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2 Months Still wont Eat... Any Info??

Bug22baby
03-29-2005, 12:35 AM
[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Navy]Well I was hoping maybe someone could help me with some information. I have 5 corn snakes. All of which I thought were babies when I bought 2 and then was given the other 3. Anyhow my question is not knowing how old they are or there true gender. I have what I believe is to be a female normal corn snake she is way bigger then the rest of my snakes and would eat anything I would put in front of her up until January when all of the sudden she refused every meal I have tryed to give her. Ive noticed that she will drink Tons of water cause everyday I freshen it up she comes out and drinks it up. Shes also very very active all night long. I usually have them all seperated but during a recent move they were together for a small period of time and there appeared to be no problems. Now she still refuses to eat and is still very active, Ive looked her over and have not found anything unusual except she seems to be a little more squishier when I gently press on her undersides, dont know if that means anything. Ive looked in a few books and havent really gotten much out of them. All of my other snakes have ate on track without a problem. Does anyone know of anything that I should do for my snake? Im afraid she will die if she doenst eat soon. Any help would be great. Oh also since she has stopped eating she has not shed either.

CAV
03-29-2005, 12:41 AM
Could it be possible your she is a he??? :) How long have you had the snakes?

Bug22baby
03-29-2005, 12:57 AM
Well anythings possible a guy I worked with use to breed snakes and he told me that it appeared to be a female but that was when I first recieved it. It could be male I really dont know for sure. Ive also had all 4 of them including the one that wont eat since the second week of may 2004. When I aquired them I was told they were 2004 but this one has always been much much larger. I also have a 2005 Carmel but shes new and has been a little angel since the day I got her.

mbdorfer
03-29-2005, 08:07 AM
How big is "way bigger"? 2', 3', got any pictures?

Vicki M
03-29-2005, 08:50 AM
To me it sounds like a typical male who is in breeding mode. My male who is currenly in breeding mode is off his food and has been for about 6 weeks. His activity had also increased a lot. You will find this is common with most males during this time of year.

The other explination is that it may be a gravid female. Has this snake been in with a male in the last 12 months? Or she could be about to lay an infertile clutch. A female will often go off food while carrying eggs. The increased activity could be her looking for a place to lay.

It is important for you to get another opinion on the sex so you can establish what you need to do next. If it is male then it is nothing to worry about as long as you have noticed no other changes i.e excessive weight loss, signs of respitory problems etc. If it is a female you may need to put a laying box in for her.

Bug22baby
03-29-2005, 09:10 AM
Bigger hmmm he/she is over a foot longer than the rest last time I measured. I will try and borrow the bfs camera tonight and take updated photos. I would like to get a opinion from someone who knows more to find out what the sex really is but I just dont know anyone or anywhere. There is few vets that even take exotics around and Im not sure about if they will even take snakes. Besides Im a college student on a budget and unless its serious knowing the gender is not the MOST important thing. Ill try and get some pictures up and measure he/she tonight. And yes I was told before that I do have a male for sure but then again cant be positive. They all except my new carmel have been in contact with each other for a small amount of time because I had to move and that was just the easiest thing to do. My snake did eat for a while after the move and then just stopped. Thanks for everyones help so far it helps much.

ghosthousecorns
03-29-2005, 10:35 AM
I have a picky feeder I got her to eat by leving her alone in a deli cup w/ the pinky it worked the first time but now she won't eat unless I leave her in the viv and put the pinky in there without disturbing her, I took out the aspen and replaced it w/ astro turf stuff & she usually drags the pinky into the hide to eat like "don't watch me!"

MegF.
03-29-2005, 11:09 AM
Welcome to my world!! My "female" turned out to be a male, and is now on 3 months without eating. I wouldn't be surprised if your snake is a male.

moreptiles
03-29-2005, 01:26 PM
I hate to be the discouraging word here, but the symptoms you are describing seem very serious to me. You have a 2004 corn that has not eaten in 2 months, and now is showing a soft belly. This sounds a lot like soft belly syndrome as opposed to some response to breeding issues. I am assuming that this is still a relatively small juvenile snake, which is why I am so concerned. Older and larger corns can often go 2 months without food and still make it, but with smaller ones this is usually a bad sign.

So you can see it is critical to know the size of this snake in order to give you proper advice. Otherwise, we are just guessing.

Mark

MegF.
03-29-2005, 01:35 PM
Missed the comment about the soft belly, but there was no mention of them being 04's. They said they were uncertain as to age as they were given to them. They could be full sized adults for all we know;there was no actual size given except that it is about 1 ft. longer than the others.

Vicki M
03-29-2005, 04:18 PM
The soft belly thing is bugging me too now! I think we really need to know the size of this snake in order to advise any more. It would help if you could give an approximate size like 2, 4 or 6 foot?

Unless you have had it probed then sexing isnt 100%. If you cant afford to get it sexed then we may be able to help on that issue if you post a pic if the underside of the tail from about 1inch above the vent right to the end of the tail. Also if you can take a pic of the whole snake next to something we could use as a size guide, like a pencil or something.

CAV
03-29-2005, 06:21 PM
I am assuming that this is still a relatively small juvenile snake, which is why I am so concerned. Older and larger corns can often go 2 months without food and still make it, but with smaller ones this is usually a bad sign.

I've had numerous males over the years that go off fed during there first spring. :)

Bug22baby
03-29-2005, 06:30 PM
Ok So I am still waiting on a camera which I should have by the end of the evening. Anyhow my snake I measured it and he/she is 29 inchs and about a inch thick he/she use to be thicker but has thinned out a lil but not too much. Ive noticed that the bottoem scales are like sticking to me when I hold it just like poking out some. I have reduced takeing him out to not stress the snake anymore but I still try to feed it every 5-7 days each time he refuses and 9 times out of 10 he poops in his feeding box which is mostly liquid. The belly has no odd bulges or nothing of the sort just softer feeling but I assume thats because he/she hasnt ate in 2 months. I will try to post pictures tonight. Also about the age thing two of them I know are 2004's and then the other 2 I am not positive on for sure but I assumed they were 2004 snakes they were all about the same size as the 2 I purchased as 2004 snakes except the snake Im talking about now has always been much larger then my others. Well thanks Again for everyones comments I will be back to post more later tonight. I appreciate all the advice.