Dolemite
Hi! I'm Scooter!
Hi there, guys. I have a little problem with my corn snake, Scooter.
Scooter is a little over a year old and is about (maybe) 2 1/2 feet long. He's always eaten like clockwork with no problems. lately I've been feeding him one adult mouse a week and he's been eating them fine. However, recently, there's been a slight problem- it's getting close to three weeks, and he hasn't eaten! I've always fed him frozen mice with no problem, but suddnely one day he went up the mouse, then turned and slithered off as if he wasn't hungry. This has happened several times in a row over the past three weeks.
I'll try to offer as much info as possible. I keep him in a 20 gallon long tank with Aspen as bedding. I change his water ever day. The loss of appitite came about the same time as the weather started getting warmer. I reduced the wattaqge of the light bulb I use for heating the one end of his tank down to 40 watts (keeping the warm end between 80-85 and the cool end around 70-75). I had recently increased the amount of bedding I was putting in the tank so he'd have more to burrow in.
Anyway, about the same time his appitite went away, his behavior changed slightly. Previously, he never moved much in his tank. He's usually go under his log or into his paper towel roll and just hang out. But recently he's far more active, burrowing a lot and moving around the tank often. He's also climbing his little tree a lot and getting up near the mesh top of his tank, as if he was looking for a way out. he's never done that before either. He still hangs out in his log sometimes, but like I said, he's way more active.
He still seems healthy- he moves around plenty when I take him out, and he flicks his tounge all the time (I think I read that's a sign of good health). However, he's lost a little weight (nothing drastic). I've read that corns can go a long time without eating, but I'm still getting worried. A friend gave me the phone number of a good reptile-specific vet. I was wondering if this behavior is normal (he was given to me in September of last year, so this is my first summer owning him), or should I gvie the vet a call on Monday and take him in to be looked at?
Any help would be appreciated. Scotter is a awesome little guy and I love him a lot. I can see now why you guys love your corns so much.
Thanks.
Scooter is a little over a year old and is about (maybe) 2 1/2 feet long. He's always eaten like clockwork with no problems. lately I've been feeding him one adult mouse a week and he's been eating them fine. However, recently, there's been a slight problem- it's getting close to three weeks, and he hasn't eaten! I've always fed him frozen mice with no problem, but suddnely one day he went up the mouse, then turned and slithered off as if he wasn't hungry. This has happened several times in a row over the past three weeks.
I'll try to offer as much info as possible. I keep him in a 20 gallon long tank with Aspen as bedding. I change his water ever day. The loss of appitite came about the same time as the weather started getting warmer. I reduced the wattaqge of the light bulb I use for heating the one end of his tank down to 40 watts (keeping the warm end between 80-85 and the cool end around 70-75). I had recently increased the amount of bedding I was putting in the tank so he'd have more to burrow in.
Anyway, about the same time his appitite went away, his behavior changed slightly. Previously, he never moved much in his tank. He's usually go under his log or into his paper towel roll and just hang out. But recently he's far more active, burrowing a lot and moving around the tank often. He's also climbing his little tree a lot and getting up near the mesh top of his tank, as if he was looking for a way out. he's never done that before either. He still hangs out in his log sometimes, but like I said, he's way more active.
He still seems healthy- he moves around plenty when I take him out, and he flicks his tounge all the time (I think I read that's a sign of good health). However, he's lost a little weight (nothing drastic). I've read that corns can go a long time without eating, but I'm still getting worried. A friend gave me the phone number of a good reptile-specific vet. I was wondering if this behavior is normal (he was given to me in September of last year, so this is my first summer owning him), or should I gvie the vet a call on Monday and take him in to be looked at?
Any help would be appreciated. Scotter is a awesome little guy and I love him a lot. I can see now why you guys love your corns so much.
Thanks.
