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Change in my corns behaviour

H

hosgal

New member
Hi all i am new here and looking for some advice. I have had my female corn for a year she is 16 months old and just over 3ft long. Over the last week she has behaved differently to normal, she is not eating as well as normal, she is more active around her viv and is very jumpy is this anything to be concerned about. many thanks :)
 
Sounds like a female during winter...

Anyhow, the female may be acting up because of the enviroment around her. She may be in the mindset that it's time to breed. Don't worry though, there's nothing wrong. It will go away.

However, if you see signs of sickness, then take her to a vet. If you're that worried right now, you can take her to vet anyway.
 
i dont really know to much about the whole breeding the but from my understanding 16 months is to young for to even realize that she wants to breed
 
Sounds like a female during winter...
Click to expand...

If you're thinking about brumation, then this makes Corns less active, not more active. And I don't believe there's a difference in the way it affects males and females.

16 months old is a bit young for a female Corn to go into mating mode, and in any case, it tends to be the males which go off their food and become active early in the season looking for a mate. f she's female, this sort of behaviour would be typical of a female later in the season looking to lay. I'm assuming she hasn't been mated as she's "barely legal" in Corn terms!

It's possible that it's actually a male, which seem to be active in the breeding season at a younger age. If this is the case, then the described behaviour is typical.

Has anything changed in her tank recently? New hides, substrate, lighting or heating?
 
I had her probed about 6 months after i brought her by a qualified person. Nothing has changed in her viv but brought a young male about 6 weeks ago he is in a viv above her and that is the closest she has got to a male.:)
 
Hmm, it's possible that she can smell the newcomer and wants to investigate, but if that was the case I'm sure this type of behaviour would have started sooner than the last week.

When you say she's not eating as well as normal, what's happening? Is she regurging, refusing, or just taking longer than usual to get interested when you offer her food?

Also, what are you feeding her and how often?

Sorry for all the questions - just looking for a few more clues.
 
she normally eats 3 adult mice every 12/14 days at her previous to last feed she only ate 2 and on the last feed yesterday she only ate 1 (and that was a small adult). She is giving the impression of hunting but will not eat and when you put the food in the viv she seems to shy away from it and is very jumpy if you touch her which is so out of character for her as she is well handled and normally a very good eater
 
cornlover221 said:
i dont really know to much about the whole breeding the but from my understanding 16 months is to young for to even realize that she wants to breed
Click to expand...


Yes, and no. I'm actually unsure about whats happening. The OP didnt tell me enough. I would think that 16 months is a bit young, but If it's 3 feet long It may have matured enough to notice. I'm not saying she's okay to breed, because she's waayyy to young.
 
patm1313 said:
Yes, and no. I'm actually unsure about whats happening. The OP didnt tell me enough. I would think that 16 months is a bit young, but If it's 3 feet long It may have matured enough to notice. I'm not saying she's okay to breed, because she's waayyy to young.
Click to expand...


i understood whaqt your saying and im sorry for the misunderstanding...
 
patm1313 said:
Sounds like a female during winter...

Anyhow, the female may be acting up because of the enviroment around her. She may be in the mindset that it's time to breed. Don't worry though, there's nothing wrong. It will go away.

However, if you see signs of sickness, then take her to a vet. If you're that worried right now, you can take her to vet anyway.
Click to expand...

patm1313 said:
Yes, and no. I'm actually unsure about whats happening. The OP didnt tell me enough. I would think that 16 months is a bit young, but If it's 3 feet long It may have matured enough to notice. I'm not saying she's okay to breed, because she's waayyy to young.
Click to expand...
You really need to stick to learning about corns at this point and quit giving advice. You've owned one tiny hatchling (and you don't know its sex) for less than a month. How are you qualifed to give advice on the behavior of a mature female corn? How are you qualified to comment on breeding? The whole "take it to the vet" thing gets old. How valuable is the comment: "if you see signs of sickness, then take her to a vet?" I mean, c'mon. It's like saying, "if she gets thirsty, provide her with water." :rolleyes:
 
Wow 3 mice? I know you said she was 3ft+ but have you weighed her? Maybe she's just slowing down that seems like a *lot* of food. Of course I don't have any that big, just curious.
 
I agree with Jenn above, 3 mice adult mice every 12-14 days is a lot for a 16 month old, IMO too much. I would just feed her one mouse weekly. Post pics if you can! Maybe she just wants (and needs) to go on a diet. If it were a male in breeding mode he likely wouldn't have wanted even the one.
 
i was told from where i brought her that she would know when she had had enough so have always fed according to her dont know if this was right or wrong but did as advised.
 
Snakes are opportune eaters by nature..since in the wild they don't have any way of knowing when their next meal is going to come along..They eat at any chance they get..This is not saying that it is good to consistantly supply them with food..They won't stop because they get "full"...I think 1 adult mouse every 7 days would be good for her..If you want to..check out this post: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showpost.php?p=433500&postcount=1...This is a plan one of our members made as a guideline for the healthy feeding of corn snakes..mind you it is only a guide that was made on the success of the creator with his snakes...Many members do go by it and also share good results when going by these guidelines but it is up to you..It is a chart based on the weight of the snake and the weight of the mouse it should be getting...

As for your snake acting differently and more jumpy..Some things that come to mind could be:

- changes in handling time (you've been handling her longer or shorter then usual)
- Temperature problem (Any changes in the temps can cause a snake's attitude to change if they can't thermegulate themselves properly..
- shedding issues (If all their skin does not fully come off or they don't shed their eye caps properly then that could cause them to get more easily irritated..)
- Change in smell (This may sound a bit strange but the soap you use before handling your snake does play a role on how they act towards you..If you use the same soap over and over..they get used to the smell and relate it as something that is not a threat to them..but if you change the soap frequently then they can't adapt to a smell to identify with and could get jumpy..)
 
I have never weighed her as was never told to, i think she is over weight as i just weighed her and she weighs nearly 500g if i cut her food and go by the chart will it be enough would it help to give her more exercise. thank you for showing me the chart:)
 
No problem..I'm sure going by that chart and handling her for exercise will help her get back on track..at only 16 months 500 grams sounds like a real lot..My one corn Striker which I always assumed is near the year and half age range only weighs in right now at 180 grams..and he is also pushing close to the 3 feet..I'm sure one adult mouse a week will help her get back on track :0)
 
wow that is a big difference, shedding has been fine i always check the shed is complete (eye caps and tip of tail), nothing else has changed, thank you for your advise its appreciated glad i joined the forum now many thanks
 
The comment take it to a vet is as valuable as a corn's (or any animal's) life. I guess I'm just pointing out the obvious with that, but plenty of people just think they can treat things themselves, and there goes the animal.

Now, about my corn. It's not a hatchling. Second, the reason I havent sexed it yet is simple: I'm away from my corn ATM (my life is really busy, believe it or not), and cant do it, and on top of that I haven't decided if I'm going to breed it yet, so I'm not going to go out of my way with sexing it if I'm just going to have it a pet.

As I said, I'm trying to stay on good terms with everyone.
 
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