corn snake feeding

Question
hello, I bought a baby corn snake at the end of February for my son for his birthday. everything was going fine with it. But last Friday we took him out of his aquarium to feed like we were told to do by the pet store. we place him into a cardboard box and give it one pinkie as normal. Last week after excepting the pink and getting most of the pink in it's mouth it holds it there and then starts twisting around itself over and over again until it starts to tire out. Then just lays there motionless for quite a while. Last week it finally spit it back out. Today however it did the same thing. held it in it's mouth and twists around it. tonight after several hours he decided to spit it out.

As far as the environment is concerned I bought a EXO Terra glass enclosure that was already set up with sand floor, a rock thing for the snake to crawl into, a fake cactus, and a rock looking water bowl. I also got one of those stick on heat pads that is placed on the bottom of the glass and a UV light bulb that we shut off at night. I replaced the rock thing with a wooden dome hiding shelter and the cactus with a fake plant thing that the corn loves to climb. He is extremely active well for a snake. But mainly at night. He also shedded about 2 weeks ago with no problems. The temp in the cage is around 72 degrees with the UV light off and the humidity is right around 40% I am not sure about the temp when the light is on. As I just placed a indoor out door temp gage in there.   

I know and understand that they can go without for somewhere in the timeframe of 6 months and this has only been two weeks but I want to make sure that there is nothing wrong. As he usually lays straight out and takes the pinkie right down with in 10 to 15 mins tops. I also have not allowed anyone to touch or handle the snake in the last week.

I was told that I could give him a bath in saltwater. 1 teaspoon mixed into a gallon of warm water for about 10 to 15 mins to help kill anything as far as an illness that he may have. To help promote feeding. Is this something I should try now?

Answer
Hi Shaun,
  I am afraid I have seen this before in very young colubrids and the prognosis is not good. In my experience, when a very young snake has trouble keeping food down, it is a sign of serious illness. More bad news, most vets, even exotic vets, kill very young snakes while trying to treat them. They simply are not kept often enough for vets to know how to treat them. My advise is to make sure the snake has water, wait a couple days, and try again. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. If you do have to get another snake, consider getting a yearling or older. Most of the issues come in the first year and they are pretty easy to care for after that. Hope this helps!