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Corn snake not feeding

A

adyharvey

New member
Hello, first post here as I'm after some advice regarding my corn snake who's stopped feeding.

I've had Garth since November 2015 and took him as a rescue from someone else who frankly didn't think through what they were doing, and didn't realise that corns grew to the size that they actually do. I don't know how old he is, but he's around 5 feet long and I had no problems with feeding him large mice from the get go. He stopped feeding in mid-February and I wasn't particularly concerned as I've read that in early spring males sometimes stop feeding as it's breeding time.

I am however starting to get a little worried now, as he still isn't eating and hasn't since the second week of February. I have always taken him out of his viv to feed, and put him in a plastic box with his food and generally within ten minutes he'd be merrilly chomping away on his meal. Now he just slinks around the box completely ignoring the mouse.

He is very active at the moment, more so than when he was eating, and again I put that down to the breeding season and assume he was simply searching for a mate. I know a snake can go months without a meal but it's getting to three months now and I really don't know what to do. Do I take him to the vet? Or am I just being an overly concerned parent? Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forum dude (I'm assuming and sorry if I'm wrong). But welcome anyways!

My name is Monty and I live in Brooklyn with my 4 corn snakes, 2 pussycats, and my lovely wife. My own moniker, I notice, is not one which would hint my gender, so I've decided to somewhat formally introduce myself.

Before I even THINK of advising whether or not what to do with your sneaky one, if anything, I believe there is some information that would be critical to a more informed assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis of the problem at hand.

For example, length, weight, housing setup, possible pics, etc.

Right off the top, I can tell you that you don't have to panic. Adult snakes can go a looooong time without eating and though I can't say exactly how long, I'm certain 3 months is nowhere NEAR the length of time they can survive. I had two hatchlings that NEVER ate at ALL and lived almost 3 months! And one of my adult males is going on 6 weeks since eating only one mouse (2 is his usual) due to what you mentioned is probably their breeding or mating season.

So Welcome again and as they say in your neck of the woods, "Cheerio!"
 
Hey Monty, dude is indeed correct and thanks for the reply! :) Garth is approximately 5 feet long and weighs around 550-600g. I'll grab my phone and take a couple of pics to post - if I can work out how ;)
 
If you have trouble posting here, just create an album that resizes the pics automatically. That's where my pics are. But so far, your snake DOES seem to fall within a healthy weight for his size, though my guys are in the mid-700 to 800 grams, but they are over 5 feet and one IS on the chunky side, so pics are better!

What about your setup? Are your temps in a good range, from 70-75 on the cool side to around 85-90 on the warm side? Also, substrate and hides can also make a difference.
 
Sounds like normal male springtime behaviour. I'd try feeding him every two weeks. You might try smaller, more tempting mice like fuzzies or hoppers. I've also had great luck with rat pinks or fuzzies, but there's a chance you'd have difficulty getting him back off rats, then.
 
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Temperatures are good I think, 86 ish on the warm side and 74 on the cooler side. I'm probably just worrying about nothing and he's perfectly fine but best to be safe :)
 
See how the more experienced users on the forum can usually clear something up so quickly?

Thanx Nanci!!

BTW, is that true about rats? I sometimes give ALL my adult corns small rats as they would normally need up to 3 adult mice to be full - or what I consider for them to be full. I never got "scientific" about feeding, since corns in the wild don't either, and time is a commodity we NEVER get any refunds on and I've normally been busier than a priest in Boystown! Or is that just rat pinks?

Just curious. Thanx again!
 
Cool setup Harv!! If I were your snake, I'd hang out and n the hide with the black light setup! But then, I always WAS the "head" in my crew, always trying Better Living Through Chemistry! Ha Ha!!!

But it is hard for me to make out Garth in there! Do you have any pics of the way he looks now outside of his viv? Though I believe Nanci probably confirmed what you suspected in the first place.
 
