Shedding and eating question

[DragnDrop]

Ruby (amel corn) shed this morning - her fist shed since we got her. :)
I've watched geckos and chams shed, but they weren't near as interesting as a shedding snake. It reminds me of a six-year old taking off a snowsuit - just peel it off inside out, drop it and run before you get snookered into putting it away properly
:wink:

My big question: Will she be more anxious to eat now? She's only eaten 3 pinkies in 4 weeks, not quite what the book says to expect. But from what I've read in other places, one pinkie a week isn't all that strange. I'd rather let her eat according to her schedule, not power feed and stuff her if she's not interested. She's normally active for a few hours in the evening and morning, is alert, and normal in all other ways from what I can tell. She just isn't a big eater. She's even spent 3 nights in seclusion at " Hotel Deli-cup", but only once did she eat after that. I'm just wondering if that's acceptable for an 11 week old corn, or a major worry.

[Tim_Cranwill]

At that rate, you are feeding her one pinky every 10 days or so. I'm sure she'll survive, but you should maybe think about feeding her more often. She's not a python or boa that can eat on that type of schedule and thrive. I'd bump her up to one food item at least every 7 days. I feed mine ever 4 and they are always in the mood for more.

One more thing, if you are letting her eat according to "her schedule", how does she let you know that she's only hungry every 10 days? Just curious.:)

[DragnDrop]

I have been putting a thawed pinkie in with her every other night. The first week I thought she might be stressed from moving, so I wasn't worried. By the 7th day or so, I read some of the tips for feeding, such as the deli-cup overnight trick. The first time I tried it, she didn't eat, and neither did she eat any of the pinkies I put in fresh each evening (and discarded in the morning). She went back into the delicup overnight around day 12 or 13, and ate that pinkie in the morning, but wouldn't take a second one. About 5 days later I started offering her more food, hand feeding, and all the tricks of tricking her to eat according to the corn snake maual and forum tips. She wouldn't eat, nor did she after the deli cup stint. So far she's eaten 3 pinkies since the first meal she took here.
My routine has been of offer her a thawed pinkie in the evening. A few hours later, if she hasn't touched it, I'll try hand feeding. About once a week now, she's spent the night in a delicup, which wasn't all that successful.

By contrast, the corn I got at the show on Sunday ate on Monday. She saw the pinkie and lunged at it, took all of 5 minutes before she found it and ate it.

[silke]

at 1st i just threw mine away but i have since been told to feed them to the mealworms, beetles and superworms and they Love them
that way the pinks don't go to waste

[BoidKeeper]

I would say so. But just make sure that she feels secure. Some times moving a small corn to a smaller enclosure can often help stimulate the appetite. Also keep the handling to a minimum for the first few weeks. I recently got 3 hatchlings. They eat one pinkie every 3 days. I feel that when corns are young smaller meals more often is better then one big one once a week. The first 6 months are the fastest growth period for a corn so I take advantage of that. After 6 months I back off on the power feeding. Well I hope something here in this rant proves useful.
Good Luck,
Trevor

[Big Mike]

What works for our baby corn is this...after thawing the pinky, I rub the nose of the pinky on something abrasive to agitate it.

When I don't do this...maybe she will eat maybe not. If I take out the pinky, rub the nose then offer the pinky again...she always goes for it.

[Lisa]

i find the snakes in general don't tend to eat when in shed.

we used to feed our corn 2X a week when she was small but now that she's a year old it's 1X a week with a bit larger prey item

[asphyxia]

Hole, my corn snake had her first shed since I got her as well,a perfect one at that, its good to know the enclosures art set up right

as far as eating is goes she has only had 3 mice in 3 weeks, but after reading all the above I think I will offer her the pinkies more often

Enjoy!

[Jeff_Favelle]

Feed her as much as she'll eat. With adequate temperatures, its pretty hard to get an overweight colubrid. They are machines. That's one of ther downfalls. All the do is eat and poop. Energy conservation doesn't figure into their mentality. That's what their hibernation period is for.

[Rainey]

Have you tried cutting the head open on the pinky. My room mate had a problem feeding and she wouldn't eat, but when I cut open the head the pinky, she lunged at the thing so fast!

Also, smaller enclosures make smaller corns feel more secure. IF you can't move to a smaller enclosure try adding more hides all over the place.

[Rainey]

Have you tried cutting the head open on the pinky. My room mate had a problem feeding and she wouldn't eat, but when I cut open the head the pinky, she lunged at the thing so fast!

Also, smaller enclosures make smaller corns feel more secure. IF you can't move to a smaller enclosure try adding more hides all over the place.