Baby Corn Snake

Question
I NEED help with my baby corn snake! I fed him for the first time I had him and he ate well. He pooped out a tiny little dried out pinkie,that I feed him a few days ago. Now I have feed him another pinkie a week later and he seemed to eat that well, but when I was cleaning out his tank there was a pinkie that hadn't been diguisted! Whats wrong? Is that normal?

Answer
Hi Alexandra,

If you are still able to recognize the pinkie then I strongly suspect that your baby may be regurgitating (throwing up) the food rather then pooping it out. Snake poop is usually brown and tubular or cylindrical shaped with some white areas (the urates/urine) mixed in. If the droppings do contain recognizable pinkie parts then that is certainly not normal but again, I would suspect vomiting.
The most common causes for this are inadequate temperatures for digestion or overly large food items. Excessive handling in the days just after feeding can also contribute to this problem.
Your baby needs a warm area  in the 85 to 90 F range for proper digestion. I prefer to use undertank heating to provide "belly heat" but a basking lamp will be fine as well. Snakes are shy and secretive so place a hide spot in both the cool end and the warm end of the tank.
The rule of thumb for food size is use a pinkie that has the same body thickness as your snake  does at his thickest point. They can take slightly larger items then this but this size rule will help avoid digestion problems.
In your situation I would actually suggest a slightly smaller pinkie then usual at this stage.Give your baby a few days after the last meal to replenish his stomach fluids and try again with a very small pinkie. Check your tank temperatures and avoid all handling for two or three days after feeding.  If this does not resolve the problem then you may need to consult a vet to rule out medical causes such as intestinal parasites. Good luck.