Meet my emaciated, pathetic foster corn snake babies--*Happy endings #56!

[Lauruffian]

Well, Sunrise is doing great but still requires really specific feeding approaches: the mouse needs to be frozen, then dipped in boiling water for ~7 seconds, and then offered to him off a spoon (so my scent doesn’t “contaminate” it). To make it more complicated, it needs to be dark-night-time and quiet, and his deli cup covered with a towel. He’s worse than Sally of When Harry Met Sally in the high maintenance food requirements. That’s a whole lot to ask of a store, and not likely possible for them–boiling water? Feeding at dark-night-time, when they’re likely closed?

Since he’s only gotten 3 feeds in, it’s going to take more time. I may, though, see if I can remove one of his high maintenance requirements next time and see if he’ll eat even if it’s not dark, or the mouse was traditionally reheated and not boiled, etc.

I have someone interested in buying one, and she is prepared for that kind of high maintenance. I may just sell (at a reduced price) on the store’s behalf and give them the money.

At the very least, I think it’s a month away from either of them ready to be sold or returned to the store, though.

[Lauruffian]

Snowball ate last night! Note the happy lump resting on the roof of his Lego house. I think he likes to be left alone a little longer between feeds, and prefers to fully digest the previous meal before moving on to the next. Here’s hoping he’ll become a regular feeder on a weekly schedule instead of every 4 days. :yes:

[JumpQH]

Hurray! It is so interesting hearing about all the different snakes on the two threads, how their personalities and eating habits are so different!

[Lauruffian]

Big news! I brought the babies back over to the store last night to show the owner their progress and explain what has been working for me to get them to eat. He said we can bring Sunrise in whenever he’s eating regularly in a less high maintenance fashion (I think he’s already getting there), or we could sell Sunrise if some of the already interested parties want to buy him and just give the store owner the money.

And! He said we could keep Snowball! He’s still pretty picky about his feeds–doesn’t like them too close together, doesn’t like them offered at any time other than nighttime, etc., but he IS eating. I’m not sure if we’ll be keeping him long term, but that just warmed my heart.

Snowball has now fed for me four times and shed just the other day, and Sunrise has eaten five times; he shed just a few days after we brought him home.

When I got them about 6 weeks ago, they were both barely 5g–now, Snowball is up to 8g, and Sunrise is up to 10g–doubling his weight!–though the scale says 9g because this formerly lethargic baby is now happily active and wouldn’t be still for the scale.

Close up of Snowball

Close up of Sunrise

The store owner also gave us the 2 dozen crickets we’d come for free of charge and is letting us keep the critter keeper he’d sent the snow babies home in. Nice touch.

[JumpQH]

Thanks for the great update! What excellent progress, and how nice of the owner to offer Snowball to you! That was also really nice that he gave you some crickets and critter keeper! Class act!

[Simkie]

Look at how much better they look! WOWZA!

[xcjumper]

Yay for cute baby snakes! What a nice guy to offer you Snowball…and the crickets

[charismaryllis]

Excellent!

And how is kamahla?

[Lauruffian]

Kamalah finally seems over her respiratory infection–reptiles are such slow healers! She should be able to go to her spot in my husband’s classroom this weekend.

Oh, and Sunrise took a frozen pinkie mouse heated up the conventional way (immersed in regular hot water), handled by me, and fed during daylight hours, so I think he’s ready to go back to the store. Some babies seem to click after a few successful feeds–“Oh, I think I’m getting this eating thing!”–so hopefully he’s okay. All of their siblings have sold, so hopefully this guy will too soon enough.

[jetsmom]

You know, i’m not wild about snakes (don’t hate them and will even try to “relocate” found baby rattlesnakes rather than kill them", but would never have one as a pet), but I have really enjoyed this thread. Laurie, your care and kindness towards the snake babies is heartwarming. Glad they, and your other one that had a respiratory illness, are all doing better.

[Lauruffian]

Wow, thank you so much. That is a very kind thing to say. (And incidentally, one of my sons is named Jett, so your screenname throws me off. No, wait, I’m Jett’s Mom! )

And I just had someone who bought one of my babies from this year reach out to me–she’s buying Sunrise! Yay happy ending!

[Sanely_Eccentric]

While I am not fond of snakes I find myself coming back to the two threads about these baby snakes. I can’t imagine ever wanting one, however, I’ve enjoyed reading about them. In other words, fascinating but please don’t send me one.

[Foxtrot_s]

I find Lauruffian’s posts so interesting - her knowledge of these creatures and her out of the box thinking to make it work. When my son was little he bred mice and rats to take down to the Rainforest Reptile Refuge for their reptiles - I was so conflicted

[Lauruffian]

Aw, thank you so much! And hey, if you ever ARE interested in a pet snake, you know where to find me–whether it be for a snake, or as an informational resource.

Sunrise has graduated! He went back to the pet store this weekend. He is up to 12g and is nearly unrecognizable from the scrawny 5g starving baby we brought home just two months ago. He never refused a single meal I offered him.

Here he is weighing in–scale, zeroed with the container on it first, says 13g but I was never able to repeat that weight on other attempts checking things, so he seems more likely to be 12g.

Bye, Sunrise! The pet store has him in a cushy breeder’s bin, larger in surface area than what I’d had him in, so he should be well cared for until it’s time to go to his new home. (My interested buyer hit a snag, but she knows where to go to get him if things change.)

Meanwhile, Snowball FINALLY ate a pinkie offered in a normal fashion–just reheated and served. it wasn’t dark, it wasn’t quiet, the mouse wasn’t boiled, I touched the mouse after heating–no problem. This is an excellent sign as he’s been the far pickier of the two, refusing two or three meals I offered whereas Sunrise never did. He’s only up to 7-8g, but now I think he should gain steadily as his picky phase just maaaaaay be behind him. Here he is Monday with his happy lumpy tummy.

[JumpQH]

Whew, what a big update! Thanks for keeping us updated and the pics - we do enjoy them!

[Lauruffian]

And it is all done–Snowball went home with his new family yesterday. He weighed in at a respectable 11oz, 120% more than the pathetic 5oz he was the day I brought him home.

Two final pics:
Final weigh-in (scale was zeroed with the plastic container on it, so it is not included)

Drastically different close up than that of his intake photo. Good shape, rounded body, head appears smaller as the rest of him plumped up, no sagging skin. He could still stand to gain a couple of grams, but he is eating regularly and readily, so that won’t be a problem with weekly feedings.

Contrast those to these from the day we brought him home:
Feeble and thin

Pitiful

He’s gone home with the family of one of my son’s classmates who’s also a Boy Scout in his pack, so we’ll get regular updates on him. They have corn snake experience too–in fact, their baby just outgrew his 10gal set up, so Snowball (or whatever his name will be) just inherited it.

Yay happy endings!

[Polydor]

Woot! Well done! They both look great!

P.

[Simkie]

Yay for the Snake Whisperer! Such happy updates. So glad you were able to step in and teach these guys how to eat

[weixiao]

Wow! Fantastic job!

[trubandloki]

Great update.