My baby corn snake has silvery-blue eyes and won't eat his frozen pinkies!?

Question

We bought him and another corn snake at Petco about 4 days ago.all the snakes there looked skinny,and probably haven't been feed 4 about 4 days.we tried 2 feed mine,Seh,but he wouldn't eat.(Frozen Pinkies)so we tried 2 feed the other.he striked as soon as he saw it.he acted very hungry.we tried my snake everyday and last night we put him in a box with one of them for about an hour.he didn't eat it.Please Help!hes my first snake and very special!(And he acts fine.nostrils clear,eyes clear...)He acts like the pinkie is the most discusting thing ever and wont even go near it!

Answer 1

The silvery-blue eyes are characteristic of a snake in shed. Many snakes will not eat during this time as they are unable to see properly and do not feel that it is safe to do so.

If the snakes are skinny, this may be a sign that they are non feeders (they refuse to eat). This happens occasionally with baby corns so you must be careful on how you choose your snake.

I've already mentioned that it probably isn't eating because it's due a shed, another reason is probably because it's nervous. Don't try to feed the snake or even handle it for a couple of days, if you offer the snake food on a daily basis it will eventually become a routine to ignore the food.

When feeding the snake, keep the pinky warm and simulate movement by using tongs to give the appearance that it is alive in order to stimulate a feeding response. If this fails to work you could try braining the pinky. This involves cutting the top of the skull open to expose some of the brain. This will make the pinky give off a stronger smell and may encourage the snake to eat. If the snake still refuses after a couple of sessions of trying, you may have to try live, feeding live should only be done as a last resort.

Good luck trying to get your snake to eat!

Answer 2

you say its a baby and  its eyes are silvery blue, could be shedding in which case it probably wont eat, or, as its a baby have you been told when you bought it, it was a proven feeder, cos sometimes it takes a while to get babies to feed on dead pinkies, so warm it up in hot water, and offer it[ with long tweezers] to your snake, a bit of a tremble in your hand will also help, it will think it still alive, but don,t worry too much, it may just need to settle in, obviously you won,t leave it weeks because it needs to feed, so try it and see what happens,

Answer 3

if he has silvery-blue eyes, he is shedding. most snakes wont eat while they are in shed. my ball pythons wont eat when in shed and they, too, completely ignore food. feed him a week after his eyes clear. if he doesnt eat still, wait til he sheds completely

Answer 4

well the first problem is you went to petco to buy it. If it looks skinny, they probably haven't fed it in 4 weeks, not 4 days lol. If it has silvery blue eyes, it really sounds like it's going to shed so that's you're first clue. One thing, if it's a new new born, new born snakes don't eat until after their first shed anyway. Now if the snake is not a new born, it may just be not eating b/c it's going to shed. Another problem is the type of food. Baby snakes can be very fussy and not all take to frozen. Make sure that you're defrosting it so the body is nearly warm and take a pair of tongs and slowly wiggle the pinkie to mimick movement. This can cause the snake to believe it's alive. Now if this doesn't work, you may just have to feed the corn snake live pinkies for awhile. I've had a corn snake that wouldn't eat frozen but once I gave it live, no problem. Snakes can also go months w/out eating so unless it's been over 3 or 4 weeks, I wouldnt' start shedding a drop of sweat.