• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

5 yr old, new snake owner, not eating, help!

A

aylimn

Corn snake novice
I adopted a 5-year old corn snake from a widower whose husband owned the snake and she didn't like them. I love reptiles having had a green iguana some years ago. Anyway, I did look up basic husbandry etc as well as listened to her advice and experience with Rusty (female).

I've had her about 4 months now. I've been feeding her a baby chicken once weekly (the frozen type that's heated up in hot water). She's been eating fine since I got her, and I've changed her bedding about once every month and changed her water nearly daily.

In the last nearly 3 weeks, she hasn't eaten. We've given her 2 of her usual heated up chickens and she's just refused them. She is very active around her cage and in every way I can conceive, she doesn't seem ill at all. I really can't make heads or tails of it.

I just put in another chick an hour ago, and still, she wanders her cage and isn't interested (yet). Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
Probably looking for a spot to lay some eggs (or maybe only non fertilized ones, called 'slugs') :) Give her a tupperware container with about an inch of moist bedding. She should preferably fit snugly in the box with about 'half a snake' extra space for the eggs.
 
Thank you Bluetengel, I put something in her cage last night to see if that will help, but I suspect I need to seek out a larger container. She's about 5 feet long so she's pretty big, and from what you're saying, I think I'll need a pretty good size tupperware thing. I'll make a stop in town and pick one up. Thank you again. I did hear something about spring and 'mating season' from the previous owner. But her knowledge was limited too, not having an interest in the snake etc..

Rusty is very active in her cage, and the cage is clean and also as warm as it's always been, and she has her hiding spots etc... everything I've read about to look out for seems to be in place, so I'm wondering, like yourself, if it's something to do with the mating season or something. I'm just a bit concerned as it's been a good couple weeks now since she's eaten, maybe a bit longer. But she's in there, slithering along all over the place, so I guess she's feeling alright!

Thank you again for your suggestion.
 
The activity is anxiety to find a humid nesting place most probably, not a matter of feeling very well. It will most probably get into the box you are going to pick up for her and not come out naymore until the eggs/slugs are there. The not eating is quite a sure sign of a clutch waiting to be laid :)
 
That's very good information to know. I didn't realize snakes could lay a clutch of 'slugs' even if they weren't mated with another snake. Learn something new everyday! I did my best to become informed and educated when I took Rusty on, as obviously I want to give her the best quality life. Obviously I still have a lot to learn! Hopefully the bigger box will settle her out and content her so she can do her thing and get back to eating. Thank you again very much for your time in replying. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top