Corn snake wants food but doesn't eat it

[crimson89]

Ive had my corn snake for a bout a a year and a half now, it wasn't full grown when i got it and the age was un known by its owner. i believe it is full grown now, and i believe maybe 3 yrs old? not sure. Im not positive on sex. Crimson(snakes name) hasn't changed his activity level, he is always coming to see me when i come near the tank, and does their normal more active reaction like its hungry. Ive been trying to feed Crimson for about a month maybe two now, every meal crimson will see the mouse and grab it from my hand but then he leaves it on the ground and doesn't eat it. I'm really not sure whats wrong.
temp is good, tank is clean. his activity level is strong, always has water. sheds perfectly. is it possible that crimson is reaching his sexual maturity and could be in simple heat? he's never denied a meal before. and thats the only thing i can think of. Just the fact Crimson will grab the food still is what confuses me. i tried getting smaller meals and its the same thing. i did notice when i last cleaned the tank there was a mouse that wasn't fully digested so I'm curious if he puked that tup or it came out of is butt like that, which i doubt cause it was pretty big, so idk if his stomach was giving him issues? but its been some time you'd think he'd be better. i just don't know what the issue is. how long do they mate for if that is the issue? also can i re freeze the mice so I'm not wasting them or do i need to throw them out after they've thawed. thanks!!

[Christaberk]

Sounds like he regurgitated. If it looked like a mouse it was a regurge, not excrement.

Make sure the mouse is warm enough and that his temps are where they should be. Don't re-freeze a thawed mouse.

Give him a week, don't mess with him at all and follow regurge protocol.

[crimson89]

As I already stated its been a couple months of no food. He's had plenty of time. I tried feeding him something small lastnight and he may of eaten it. I need to check his cage today to make sure it wasn't just hidden and that he's keeping it down if he did eat it. And as I already stated his temp and everything is fine. Thankyou for your input

[crimson89]

How long do males mate for ? I know some denied food during that time

[crimson89]

Based on other things im reading I think safest bet is his first time being in heat

[daddio207]

Grabbing the mouse but not eating it is common behavior during mating season. He's basically warning the mouse to go away by striking at it(he doesn't know its dead). Since he is an adult I would try feeding him every 10-14 days until he starts eating then you can go back to a 7 to 10 day schedule. Some snakes go weeks and others go months without eating during mating season. I feed young adults every 10 days and older adults every 14 days anyways.
Also due to the regurge feed him smaller meals for 3-5 feedings and if he keeps the all down then go back to adult mice. If he regurges any of them then look up "regurge protocol" and follow it !
lets see some pics !

[crimson89]

Thanks so much! I'm thinking he only regurged because of the size. I get his feed from petsmart and they were getting rather large so I switched to rat pups which he seemed to get down a lot better . So I try for around that size and a little bigger now . I got adult mice this time but they are in the smaller size. The one I got him to finally eat was similar to a rat pup . By the looks of it he did eat it and is keeping it down so far! So yey :) and that is very comforting that you said mating wise they'll still grab the food, cause I did not read that anywhere else. I shall post some pics of my handsome guy ;)

[crimson89]

Forgot to mention I always fed him every 7 days but I guess now he's not growing anymore that may have been too much food causing him to reggurged as well. I'll start doing 10-14 days!