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-   -   Adult corn snake refuses to eat (https://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146418)

ebcobra93 02-09-2019 06:19 PM

Adult corn snake refuses to eat
 
Hello all,

Brand new member here and this is my first post. I have a corn snake that is about 5-6 years old. We have had him for 3 years. During that time, he has never had a problem eating (frozen/thawed large mice). He typically eats every 5-7 days without fail. The exception to this over the past 3 years has been in late Feb/March for about 2 months (mating season). Overall, he has been in perfect health and is usually very active.

About 5 months ago, he stopped eating. Nothing in his environment or food source changed. After 3 months of not eating anything, and after running out of ideas, I tried two live feeder mice. He immediately ate both of them, once right after the other. That was two months ago. Since then, he has again refused to eat the frozen/thawed mice. We have tried to feed him roughly once a week with no luck. During that time, we took him to a vet to have him checked out. The vet said he appeared to be very healthy, but did appear skinny from not eating. The vet recommended providing more warmth in the tank, which we did.

Today, I tried another live mouse and he again ate it almost immediately.

I am looking for any ideas on getting back on his frozen/thawed mouse diet. Not only do I have about a years supply that I have already bought, but I don't want the snake to get hurt from the live mice.

I completely understand the downside of feeding live mice so I am not really looking for advice on that.

I appreciate any help. Thanks!

Twolunger 02-11-2019 01:27 PM

Yours is an unusual situation. A 6 year old male doesn't need to eat that often. If I fed my males more frequently than every 10 days with a large mouse they would soon be obese. Males can go for months without eating, and surprisingly don't lose much weight. Yours appears to be a bit skinny from not eating much. I would try warming a frozen mouse to about 100 degrees and feed with tongs, making him pursue the mouse. He may be bored with the frozen thawed. If he refuses to eat I'd feed a live mouse and get a stool sample for the vet to check out, if he hasn't done so already.

albinoscooby 02-20-2019 01:19 PM

You should always try to start a corn off eating FT if you can. if you have live mice on hand, you can try rubbing the FT against their fir. You can also use some of the shavings in the mice cage, and put it in the bin with them. You can also try to feed him in a seperate tote cage, and not his own Vivarium


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