Hey all, I ended up with some corn snake eggs this year. Now they have hatched, and most of them are eating great and on track to find good homes, but two of them have been rejecting food consistently.
They were only 4.1g and 5.8g when they were born around 9/12, likely getting less by the day. I have offered them day old heads multiple times, the same heads with lizard/frog scent strips that I have from reptsintx, and a small piece of a chicken heart today. My next step is probably to try live pinkies, but I really want to know if I am missing anything important or if theres something else I should try? I saw another post mentioning boiling and soaping pinkies, which is super confusing for me so clarification on that would also be helpful.
They are in 5 qt containers with hides on both sides, water and bark on top of paper towels. Warm side ~85f cold side ~73f. They shed just fine with the rest of the clutch about a week ago and have been offered at least 2 meals since then. I’ve also tried putting it in their faces to get them to strike the food and they refuse to strike at all. They just try to run away
I know there is also a chance they never thrive, I just really want to give them the best shot that I can. I am happy to revise as much as I can to get these two onto a better path.
If you haven’t tried feeding them in small containers overnight, that’s something to try. Boiling and washing are pretty simple. For boiling, you thaw the pinkie like normal, then just dunk it in some boiling water for a couple seconds until it’s kind of gray. I think it does something to the smell of the pinkie that is appealing for certain corns. For washing, thaw like normal in hot water, then put a little squeeze of blue Dawn dish soap (or Ivory is another brand you can try) on the pinkie and give it a good rub down. Rinse with hot water - you can try rinsing thoroughly and you can try leaving it a tiny bit sudsy (some of them seem to like that for some reason).
I would try both of those things and if they don’t work, then see if you can get some live newborn pinkies.
I have tried the containers, but not the washing, thats extremely strange that that works but ill try it. I dont use either of those brands of soap though so ill have to go buy some or something, I use mrs meyers
Thanks for the ideas, ill definitely give that a shot later today. Id love to get them eating without going to live if i can, they just have shown almost zero interest in any food i offer. One of them showed a little interest, but then the food seemed to scare them or something so thats when i did the container, but still no luck even overnight. I usually leave the containers in their bins so they have temp regulation as well
It is extremely strange, but it works as often as most other tricks. For some it’s just the thing. I don’t use Dawn regularly because it irritates my skin, but I have a small bottle for stubborn babies. I’d stick with pinky heads for babies that small. Soap the pinky head thoroughly and rinse it mostly clean. Strangely again, it’s fine to leave a wee bit of the soap.
How often are you trying to feed them? You listed a bunch of things you’d done. These babies are very young, not quite 2 weeks old yet. Most of them hatch with plenty of reserves to go at least a month or 6 weeks without eating. Offering too often can stress them so they won’t eat. The most important thing in their world is feeling safe. If they’re nervous, they won’t eat. Since you tried feeding today, leave them alone and try again in 5 days. Don’t offer more often than that. I get it, it feels like they’re starving but they’re designed to go longer without food than us mammals. Between now and then, leave them completely alone.
Hopefully that will be good enough to get them going. If not, we’ll help you work through options. It’s waaay to soon to be thinking failure to thrive.
Highly agree here… these babies are still incredibly young, they just need more time.
Offer meals every 5-7 days, no sooner than that. Let them be in peace while they are offered food, more often than not with my luck breeding Kingsnakes is that the picky babies prefer being left completely alone in the dark when offered food. Try the methods suggested, even if it does sound strange sometimes the babies prefer the strange
If all else fails, try live… as babies at least in my experience its good to just get them eating live to ensure they are getting the nutrients they need and then transition them over to f/t asap once you know they are eating live consistently. Its fairly easy to transition them over when they are little babies.
Okay yeah thats way different than what ive been told, i heard to try to feed them every 3 days if they were that underweight, the rest have been on the 5 day period since they all ate normally. I didnt realize i was helocopter parenting so that may be my issue!
Ill try giving them a full 5 days before trying again with the blanched baby scrubbed with a small bit of dawn and let yall know how it goes.
Sounds very good. Hopefully they’ll settle down, feel safe, and eat soon.
You might also consider spacing the feedings for the others out by another day or even two. Feeding every 5 days is pretty aggressive. If call that power feeding if it’s done beyond a few times. They can usually handle it but it’s not necessary, nor good for them overall. I usually feed brand new hatchlings every 6 days, then every 7 days after they’re over 15 g and on double pinkies or peach fuzzies. The extra day or two may not sound like much extra time, but percentage-wise it is quite signicant. Those extra days are often spent moving around at least some, which is also important for good health.
Alright thanks so much for the info and corrections!
Just to clarify, i should be trying to feed these two every 5 days until they eat(and cycle them through the different methods of preparation in a cup?), then have them move towards 6, right?
The others ill get onto every 6 days immediately, just want to make sure I am understanding everything
Yes, that sounds like a decent plan. Do keep an eye on the ones who were refusing. It may take them a bit of time to get settled so yes, I would stay with 5-day interval for them for at least 2 or 3 times unless they seem to be losing ground. If they’re still holding out after that I would probably go to 3 days, leaving them alone in between.
