Feeding time

[Ironpriest88]

Just another feeding day for my little ones. I decided to feed my checkered baby worms today instead of pinkie thighs and much to my delight, he ate his share of worm parts and he went off to sleep it off.

After him, I put my dekayi's in the container, and started to feed them. My female ate with gusto and she was nice and full in no time. My male however, does not want any part of a worm. I have run out of slugs, and I haven't been able to find any in my backyard, so he has not eaten for the past 3 days or so. And even before when I had a good amount of slugs on hand, he would only eat 1-3 small slugs then loose interest. I'm starting to get worried that he won't switch over to worms and will starve. Does anyone happen to know of a website where I could buy slugs in mass? I have also read that dekayi's will also eat snails, is there a specific kind of snails? Or can I just go online and try and find any small snail?

My ghost also hasn't eaten since I got him a week ago, but I will owe that up to him not being fully comfortable with me or his new home just yet. Plus from what I have read it's ok for them not to eat in the first week or so of coming home.

So, I guess my main concern is still my male dekayi and what I can buy in order to keep him fed.

[Selkielass]

Bait store?
Would a Dekayi eat other soft bodied feeder insects like silkworm caterpillars and wax moth larvae? Bait and pet stores around here usually have those.

MULBERRY FARMS - SILKWORMS AND OTHER PREMIUM FEEDER INSECTS has a lot of different feeder insects- don't know if the dekayi would take to any of those tho.

[infernalis]

Bait store?
Would a Dekayi eat other soft bodied feeder insects like silkworm caterpillars and wax moth larvae? Bait and pet stores around here usually have those.

MULBERRY FARMS - SILKWORMS AND OTHER PREMIUM FEEDER INSECTS has a lot of different feeder insects- don't know if the dekayi would take to any of those tho.

In all my years of keeping Dekayi, I have never had any luck feeding them larvae of any kind.

Not to mention they cannot digest that properly..

[guidofatherof5]

You can probably buy some snails from a local pet shop or if you have a pond/marsh close by you could collect some.

[Mommy2many]

I would say, if you had to, you could probably buy the really costly snails from the fish store.

My Dekayi switched over to worms on his own. I did provide slugs thru the winter but had to moderate them so I would have enough. I discovered that he started eating worms after I saw his tank mates eating his slugs!!!

[guidofatherof5]

Have you tried any earthworms?
This is what I call them. They are the small pale looking worms usually found under rock, logs and other ground cover.

[Ironpriest88]

Wooo got the lil dekayi to eat! I had to search the entire night but I managed to find a rather large supply of slugs. From big fat nasty ones, to the little ones he seems to enjoy. So thankfully he should be good, but I will most likely go back to where I found this last batch and gather up some more.

But alas, not all my feeding issues seem to be solved. My ghost corn (Tarzan) hasn't eaten since I bought him home. I know it takes them a while to settle in, but I am worried that he is too thin. Every few days I tried to offer him a piece of mouse, but he would turn his nose to it. I have sought out help from a corn snake forum, but if anyone here happened to have some information to help me solve this, I would greatly appreciate it.

[infernalis]

My ghost corn (Tarzan) hasn't eaten since I bought him home. I know it takes them a while to settle in, but I am worried that he is too thin. Every few days I tried to offer him a piece of mouse, but he would turn his nose to it. I have sought out help from a corn snake forum, but if anyone here happened to have some information to help me solve this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Try leaving the snake locked in a poly box the size of a shoe box or a little smaller with a fresh thawed small pinkie overnight, leave it in there the whole night, the smaller box forces the snake to be really close to the food all night.

Corns are nocturnal, so if he has any plans on eating, it will be overnight.

[Ironpriest88]

Well, right now he is back in his cage, and there is a pinkie cut up into 3 pieces on a small lid. His current tank is about the size of one shoe box on top of another. This weekend was supposed to be the time I bought the bigger tank for him.

Should I put him in a different container? With a whole pinkie?

Thanks for the help Infernalis

EDIT: I had been told he was eating pinkie parts when I bought him, if that makes any difference/ help

[ConcinusMan]

Are you offering him whole pinkies? if so, sometimes it helps to puncture the skull so a little brain matter oozes out. Seems to smell good to them and trigger a feeding response. Maybe try rats instead of mice?

But I'm with the others on the timing. Evening after dark might be a better time to try.