Not hungry or mating season?

[Albino Billy]

Ok, yesterday was Billy's day to get fed. He must think otherwise because he absolutely refused to eat. I even left it in there with him overnight. He would go up and check out the whole body of the rat pup, but would go about his business like he wasn't hungry. He would even get all excited when he would go up to it like he was hungry but that would be it. Could he just simply not be hungry? Or could it be because it's spring time and mating season?? Should I try again today with a new rat pup? Questions, questions, questions....

 

[Tracee]

Sounds very much like typical horny male behaviour. Horny male cornsnake, that is.

Yes do attempt further feeds, but only once weekly. He'll start eating again when he can get ladies off his mind.

Try not to worry - last year mine was off food for a few months and he didn't even lose weight. You might notice Billy's a lot more active than normal as well, even during the day when you don't usually see them much. All absolutely normal

 

[Albino Billy]

Thanks Tracee... I was worried but hoped it was only something like hormones... And yes, I sure have noticed he is VERY active at times when he would usually be in his hide. Who knows, maybe whoever had him before me used him for stud..
So, waiting til next Monday to attempt another feeding is ok??

 

[Tracee]

I really would leave it a week between attempts. It's unlikely he'll get over the horn so quickly, so you'd be wasting food anyway but there is a theory of risking conditioning them to refuse food even when the randiness has gone. That sounds too funny reading it back

 

[your_only_nightmare]

i wasted a few mice until i used my brain and attempted to feed him first, if he didt eat then i would give it to my girl..... but when she stopped eating, then i wasted more mice, but both of them are back to normal now.... dont wory hes definatly just horny, and like tracee said, leave it a week otherwise you will waste mice. he shouldnt loose weight either, he will be fine

 

[Roy Munson]

he shouldnt loose weight either, he will be fine

Well, if he's extra-active like most "in-season" males are, and he's not eating, then he will lose weight. It may not be a life-threatening amount of weight, but he will lose some.

 

[your_only_nightmare]

that what i meant, wont loose it that he will be skin and bones

 

[Roy Munson]

that what i meant, wont loose it that he will be skin and bones

Ohhh. Some of the younger posters around here need to start typing what they mean the FIRST time. This would greatly facilitate comprehension on the part of the reader. Proper grammar and spelling would also be very helpful toward this end.

 

[Albino Billy]

Ya know, you would think with this being a male snake, he would want to eat AND have sex at the same time! LOL! Giving up eating for sex? Ha! Don't they go hand in hand with the male species? :rofl:

I'll wait til his next scheduled feeding date to try and feed him again.. Thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

[Albino Billy]

I understood what he meant. And I do understand that he is only 15... He also gave good advice, thanks!

*your_only_nightmare, Just use your spell check before posting.
No big deal

 

[Roy Munson]

I understood what he meant. And I do understand that he is only 15... He also gave good advice, thanks!

*your_only_nightmare, Just use your spell check before posting.
No big deal

Ok, ok. Next time y_o_n says that males don't lose weight in breeding season despite heightened activity and months of fasting, I'll leave it alone. And next time y_o_n tells someone that a laybox will be warmer and more humid on the cool side of the viv, I'll let it go. I just hope the next piece of incorrect info that y_o_n posts is not something that could threaten the health of your snake, Holly.

 

[Albino Billy]

Deep breaths Dean...... Ok, relaxed now?

I can't help but stand up for the guy, he is trying to help me out and he is just a kid..

I have no idea what y_o_n has told other people in other threads. I do know what he told me in this one. I kind of figure if a snake hasn't eaten for months because of the mating season, he will lose weight. My only concern was that his not eating was related to mating season... I wanted to make sure this was indeed, a reason for him not to eat.

If he has given other bad advice why not just send him a PM and correct him?? Or in the thread where he gave bad advice correct him and put the proper advice in it's place? Just a thought. That is how we learn.. The whole point of coming on a forum like this is to get many opinions and roll with the best and most experienced owners. Other than the weight thing, he was pretty much saying what everyone else said, don't feed him for a while or I'll waste mice/rats. Cool beans??

