Corn snake *tank upgrade plans 4/23/15*

[wodesorel]

I reached out to my snake lady to see what she thought, since after a month I'm sure you've got be to (getting?) nervous about the food issue. I filled her in on how long it's been since the last meal, the shed, and the poo.

Try thawing the mice out dry in a plastic bag in the hot water and put dirty mouse bedding inside that bag while it thaws. The warm mouse smell on the fur can help. Also wait 2 weeks before trying to feed her to make sure she is extra hungry and more likely to grab at anything that smells like food. Use feeding tongs to hold mouse by scruff and make it walk around tank. Leave snake in tank to feed so she's more comfortable

[Axiluvia]

Dunno if this works for corn snakes, but this is a blog post from the breeder I'm going to be buying my ball from:

http://jkrballstreetjournal.com/2014/02 ... ing-again/

[CallaLily]

Sorry I haven't posted until now. She still will not eat and my husband is about to give up on the f/t mice. I'm a bit worried too. We have been thawing them in a baggie to keep them dry, warming them with the hair dryer, I did try scenting some with the live mice bedding, even tried putting a few tiny cuts in the thawed mouse. We use tongs to wiggle the mouse a little and move it around some. She'll show some interest in it moving but once she comes close and flicks her tongue at it for a bit, she loses interest. We gave up on bin feeding already, thinking that was maybe adding to her stress. She has also been left with the mouse all night in case she'd rather have more privacy. We do have one more frozen mouse left to try and I will try thawing it with mouse bedding. She hasn't eaten in about 5 weeks. We tried feeding her that night after she shed. Should we go 2 more weeks from then before trying again? I just feel like she should already be super hungry but then I know snakes can go for quite some time without eating so I know I'm probably being silly worrying about waiting even longer.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions! I'm feeling like we're failing at this.

[wodesorel]

5 weeks is okay for this sort of thing! If you feel comfortable enough, give her two more weeks and try one more time. Transitioning them isn't easy. They often will eat meals weekly simply because it's available and not because they are truly hungry. The hard part about getting them over to f/t is that they do have to be hungry enough to break down and take something they would otherwise not want. Once they get a taste for it and realize it's not the end of the world, they'll stick with it. Most snakes will eventually do just that, but it takes a while and it's extremely hard on the owners because who wants to think they're starving their pet in the meantime. (Even if the snake is really not starving.)

[CallaLily]

5 weeks is okay for this sort of thing! If you feel comfortable enough, give her two more weeks and try one more time. Transitioning them isn't easy. They often will eat meals weekly simply because it's available and not because they are truly hungry. The hard part about getting them over to f/t is that they do have to be hungry enough to break down and take something they would otherwise not want. Once they get a taste for it and realize it's not the end of the world, they'll stick with it. Most snakes will eventually do just that, but it takes a while and it's extremely hard on the owners because who wants to think they're starving their pet in the meantime. (Even if the snake is really not starving.)

Thank you! This makes me feel better!

[CallaLily]

So my husband decided to try to feed her tonight. The f/t mouse started to fall apart! What would cause that? None of the others did that. THE GOOD NEWS: she ate it!!

[wodesorel]

Yes!!!!



Fall apart? Could be an issue with the way it was stored. If it got freezer burn or defrosted too far at some point... How long did you let it defrost for? I left dinner to defrost in water for a little too long a couple of weeks ago (about 4 hours, versus the normal 2) and when I lifted it with tongs the skin on the tail came off. (Didn't eat dinner myself that night.)

[CallaLily]

That might be what happened. My husband had started defrosting it before our dinner and said he forgot about it so it was in the water (in a sealed bag) for some time. Then he warmed it with the hair dryer. I'll let him know that's probably what caused it.

[FloridaSun]

yay!!! Good for you both.

[randoswife]

Congrats! That's exciting...and gross...but mostly exciting!

[Rocky]

Congratulations! She's a beautiful girl. Anery? Either way, you've made a lovely home for her
Watch that bedding stuff. I adore it, and my snakes adored it, but twice I found chunks of it halfway crammed in someone's vent, so I switched to old towels (easy to wash, nice and soft) as an alternative to paper towel.
(forgive me if you're using something different! I only had a couple minutes to check out the pictures and first few posts)

[CallaLily]

Thank you. I'm definitely changing the substrate over to care fresh. The aspen looks nice but it's kind of scratchy and it bothers my husband's nose/throat. If that doesn't work out, I'll keep your towel method in mind. Maybe fleece? I'm also thinking of adding a platform like Wode did for her snake and another hide or two.

[CallaLily]

Ok so she ate on Sunday then buried herself under the aspen directly over her UTH (on a thermostat at 85F) until Friday night when she finally poked her head out. Today she's been out and moving around. She shed again. Is that weird or normal? Her last shed was just on the 9th.

Edit: checked it over and it's all there but again was in pieces. 4 small pieces, 1 medium, and 1 large. Looks like the first half of her body came off in pieces then the second half came off intact. Humidity is still 50-60%.

[wodesorel]

Normal reaction to eating - find a warm spot and veg for a few days. Also normal for a shed - when they're in blue they can't see well and will hole up for a while. That's how I know it's time for Stan to shed, he won't come out of his cool hide for about half a week.

The shedding is incredibly fast at just two and a half weeks, but I keep being told by experts that they know what they're doing and not to worry. I think it's like crabs, where they molt not just to grow but also to repair damage and so when they get into really good conditions and have good food they molt like crazy at the start. Generally smaller snakes molt more often and adult snakes less often, but there are going to be fluke times in their lives when they do something different.

[CallaLily]

Oh good! I was worried about her but I had enough of a view to see she was still alive. She's a little less than 4 feet long. I was really surprised to find another shed so soon. Glad to hear it's not something I need to worry about.