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Feeding problems - mites/shedding??

Popeye said:
Thanks bitsy, I was told that last night on the chat...I will be changing the system soon, maybe on the wekeend, as for now he will have to have some light rays, I am new at this and just spent a wack on getting set up, unfortunately I was misled...thanks again.
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Does your lamp have a dimmer? Are you pumping 150 watts all the time during the day? If you can't change the intensity of your primary light, I would try to find a way of moving it farther from the tank until you are able to switch to a UTH and thermostat. The farther away the light is, the less heat it will transfer to the cage.

Reaching 90 degrees in there is a sign that things are too hot. I know that the technical limit is 90 degrees, but I fear that even getting as high as 90 degrees means that other parts which you aren't monitoring may be getting over 90 degrees.

Out of curiosity, what is your room temperature and tank size?
 
It seldon reaches 90 degrees. iAt around 6pm is when it is at its hottest at which point i have been changing the light to a 100 watt infra red buld, and this keeps it in the low to mis eighties in the warm area of the viv.

I will switch to a UTH this weekend.

Thank you
 
Sorry forgot to tell you...room temperature is approx 73 and the tanl size is 39inches by 19 inches by 19 inches high.

Cheers
 
Popeye said:
hello everyone,

This is my first post and I am a new cornsnake owner. I purchased a cornsnake about three weeks ago now from a local reptile zoo, and when I purchased it it had mites. they had been treating the problem for about 10 days and I have also been spraying it, they are almost all gone from what i can see.

I was told to wait two weeks before trying to feed the snake, and now on my third week, I have tried twice, and have not been successful. The snake is not interested at all in eating...should I worry?

I have also noticed that one day his colors were very opaque, (pale) and his eyes were blueish in colour....first i thought he was dying now I realize he may be shedding soon. What should I do? Continue trying to feed? what about shedding? How long can they go without food?

Again any help is greatly appreciated, as this is all new to me. Oh my snake is about 4 to 5 feet long.
Cheers and thank you.
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Is the snake very active? I think you may have a male. Tis the season for lovin so he may just be on the prowl for a female rather than food. These kinds of hunger strikes can last just a few weeks to a few months from what I understand. I would continue to offer food, but you should probably be offering at the least every 7 days for a snake this size. Also get a kitchen scale so you can do weight checks and do a search on here for the Munson Feeding Plan, it will help a lot!

Oh and you will want to be sure your temps are 80-85 warm side and I think like 75-78? on cool side.

Deffinitely use a seperate feeding container as I have heard of snakes biting because they were fed in their home cage. They thought there was food.
 
Thank you for your help Crazy Corn Lady, and yes he is a male. He was probed at the zoo the day I got him. He is extremely active, constantly moving about in the cage, either exploring or trying to get out, in any event he's a pleasure to watch.

Cheers and thanks.
 
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Nice snake there Popeye!!! I know this was said but maybe not very well, each corn is like a person, different preferences. Some spend more time on the warm side, some more time on the cool side, having said that is why it is so crucial for you to get his temps regulated properly.

As cool as 70-75 on the cool side will be fine, and you really do not want warmer than 83-85 on the warm side. Occasionally a corn may utilize as high as 90 but generally only if they are ill an need to speed up their metabolisim to recuperate. Allowing the warm side to dip much below 83 or much above 85 can and often does cause a corn not to feed. They are one of the snakes that tends to know what they need to properly digest.

As well, it has already been mentioned to you that your male, may very well be on a hunger strike because it is breeding season and he is looking for lovin! Having said that it is too bad you are in Ontario as I am in Saskatchewan and have a female who is looking for some lovin!!

As well Danielle was right about not trying to feed him anymore than once every 5-7 days, any more than that will stress him out and cause him to continue to refuse food. Getting the digital kitchen scale that weighs in 1 gm increments is great because then you can have an idea of what he weighs and you can use the Munson Plan, it is a great feeding guide I use it for all of my snakes.

The Munson Plan (Sample Feeding Chart): Revised 06/08/08
-When they're on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+) See below.

Note: Adult females are fed more frequently than adult males (especially following brumation). Adult females are fed every 7-12 days; adult males are fed every 11-14 days.

A couple of other reasons to use Aspen is that if your snake burrows int he soil bedding and breathes it in they can get an upper respiratory infection. As well Aspen is far cheaper it can be bought in large bales, 8cubic feet compressed to 3 cubic feet, at some feed and pet stores. Aspen is also cleaner, when the snake poops it pees(urates) at the same time and it simply dries up on a small bit of the aspen into a easily removed clump. Unlike with the soil bedding where the liquid part of their "business" seeps into the soil allowing bacteria to grow.

Just some extra thoughts and opinions of mine that I thought I would share with you.
 
Thank you Asbit for that very informative post/reply. I had been keeping newspapers on top of the viv screen to supposebly hold down the humidity and warmth, but now that I removed everything from the top, I have managed to keep the warm side at about 85.

I tried to shut off the lamp (100 watt infrared) at night but the temp in the terrarium went down to 70.2 and got a bit scared so I have kept it on at night ever since..

i guess time and input from you guys will show me which way is best to go with my pet.

Cheers and again, thank you.
 
Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat for a few weeks yet. Adult males are only hungry for love at this time of year, so I only offer them food at 2 week intervals and wait for their urges to die down!
 
I will try feeding tonight. If he does not eat, then I will wait two weeks before trying to feed him again.... He seems very active all day, digging, crawling all over the viv, raising himself up to the top, so I think he may still be in luv....thanks for the tip!
 
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