Pennsylvania Woodland Herpetological Society

Dear PWHS:  About 10 days ago I had 2 young milk snakes decide to take up winter residence in the basement of the refurbished farmhouse I am renting.  The problem is I have 2 cats that love to keep check on things down there.  This past Aug. I re-entered my childhood love of snakes & got a hatchling cornsnake.  So I have a supply of 2-3 day old pinkies.  The "street word" on milksnakes is that although docile that are typically finicky captive eaters.  Do you have any tips different from those for inducing finicky cornsnakes, e.g. teasing, "braining", etc. listed in the cornsnake books.  The other problem is these 2 are smaller (diameter/girth)  than my cornsnake, and the rule of thumb is no larger than 1.5X max. girth for pinky size.  I went thru my bag of pinkies and separate out some of the smallest, but I'm guessing they're probably 2X girth.  If the snakes decide they're going to eat these, is it OK.  Or should I just chill them down in their cage in the basement (est. temp 50 - 55) and leave them there until March. I'm in the Finger Lakes area south of Rochester.  Besides 6 - 8 various sized garters decided to hang out there last winter (I moved into the place end of Feb. and they were already there!).  Sincerely,   Peter Brown, DVM

Dr. Brown,

The Eastern Milk snake can be a very difficult feeder at times, and this is especially true of wild-caught specimens. Sometimes it is unclear exactly what conditions in the wild trigger their feeding responses.

Although many keepers of wild-caught milk snakes try to recreate nature with elaborate enclosures, natural temperature gradients, humidity levels, nighttime/daytime temperature fluctuations, and hundreds of other environmental conditions are hard to reproduce in a captive setting, no matter how visually complete our enclosures seem.

There are two separate things to accomplish here. 1). Finding the appropriate food item for the animal. And 2). actually getting the animals to eat.

In Pennsylvania, neonate Eastern milk snakes tend to be fairly insectivorous during the first few months of life, feeding on small insects such as crickets and other soft-bodied insects, and arthropods such as earthworms and slugs. This quickly changes after the first 3-5 months of life, and juvenile Eastern Milk snakes then begin to feed upon small rodents such as field mice. Small Eastern Milk snakes will raid rodent nests and feed upon newborn or "pinky" rodents within the foundation of old buildings and houses that have tiny ground-level entrances in the foundation or clutter around a buildings foundation. (Hense why these places are where the Eastern Milk snake is commonly found).  It is likely that small insects made up at least some portion of the diet of the Milk snakes you found, and small-medium crickets may entice them to eat.

If the pinky mice you are using appear to be too big, you can cut frozen/thawed pinkies down to size, feeding them only pink heads or "hams" (the lower section of the body) with tongs, tweezers, or forceps.

In the wild, juvenile and neonate (newborn) Eastern Milk snakes usually take what they can get, as "appropriately-sized" food is not always available. However, in captivity, stress is a major factor, and the added stress of over-sized prey items may cause the animal to refuse food.

Cutting frozen/thawed pinkies down to size is the way to go in this case, along with "dancing" the prey item along the ground of the enclosure just outside of the snakes hiding spot. Don't be pushy, as the animals will flee in the opposite direction of the prey item if they feel threatened. Keep the pinky (or pinky head or ham) a few inches from the animal and gently "dance" the pinky along the floor of the enclosure.

Watch the snake for rapid tongue-flicker or a head turn. If nothing, back off, and try again later. Several species of colubrid begin to associate the smell of food with danger if they are stressed repeatedly during feeding.

The Eastern Milk snake generally has fairly poor eyesight and is mostly scent-based. The added visual stimulation of "dancing" the food item can trigger a feeding response (as if it were more insect-like in movement, versus they barely "crawl-like" movement of a newborn rodent), but sometimes it takes repeated attempts and patience.

Firstly, ensure that the enclosure you are housing the snakes in provides many places to hide. Eastern milk snakes can be burrowers and skittish snakes to work with. Plastic artificial floral vines available at the dollar store, provide great cover in a small, secure enclosure. Also, be sure to include a "hide box". This of course can be simply a empty toilet paper roll or a small over-turned box with an entrance hole cut into the side. The hide box should be secure and fairly small. The box should be big enough so that both of the snakes can fit inside, but small enough so that it is "snug" and makes them feel secure.

You can buy frozen / thawed pinky mice and cut them down to size. Tease the outside of the hide box while the snakes are inside it by dancing the food item with a pair of forceps or tong (the kind I use to feed all of my venomous stuff are medical-grade hemostats.) It may take several repeated attempts, but, do not be pushy.

Allow the snakes to come a few inches forward, towards the food. Make sure that the pinkie (/pinkie part) is warmed to slightly above room temperature. Sometimes it can take a while, and gets a bit irritating. Luckily, the first few successful feedings are always the hardest. Try feeding the animals at different time throughout the day if at first you have no luck.  The Eastern milk snake sure is a difficult species, especially so young. Sometimes the first few feedings the animals have to be fore-fed or assist-fed.

This is also the time of year, that these animals metabolisms slow down, and they begin to brumate (hibernate in reptilian terms), throughout the winter.

Try a simple tease feed outside of a hide box while both animals are inside. Try to keep their enclosure slightly on the warm side too, to keep the animals from slowing down into brumation and refusing food.

You might try medium-small crickets too, or wax worms. Start buy using pinkie-parts if whole pinkies are too big. Try "dancing" pinkie parts and visually stimulating the animals to feed. Try different feeding times throughout the day.

This will be an ongoing thread I can see. Good luck and keep me updated. There are a few tricks I have in mind that I have used before with good results. If you have no luck, there are a few other things to try, but you should first try an establish a good tease-feed.

Don't worry if they refuse food at first. That is what they do during the winter months. Some do not make it. It isn't anything that I feel too greatly alarmed about yet.

Try and keep a slightly warmer and consistent enclosure temperature, and try tease-feeding pinkie parts. You can try a brine solution or assist-feed if you don't have any luck.

Please do let me know how it goes, and good luck! Sorry for the delayed response. Maybe someone else will chime in as well. Just let us know. There are other feeding and tease-feeding methods you can try.

Take Care,

-John Mendrola. (P.W.H.S. President).

Dear John:  Thanks for the response.  Basically am going slow, like every 3 days.  Just made 3rd effort with "braining" technique.  One of the 2 showed some mild interest.  Haven't tried the "inside-hiding-area" or "side-stroking-tease" yet.  They have several "hidies" and are generally out much of the evening starting near dusk.  I tried putting in separate feeding container, but definitely too much stress for that!  They seem in good health.  I can either try the "ham" size-reduction or get some crickets.  I had a feeling these were probably later summer hatches, and suspicious of crickets or slugs -- of which were numerous out in my garden, or everywhere else.  Other thought I had was, if this doesn't go after a few more attempts, just to put the cage in the basement (where they had started from anyway) and let them brumate.  One book had suggested that, and said the appetite was usually there after Spring warmp-up.  But will keep you apprised.  Thanks again,  Peter