Oh wise ones

[Trinity]

Savanna is a 2 year old 2' 7" normal corn snake. She was eating hoppers happily for a month and a half before a perfect shed. She ate once after she shed but now she hasn't shown any intrest in two weeks. It looks like she tries to get her mouth around the mouse and then gives up. So I just tried cutting it in half and she's still unintrested. Any suggestions?

[jimijaw]

It isnt to much to worry about yet, I had a similar problem and found that my uth quit working and my snake just wasnt interested in eating until I replaced the uth a few days later all is well. I wouldnt worry until your snake gets to around 5 or 6 weeks with out eating. Please keep us posted. Jimi

[Susan]

I'm a very poor judge when it comes to determining length and the actual size of the snake, but 2 yrs old, 2' 7" and still on hoppers doesn't seem quite right to me. If she was eating adult mice at 2 yrs old, I might say she was getting ready to lay a clutch of eggs. But if she can only handle hoppers, then she's way too small for eggs. At this point, I would just wait and see if she continues to refuse her next couple of scheduled meals. I wouldn't increase the frequency yet, but you may want to try a rat pinky or live hopper, just for kicks.

[snakemom1961]

I guess my first question would be is She definately a She.
As Susan said being a 2 yr old and still on hoppers seems like she may be pretty small and I'd question her real age. That said it is mating season and males often go off feed during this time. Thier minds are more on females then food.
If she/he continues not to eat there are many different ways to try and get your snake to eat. IE braining, slitting, scenting. Do a search and you will find many different things people have had luck with.

Good luck with your gal and hope this helps.

[bitsy]

I usually take the "try it and spit it out" routine as being an indicator that the food item might be too big. Also, it's possible that the hopper was too "furry" - sometimes they can be funny that way.

It's probably worth trying to offer three pinkies at a time and see if s/he is interested.

If it's any consolation, one of my 8 month olds did this recently. She'd taken fuzzies for three feeds, then she tried to eat one (same size as the previous ones) mouthed it about for a while and spat it out. After that, she refused three more feeds until I offered her pinks. Three feeds on pinks and she decided to take a fuzzy again.

Sometimes, you just don't know what's going on in those scaly little heads... :rolleyes:

[Trinity]

The age and length are approximations. So here's what I did. I kicked her uth up to about 83-85 and I waited a week and a half. Defrosted and split a hopper and she's still not intrested. So it's now been three and a half weeks. I don't have anything else but hoppers to feed. So does anybody have something else for me to try? :nope:

[tyflier]

Yes...follow the BLUE link in my signature for a ton of good ideas.

ASlso...you say you "upped the temps to 83-85"...what were they before? You'r average temps on the warm side should be right at 85*F ALL the time, with maybe a slight drop at night...

[jimijaw]

I have a Candy Cane Male just over 4 ft long and of course its breeding season so he hasnt eaten in 3 weeks but I offer every week. He was raised on F/T or fresh Killed since a baby. Today I tried to feed him and he was not even interested. That is until he seen the mouse move and he attacked it like there was no tomorrow. Now I always use hemostats to handle the mice because I dont want my scent on them, now usually when my snake doesnt eat I will return the snake to his cage and then remove the mouse but this time I grabbed the hemostats and began to take the mouse out when my snake seen it move actually by me and he attacked and ate. So you may try moving the mouse a little and make sure your scent isnt on the mouse. Just a thought. Ive also heard that soaking the mouse in warm chicken broth will some times work. Good luck.

[Mikanik]

I'm a *total* noob to this stuff, but i was reading about something called mouth-rot. Could that be a possibility? *shrug*

Sorry if I"m way off!

[jimijaw]

I'm a *total* noob to this stuff, but i was reading about something called mouth-rot. Could that be a possibility? *shrug*

Sorry if I"m way off!
That would be a definate possibility, I just assumed that the snake was healthy and just stopped eating. Sure wouldnt hurt to check for it.