love book and still nowt.

Assisted feeding scares the shite out of me

can a snake go back to feeding normally eventually after assisted feeding ?

 

[crosby]

It's not as bad as you'd think especially as you should start with something small like a piece of mouse tale.

Give it another couple of try's before you think about it.

If you want to talk through the process with someone rather than fretting feel free to drop me a PM.

 

[desertking06]

first off, lovely snake! im jealous. my king hasnt eaten for a month untill tonight when i changed the supplier of my mice. worked out great infact as there 10 times better! might be worth a different supplier of pinkies before force feeding.

 

[the-tick]

thanks for all the replies and nice comments.

I'm leaving him alone for 5 days (only changing water every 2)

I'm into day 3 of this and each evening he's not been handled he's been extra active in his tub so maybe he's working up some hunger (fingers crossed)

 

[pebbles]

i know this has already been mentioned but my candy cane was the same just didn't show any interest, when we put the pinkie in she would move away from it, this continued for about 1 month so i was worried sick, eventually my brother got it to feed by getting it to strike he kept touching her nose with the pinkie, she did'nt take it straight away but after touching her nose a few times she struck. Now we have to get her to strike feed every time or she would not be interested in her dinner lol
Sorry if i have just repeated what someone else has said.

 

[tigger79]

IMO stick to advice given, do not force feed, this will cause more stress on the snake, i wud advise changing suppliers,

Also is the snake in shed, i have 2 snow's and its very hard to see when they are in shed,

 

[the-tick]

well he shed on the 13th of dec but one day he's shiny next day dull etc etc and his eye didn't go milky for the first one so as you say bloody hard to see when a snow is in shed but would that put a corn off food for nigh on a month ?

 

[crosby]

I doubt shedding would put it off for that long to be honest. If he last shed on the 13th and has not eaten since the 14th then he probably won't shed again until he starts feeding again.

Some snakes will just stop eating for no apparent reason, as I said in my earlier post mine had three feeds and then just stopped.