SIGHS! I AM AT MY WITS END

[Ares2010]

Ok, remember Apollo that I picked up from a rescue place almost a month ago?
Remember I told you that he had been injured on his spine? Well, there is a dent there but it's been healed up for months. The lady that had him at the rescue place hasn't gotten back to me when I emailed her asking how she got him to eat. She had told me when I picked him up that he will only eat fuzzies. That's what I have been trying to give him. He ate ONE fuzzy in almost a month that we have had him.

We tried dipping it in chicken broth. braining it, taking head off it and trying to give it to him.. nothing.

I don't know what else to do. I did all that I could find on here that's suggested.

What do I do? He's getting skinnier and I just can't get him to eat.

This is really worrying me and my Sister

[Airidies]

Have you tried live? I'd try a live pink or peach fuzzy first and see how he does with that.

[Ares2010]

I haven't tried that one but the woman that had him at the rescue said he eats frozen.. so that didn't occur to me to try live.

[Airidies]

I'd give it a try just to see since your having problems getting him to eat. He may have come from a home were they fed live, and even though he ate f/t for a little while at the shelter he may decided he wants a live again...

I have a ball that does that. He was fed live by the breeder and then ate f/t for me for 5 months before going to strike for 6 weeks... I gave up and gave him live and he ate with seconds. He sometimes takes a f/t now but he prefers live.

[AliCat37]

We had an adult male corn that would only eat fuzzies. How do you offer him his food? With the one we had, we had to dangle the fuzzies above his head, he wouldn't eat them if they were just sitting still in front of him.

[Airidies]

Also, have you tried heating the mouse in a cup of VERY hot water? And how long do you leave him to eat?

Sorry my first thought is to try live, but i have them easily available since I breed mice. I know there are all kinds of tricks to get a hatchling to eat but I don't know how and if they work on a older snake whose stopped eating...

It could also be the season... Since he's male he may just go into a natural food strike...

[Ares2010]

We had an adult male corn that would only eat fuzzies. How do you offer him his food? With the one we had, we had to dangle the fuzzies above his head, he wouldn't eat them if they were just sitting still in front of him.

We did the zombie dance, left it on a paper towel for him leaving him alone.. dipped it in chicken broth and brained and all... he won't eat it.

[Ares2010]

By the way, he's an adult Corn snake.. approx 3 years old.

[Ares2010]

Also, have you tried heating the mouse in a cup of VERY hot water? And how long do you leave him to eat?

Sorry my first thought is to try live, but i have them easily available since I breed mice. I know there are all kinds of tricks to get a hatchling to eat but I don't know how and if they work on a older snake whose stopped eating...

It could also be the season... Since he's male he may just go into a natural food strike...

Yes, we did the hot fuzzie thing and tried zombie dance, leaving it with hiim etc... all at different time lengths.. it's frustrating

[ceduke]

If he's an adult and he's getting skinnier after not eating for only a month, I think you may be looking at an issue that needs a vet. An adult corn should not lose a noticeable amount of weight from not eating for a month.

[AliCat37]

I didn't realize that you were saying he's losing weight. I agree with ceduke, he shouldn't be losing weight after only a month. He may have some sort of internal parasite, I'd definitely have a fecal done on him.

[MysticExotics]

Sorry to hear about what you're going through :( I hope he recovers for you.

[Ares2010]

Yay! He ate a fuzzie last night.

My sister thawed out one of the fuzzies we got yesterday in a new shipment and she waved it at him and he opened his mouth.. she dropped it in there and practically ran out of the room so he wouldn't spit it out.

She checked later and he had eaten it. I checked again this morning and didn't find that he had regurged it or anything. Whew!

I will keep an eye on him and hopefully he will continue to eat. Perhaps the fuzzies have to be very fresh or something.. or hell, maybe he was finally hungry enough.

The woman at the rescue place I got him from said the Vet had given him a clean bill of health.

I will certainly keep my eye on him. We try not to handle him too much because of his injury.. even though it's healed, it looks awful and my sister and I cringe every time we hold him. And he's a wiggle ass and wants to get away

I suppose he needs more time to adjust to us. His tank is set up right and he has hides on either end.

[ceduke]

I'll stick with what I said before, if he's an adult corn losing weight after a month of not feeding, you need a second opinion from another vet, because that's not normal.

[Caryl]

I'm glad he did eat something for you. That said, ceduke is absolutely right. You should not see a noticeable drop in weight for an adult who goes a month with no food. Many adult males fast this long or longer during breeding season with no noticeable weight loss. How old/large is the snake in question?

Also, any time you have one with feeding issues, the safest course is to minimize handling. By that, I mean, don't handle except for cleaning and feeding.

[MysticExotics]

I would try to get a second opinion, from a different vet. If a snake is losing weight like that, there's something wrong.

I hope that you find out what's going on & that he recovers for you!

[Susan]

An adult corn snake that is only eating fuzzies is going to lose weight, sick or not. I interpret the use of the word "skinnier" to mean that he was thin when you got him and with only 1 fuzzy in a month, it would be perfectly normal for him to drop even more weight. In a corn snake of good weight, yes, a dramatic drop in weight in a month would be cause for concern, but in an already thin snake, I would have been concerned at the start. An adult corn cannot survive eating a single fuzzy per meal. He would need to eat a good half dozen at each meal/once a week, and if he needs to put weight on, perhaps more.

At this point, you want him to not lose any more weight and to actually start putting it back on. I would recommend that you try rat pinkies. Newborns are about the same size as a fuzzy, but with more fat content. He might even take larger rat pups once he starts eating regularly. You don't have to feed rat every meal, but they do help with the undernourished as well as in stimulating the snake's appetite as most snakes find rat pinks to be like candy and totally irresistible. If I have a problem adult, such as a female after laying or a male during breeding season that has just quit eating, a live rat pinky has never been refused unless the snake is really sick and on death's door.