My Baby Corn Snakes Won't Eat

[OskarTheGrouch]

I recently hatched 7 baby corn snakes in an incubator that has successfully hatched many bearded dragons. They all came out on June the 23rd/24th. Today, July 6th, they have finally all come out of their first shed successfully, but none of them have eaten yet. The pinkies I've offered aren't too big, I've tried frozen thawed, and today I've tried live and still nothing. I've left one of the babies over night with one of the pinkies and still nothing. It's been two weeks since they were hatched and I'm getting nervous that they are not eating, is it too early for me to really start worrying :(? If any one has had any trouble eaters and has a few tips or tricks and experience, I would love to hear about it. Thanks,
Oskar

[Diggy415]

you have to wait until they do their first shed, then they will eat,

[Rolly]

Today, July 6th, they have finally all come out of their first shed successfully, but none of them have eaten yet.

you have to wait until they do their first shed, then they will eat,

I believe he said they already shed on the 6th.

[gonesnakee]

OK well first off CHILL. They just shed on friday, so they should NOT have even been offered food yet until today. How many times have they been pestered already prior shedding? The way to establish baby Corns is as follows. You can keep them all together until after first shed or seperate them all right away & wait until they have all shed out. Once they have all shed out contain them all individually in deli cups with live newborn pinkies at night & leave them overnight. The next day take them all & set them up in individual houses whether they have ate or not & record on their enclosures if they have eaten. Their "enclosures" should be something small. Not delicups as some use, but something between the size of a shoebox rubbermaid & a deli cup works good. I use ziplock/gladware containers that are around twice the size of a delicup. Only attempt to feed them once every 5-7 days whether they are eating or not. To try anymore than that just pesters them & they will begin to associate the smell of prey with an annoyance not a meal. The second round try a quick tease feed using warmed up FT pinkies feeding them in their enclosures. If they don't grab it pretty much right away just leave it in there with them & come back & check if it was eaten a couple hours later. You will find that most of them that took live first meal will eat the FT & some that hadn't eaten prior will likely eat as well. The ones that had eaten live & then refuse the FT ones may take a live one again so give them a day or 2 & try another live one, just left in their house. Anything that didin't eat at all yet wait until the next week before offering prey again. The next week try live ones with those that hadn't eaten & FT again to those that are eating. Feed them in their houses as removing them to delicup them with prey just stresses them out & they likely won't eat. The key points are DO NOT even try to feed them until they have all shed out the first time. Individually contain them all DO NOT group house them. Feed them in their houses taking them in & out just stresses them out. NO interaction with them until they are established feeding. Keep them in a low traffic area & LEAVE them alone while the prey is in there with them. Most folks that have problem feeder corns make them that way by pestering them too much. Baby corns can go a couple months without eating usually anyway with no problems. All they have done their whole lives prior hatching is eat. They can live off of their yolk guts for quite a while before requiring any food. Make sure they always have fresh water as baby corns can dehydrate quickly. Unless they are becoming thin & lethargic they are not starving. Every year I have baby snakes that take upto 3 months before they start to feed well. Most baby corns will start feeding on their own in the first couple weeks though. I have successfully established thousands of Corns doing as I have described. For a baby snake to not eat for a month or 2 is nothing. Continually pestering them with prey is one of the worst things you can do while establishing them. They will all start in their own time. You will find that most all will eat the very first meal offered & every other meal after if you wait until they are ready to eat. Again NOTHING should be offered until they have all had their first sheds. Most first time snake breeders start worrying way too early & don't realize that their continual efforts are not helping the cause at all, but are more likely defeating the purpose. Cheers Mark