 

[Albino Billy]

*BTW Dean, what kind of snake is that in your picture? It sure is pretty. My brother wants to find a female black corn and mate Billy with her.. Is that what that one is??

 

[Roy Munson]

Deep breaths Dean...... Ok, relaxed now?

I can't help but stand up for the guy, he is trying to help me out and he is just a kid..

I'm relaxed. I think y_o_n is a girl, though.

Or in the thread where he gave bad advice correct him and put the proper advice in it's place? Just a thought. That is how we learn.. The whole point of coming on a forum like this is to get many opinions and roll with the best and most experienced owners. Other than the weight thing, he was pretty much saying what everyone else said, don't feed him for a while or I'll waste mice/rats. Cool beans??

I corrected the laybox misinformation in the thread in which it appeared, and I corrected the weight loss misinformation here. Sounds like I've been posting in your suggested manner even before you offered the advice. A PM wouldn't help the inexperienced keeper who doesn't know if y_o_n knows what she's talking about, or not. Your opinion of what the point of this forum really is may be different from mine. And since it is what WE make it, we are both correct. The beans are cool.

And believe me, my criticism of y_o_n's laziness (that's right) with spelling and grammar is intended to be constructive. She seems intelligent; why would she present herself in such an unintelligent and unintelligible fashion? I'd love to take her more seriously, but I can't until it's no longer a struggle to translate her posts. I'm not asking for perfection-- only a little effort.

 

[Roy Munson]

*BTW Dean, what kind of snake is that in your picture? It sure is pretty. My brother wants to find a female black corn and mate Billy with her.. Is that what that one is??

Thanks. Unfortunately, there really aren't any black corns. I'd have a few pairs if there were. She's a Mexican black kingsnake.

 

[Albino Billy]

Sorry y_o_n for calling you a boy. Whoops! Everyone kept calling me Albino Billy until I put a signature on here with my first name on it...

You have an excellent point Sir Dean, and I agree that all it takes is a just a tad bit of effort to make yourself understood. She does sound very intelligent for a 15 year old. I do have to say that I have 4 teenagers and the one's that are still in school are honor roll students. BUT when they get on the computer with their friends, the grammer goes to the birds and the spelling is worse. I need a translator to understand what in world they are saying!

I'm sure that as y_o_n spends more time on here learning, like me, from the experts such as yourself, she will know better than to say a snake who has not eaten for months will not get skinny and any other mistakes she has made.

Since I am in the inexperienced keeper category for the time being, I do not take the word of just one child but do look to the more experienced keepers like you and others.. But she was helpful...

 

[Albino Billy]

No black corns???!! Darn it! Maybe it was the black rat snake he was talking about. Can you breed two different snakes like that? I mean, some people often refer to corn snakes as rat snakes. I don't know about breeding AT ALL though and wouldn't know what to breed with what. It's still hard enough making sure I'm doing everything right for Billy. Hehehehe....

And your King is GORGEOUS!

 

[Roy Munson]

No black corns???!! Darn it! Maybe it was the black rat snake he was talking about. Can you breed two different snakes like that? I mean, some people often refer to corn snakes as rat snakes. I don't know about breeding AT ALL though and wouldn't know what to breed with what. It's still hard enough making sure I'm doing everything right for Billy. Hehehehe....

And your King is GORGEOUS!

I'm going to leave y_o_n alone from now on. If she doesn't believe that I like her, she should remember that I don't rep posters whom I don't like. And don't take me for an expert. You can find plenty of examples where I have been corrected (and I appreciate the corrections).

You can breed a black rat with a corn, if they'll hook up. You can do the same with a king, except that there are much greater risks since kings eat corns. But I wouldn't bother if my intent was to produce corn-looking black hybrids. Black rats are corn-looking enough (but with much greater max size), and you can probably find someone who breeds specimens that end up nearly uniform black. I'm more into MBKs than black rats, so that's where my "black snake" obsession ended up. I'm getting at least one more MBK in the near future.