First time snake owner, looking for help! - Page 6

Kylie · 01-29-12, 08:21 PM

The hoppers are live.

alessia55 · 01-29-12, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kylie

The hoppers are live.

You might want to try switching her over to frozen/thawed adult mice. One of the benefits of feeding f/t is that it is safer for your snakes (live mice can scratch and bite your snake). Corns are usually pretty easy to feed, so at your next feeding on Thursday, offer her a f/t adult mouse. You can get these at most pet markets near you (ask a sales person; there's usually a fridge somewhere that has some). There are several ways to thaw a mouse:
1. Leave the mouse out to thaw out naturally; this can take a while until the mouse is room temperature. Then you can warm it up a bit with a hair dryer. You want the mouse to be warm so that your corn will smell it more.
2. Run the frozen mouse under hot water until it feels warm to the touch. You can then dry it using a hair dryer or paper towels. My snakes don't mind eating wet rats, so I just feed it as is.
There are more methods, but those are two of them to explore with.
Buy a set of tongs... something like this:

Use the tongs to pick up the thawed mouse by the scruff of the neck. Make the mouse "dance" or walk around as if it were alive. This will entice your snake to think it's alive and will wake its instinct to feed.
Your snake might not eat this Thursday, and there are many reasons for that. One of them being that she hasn't settled in enough yet, that she's not comfortable in her new environment just yet. Some snakes take longer to adjust than others. If she refuses to eat, wait another 7-10 days before trying again. Trying any more often will only stress her out.
I have a video of me doing the "zombie rat dance" for one of my snakes. I've been trying to upload it. I'll post it if I manage to so you can get an idea of what it'll look like.
Good luck with your first feeding!

OSMDEATHOWNER · 01-29-12, 08:55 PM

Welcome and Estevan you do, don't go cheapest, go best! Beautiful snake!

OSMDEATHOWNER · 01-29-12, 08:56 PM

Meant wateva you do

Kylie · 01-29-12, 09:03 PM

Lol thanks! i probibly stressed her out a big more too, i just put her in her new tank. its bigger... shes kinda checking it out now...also this feeding i need to feed her the hoppers as i had to pre order them...their being shipped here. Can i start next feed? how do i feed live? do i have to touch them LOL

Another question, do corn snakes like small spaces? i picked her up a bigger hide rock, and its pre big the old one she had was tiney she had to coil quit tight..should i just leave her with the small one or should the big one be ok?

alessia55 · 01-29-12, 09:10 PM

Ok, since you pre-ordered the mice already, you should feed her those. Technically it would be best if you waited 7-10 AFTER having moved her to her new enclosure since she needs time to get used to it. But if it can't wait, go ahead and feed her this Thursday. You can begin the process to switch her over to f/t after that (which is also cheaper usually).

To feed live:
1. Put the snake in the container
2. Put ONE mouse in
3. SUPERVISE. This is so important. Don't let that mouse out of your sight. When she grabs it and coils around it, you MUST watch the whole process. If you see the little mouse scratching at your snake as she coils it, grab those little paws and hold them so that it doesn't scratch scales off your snake.
4. Once she's down swallowing the first mouse, you can introduce the next hopper and repeat the process.
5. Depending on how big the container is, here is how I take my snake out after feeding...... since they have a full belly and you don't want them to regurgitate, I take the container and put it inside the enclosure. They can slither out of it themselves. If the container is too big to fit inside her enclosure, WASH YOUR HANDS so they don't smell like mouse, then you can GENTLY lift her supporting her whole body and GENTLY put her inside her enclosure near one of her hides.

Kylie · 01-29-12, 09:13 PM

Ok awsome! Thanks your so much help! i love it!!!!

Kylie · 01-29-12, 11:15 PM

Im going with a thermostat as i have already ordered it...Its not a bad thing to have one right??

**millertime89** · 01-30-12, 01:08 AM

never a bad thing, its preferable in case something goes wrong or changes outside the environment.

Kylie · 01-30-12, 01:35 AM

Oh ok well thats good.

Kylie · 01-30-12, 01:44 AM

Im worried i might have shocked bella by moving her into her new home...she hasnt moved much since i did so. and i know a few people whos snakes starved themselfs to death after being moved...

**Aaron_S** · 02-01-12, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kylie

Im worried i might have shocked bella by moving her into her new home...she hasnt moved much since i did so. and i know a few people whos snakes starved themselfs to death after being moved...

I know this is going back a number of pages but I wanted to address this as this is rather important.

Snakes don't just starve themselves after being moved. If they were healthy in the first place and regular eaters then I don't see why a simple move would do this to any snake. Corns are rather simple to keep and very forgiving of housing errors so they'll generally eat pretty regular. There are times when it could happen but then we'd be discussing wild caught and sickly animals.

I'd really like to know what part of Canada you're from and who these people might be who have had this happen apparently.

Also, you need to stop thinking you're constantly stressing this snake out. They aren't like other pets. They don't really need all the attention. Just keep ensuring you're giving her the proper housing as you're already doing and she'll be fine.

Kylie · 01-30-12, 02:17 AM

Iv been exploring some of the forums, and some people find it exciting that some people have chosen an albino for their first..are they any different the normal other then their eye color? Thats all i have noticed about mine is her eyes are red....

**millertime89** · 01-30-12, 02:22 AM

albinos lack black pigment, dunno why people think its exciting to choose an albino as a first. In fact, I think its less surprising because albinos are generally more visually striking.
Just leave her be, she'll come out when she wants to. Like I said, they stay where they're comfortable. She probably moves, just when you're never there to see it.

Lankyrob · 01-30-12, 08:37 AM

My PERSONAL opinion, please feel free to ignore if you so wish.

Dont feed the snake live until you are absolutely sure that it will NOT eat frozen thawed.

Also dont feed in a separate container, all the moving around is more likely to stress the snake and make it less likely to eat.

Also dont try to feed it until it has been in its new home for at least 7 days - it is probably staying in one place because it is shocked with moving twice in a short time.

Buy some frozen mice or rats that are roughly 1.5 times the girth of the widest part of the snake, in about 7-10days time defrost one and then warm it up, paying particular attention to the skull. Put a plastic plate into the viv and entice the snake to strike at the mouse over the plate, this reduces any risk of the snake eating substrate. Obviously hold the mouse with tongs/tweezers and NOT in your hand.