PDA

View Full Version : No Appetite--shedding or sick?


No Appetite--shedding or sick?

Nelalvai
08-23-2012, 07:49 PM
My baby albino corn snake (Salazar) hasn't been eating for a while now. At first I thought it was shedding, but he's finished shedding, all bright and shiny pink again, but he still won't eat. Is it some sort of aftermath-ness from shedding, or something else?

Fuzzoodle
08-23-2012, 07:55 PM
Could be a few things... What are his temps like? Sometimes too hot/too cold can throw them off their feeding schedule. Does he have lots of things to hide/burrow in? Baby corns will sometimes go off feed if feeling insecure or uncomfortable in their environment.
How long is 'awhile'? One of my babies is a little finicky, sometimes he'll refuse to eat for a month or so before picking back up again like nothing ever happened!

Have you changed mouse suppliers? I've heard of snakes being turned off food from different suppliers, they smell different.

Tried any feeding tricks? Overnight in a deli cup, covered up, brained/slit pink, really hot pink?

Nelalvai
08-23-2012, 09:22 PM
Five, maybe six days. Usually he eats every other day, which surprised me because I thought they ate less than that. I put him in a different container for feeding, so that he doesn't learn that hand=food. The container doesn't have anything at all in it. His normal tank has a hide, but he also likes going under the water dish.
The temp hasn't changed much. I have been messing with getting the humidity right, maybe that's bothering him?

Weda737
08-23-2012, 11:17 PM
every other day is a little often to be feeding in my opinion. I feed my babies usually every 4 or 5 days.

bitsy
08-24-2012, 02:46 AM
His normal tank has a hide, but he also likes going under the water dish.
He really needs at least two hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side. Then he can thermoregulate properly.

If shedding isn't a factor, correct temperatures seem to be the main culprit in a loss of appetite. Too hot or too cool means that they can't digest properly, which puts them off eating in the first place. You need a rough range of low-70s on the cool side floor, to mid-80s on the warm side floor. Keeping the warm side floor below 90 is key. Many folks have had trouble managing this over the very hot summer some areas have had.

Every other day is really too often to feed. As has been said, one pinkie every 4-5 days is better for his health. Just because he'll eat more often, doesn't make it good for him.