Nanci said:
Sounds like normal male springtime behaviour. I'd try feeding him every two weeks. You might try smaller, more tempting mice like fuzzies or hoppers. I've also had great luck with rat pinks or fuzzies, but there's a chance you'd have difficulty getting him back off rats, then.
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I have pet rats so am loath to try feeding him rats lol, but yes, I think if his lack of interest in mice continues then I'll have to start considering other options!
 
Hey Harvey!

From the pics you posted, Garth seems to be pretty healthy! He doesn't look like he's skinny in any sense of the word! I believe if you follow Nanci's suggestion of offering a couple of smaller mice, maybe a couple of weeks apart, that he will eventually make a grab for them.

But as far as your rats, I know people do it, but I wouldn't be able to feed my snake any animal that I get to know personally. Sorry, I don't even know what I'm trying to say! Maybe I'm having trouble with the concept of keeping rodents as pets, because if I did that, I would NEVER be able to dangle one by the tail over one of my snakes again!

Strange how these discussions evolve and sometimes literally mutate into creative tangents and diatribes normally only seen by those who experiment with an array of peculiar psychopharmaceuticals!!!!! (Ahh! Those were the days!)
 
I understand exactly what you are saying ;) and that's what I meant too! As a rat keeper and lover, I wouldn't like to bring myself to feed one to another animal (even one that I hadn't got to know!) - even though I appreciate that some of them are raised as feeding stock.

I will take Nanci's advice and try him on smaller mice though, and glad that you think he looks like he's doing ok :)
 
He looks healthy as a horse! Very pretty. I'm with you on the rat feeding. I love them, and hate to feed them.
 
Another two weeks gone and still not fed. So I gave in and got him a small rat. As soon as I put it in with him, he was on it like a flash, wrapped his jaws around it but then just as it looked like he was about to devour it, he leapt back from it! I took it out and warmed it up a little in a plastic bag inside a mug of hot water. Put it back in again after about 15 minutes of heating, and once again he leapt at it, wrapped his mouth around it but then leapt back :s I really don't get it, it's like he wants to eat but something is stopping him!
 
Whoa! Sounds like a size issue? If so, you've got a pretty smart snake! Is the rat small enough to be no larger than 1.5 x the width of your snake at his widest part? If he's bigger, I would think your snake is hungry, but not hungry enough to chance the STRETCH, if you get my drift.

But now maybe he'll take a smaller one! It sounds like his hormones are SWIRLING due to the season, but I'm uncertain how that works for corns in other parts of the globe even though England is NOT in Asia (there's a guy somewhere on this forum having problems feeding his snake and he's in Shanghai, China! Talk about nuanced challenges! Between the seasons and the fact that he can't get f/t'd rodents where he is, if I were there, I might revert to keeping tarantulas!!).

Ha Ha!! :crying:

But I can identify with the frustration of having to toss perfectly good rodents! I have a female who just laid eggs and two adult males who BOTH mated with her and between the THREE of them, the past two months has been total chaos and in more ways than one! Lilly, who's normally a voracious eater who attacks and constricts anything I give her while her tail rattles away, has been looking at mice (while she was gravid, anyway) like they stole her seat on the subway! And both Chili-Pepper & Bozo have been nose-bumping their food as if they are trying to wake them up! They are both healthy, so I don't worry (Bozo is so fat he can't even jump to a conclusion!) but I have been tossing LOTS of rodents over the past 2 or 3 months!!!

But I really think it's time to try a smaller mouse on your apparently hungry snake.

Keep us posted!!!
 
Thanks, and yeah I did wonder if a smaller rat was the way to go, but didn't want to keep throwing food at him if that wasn't the case. I shall update once a smaller one is tried, cheers!!
 
Have you checked his mouth? If it's not a size issue, check his gums and mouth tissues for a cut, sore or infection. If he's grabbing then backing off his food, maybe somethings hurting him?
 
Cool! Glad he's eating again. Very nice looking snake! And as far as feeding 'pets' ... or those that looked like them ... I've had a white mouse or two as pets, but never fed them to anything. But now I have a corn snake and realize, even snakes have to eat! But it's a bit easier feeding frozen/thawed food!
 
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