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possable serious health/ genetic problem? blizzard corn snake male

necromantica
05-18-2008, 11:06 PM
Ok so I have a male blizzard cornsnake, and yes he is a blizzard I got him from a respected breeder with his history.
But I am concerned about his behavior today.

See today is his sceduled feeding day, he is almost a year old.
He just went through a large growth spurt the last few weeks and has tripled in size.
Its been verry hot and bright out.
I have never had problems feeding him before. I have been spending all day trying to feed him a small verry verry small live rat pup.
But he seems to have lost his MIND.
hes never been agressive NEVER and I hold him and socialize with him on a regular basis.
He wont feed, He tries to strike over and over at the rat pup but once it touches the bottom of the tank its like he doesnt even know its their???
The entire day he has been attacking everything All I do is look at him from outside his cage and he gets into the strike position. Hes been rattling his tail all day hes never done that before either.

I tried to tease him with the pup a few more times ya know just in case his aim was just off right???
but I noticed hes not even hitting the rat pup at all he will strike and bite my hand my tongs a pen!
I dunno if this is mabie a hormonal issue with his sudden growth???
or mabie the light from outside with his pink eyes hes having problems seeing???
he is extremely etchy and wont seem to relax its been hours upon hours and every tiny noise and he goes ballistics!
Im not sure what to do because all he wants to do is attack me??
Im not afraid of him biting it doesnt hurt I just dont know how to handle this situation lol. I havent bothered him enuff for it to be stress and theirs little activity around the house I dont see anything that could overwhelm him.

But i know i need to get him to eat soon, hes been verry active too climbing to the top of the cage and trying to find a way out like he does when hes trying to tell me hes hungry.

necromantica
05-18-2008, 11:21 PM
<a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h221/opium_dream/?action=view&current=nanner.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h221/opium_dream/nanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

theirs a picture of him i just took it as u can see im outside his cage and hes still threatening to strike me lol,
the rat pup is behind him in their somewhere but he still wont eat it its alive and moving too so i dont see why he wont.
I havent removed the rat pup yet im hoping with some quiet time he may change his mind?

necromantica
05-18-2008, 11:23 PM
woops wrong one forgot i have to use img codes not html here it is

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h221/opium_dream/nanner.jpg

Mysfitz
05-18-2008, 11:35 PM
he could be in shed, having a bad day,

if today is the first day your having problems, just give him a few days/week then try feeding him again.

have you fed rats before? some snakes will refuse rats to begin with.

necromantica
05-18-2008, 11:45 PM
yea hes had rats many times before

daneale777
05-18-2008, 11:55 PM
Has he always been fed live? I wouldn't leave the rat in there for too long, as maybe it could hurt your snake? I'm not sure. I've never fed live before.

clipclopclip
05-19-2008, 12:08 AM
How are your temperatures? You said it was hot out..if he is over heating, he will not want to eat. It may make him aggressive as well.

Cora
05-19-2008, 12:24 AM
He could be getting ready to shed. leave him alone for a few days dont even go near his cage, does he have lots of places to securely hide? If his behavior is still aggressive and your feeding him live food you might want to start feeding him in a separate container it will help with his aggression towards you. Have you given him rats before? sometimes they might not accept or recognize a different mammal as food and be trying to defend himself from a threat.
I would say though that from the sounds of it he is mostly likely 2 stressed out to eat and you could be stressing further by leaving the rat in the cage.

necromantica
05-19-2008, 12:53 AM
the rat is just a pinky therfore couldnt hurt him even if it wanted too lol, and i dunno it could be the heat is around 80 degrees enuff to really upset him?

Susan
05-19-2008, 07:45 AM
He's obviously not in the mood to eat and you're constant pressuring him to try to eat is only making matters worse. You need to take the rat pup out, leave him alone and try to feed him next week.

Sanebedlam
05-19-2008, 09:06 AM
As a male he may also be an early bloomer hormonally I have noticed my male who is a total sweetheart normally, although he hasn't actually struck me yet, has been assuming the "S" Curve and all fairly regularly since breeding season started. Also if that takeout box is the only hide in his cage he may feel insecure so I would recommend adding some hides with smaller entrances that will make him feel more secure!

Joejr14
05-19-2008, 09:17 AM
As a male he may also be an early bloomer hormonally I have noticed my male who is a total sweetheart normally, although he hasn't actually struck me yet, has been assuming the "S" Curve and all fairly regularly since breeding season started. Also if that takeout box is the only hide in his cage he may feel insecure so I would recommend adding some hides with smaller entrances that will make him feel more secure!

While it's possibly, I highly doubt that any male corn snake that's currently feeding on rat pinkies will be at that point hormonally to think about breeding.

I agree with Susan. The snake doesn't want to eat, and you continually harassing it with food is only making matters worse. Either leave the rat pinky in the cage overnight with the snake and drape a towel over it to give him privacy, or take the food item out and try again next week.