Not sure what went on here with feeding tonight

[HermesMom]

I've been feeding Hermes two pinkies, I'd say about medium sized for a while now and tonight tried to feed him one large. He wouldn't touch it, he smelled it and that was about it. I bought all the mice from the same guy, this is his first from a vacuum sealed bag and I did run it under water quick, which is also something I've never done with him. Would this be reason enough for him not to want it? I thought maybe the size had him fooled a bit, he's not always the brightest bulb lol, so I put a tiny slit in it's head... still, nothing. Will a snake not eat food if it "isn't right"? I threw out the large pinky and defrosted two of the med. sized pinkies and when I gave them to him, he gobbled them up just like usual. Any thoughts?

[Nanci]

Did the big one have hair? You could try the big one cut in half next time! Sometimes snakes are resistant to change...

[HermesMom]

It didn't have hair. Great, leave it to him to be the finicky one.

[MotleyCrue]

I have had corns refuse one mouse and take another. The only thing I could chalk it up to was smell. Both were fully white mice, so color wasn't a factor. Thankfully I have other snakes and didn't have to waste the mouse, but I believe they have "tastes".
:eatsmiley

[Nanci]

Maybe he's going blue and you just can't tell yet! I have learned that with an established feeder, if they refuse out of the blue, it's best to not spend a lot of effort convincing them to eat, that night. I've been rewarded with regurges after giving a snake who initially refused more chances to eat, such as with reheats and leaving it with the food in the feeding container for an extended period. And the snake inevitable is blue when it regurges- I just couldn't tell at the time of feeding.

[vliberatore]

My 2yr old corn did the same thing when i tried switching it up from medium to large mice. Won't touch the large but if I throw a medium one in, it is gone before it leaves my hand.

[hypnoctopus]

I've had this happen once or twice. My snakes were getting two pinkies each and one evening my butter stripe only ate one of his and I was concerned. But when I checked on him in a few days, he was in blue.

[HermesMom]

Maybe I'll try cutting in half next week and it's possible he's going into blue. Thanks guys :)

[HermesMom]

It was a shed.

[Nanci]

Interesting!

[HermesMom]

On that chance that he could have been a little finicky about moving up in size, although I do believe his refusal last wk was due to a shed, I decided to wait another full week and offer him a small fuzzy instead of a large pinky. If "goofiness" about type/size of food was going to be one of his traits, I didn't want to have to face it again come next time. OMG he ate his little fuzzy like a madman! I haven't seen him strike and coil his food in a long time :)