not feeding; cohabited; might be pregnant(?); strange stool

Here's the story:

Have had my CB16 female since she was a year old. She's always been a little bit of a reluctant feeder (she was one of those the breeder held back because she was late at getting to feed, but she did do it) but otherwise really placid and a lovely snake.

In October I decided to co-hab her. I know the advice is not to, but I have seen that sometimes its worked, so I introduced a CB16 male (mildly smaller than her but he's still too big for her to eat), with the knowledge that I might have to seperate them (had other viv all set up for him)

But they got along great -- curled up in hides together, and she actually fed even better than before so I was well pleased.

Now six months later they have been moved (I moved house so I moved them from one place to another. Same viv and set up tho). The day they were moved the CB16 female started exploring the viv like mental. CB16 male would follow her. Then all settled down and everything seemed normal.

Female ate an XL mouse in viv and I fed the male out viv (he's consistently fine with it) and he eats two medium mice. All is well.

In the middle of the week I found them lying beside each other, tails intertwined as if they were mating. They aren't brumated but I've heard that sometimes eggs still happen. I know this might have been male sizing female up to eat her or other way round as well, but I have no way to tell.

Then the day after male started exploring the viv like crazy; on the ceeling of the viv, slitherin about 24/7. The female however stuck to the hide like glue.

Figured it was due to hunger so a few days later (tonight) I've fed them their usual; one XL mouse for the female and 2 medium mice for the male. The male gobbled his two up, out the viv, no problem at all. The female didn't touch hers. I've brained it and tried to slap feed her (sometimes works quite with her), no joy.

When I went to go take the mouse out her viv I found a stool that looked smaller and lighter in colour than usual with specks of blood around the aspen. It was reasonably fresh but I have no idea if it was female's or male's?

My current plan is to move the male to another viv if female doesn't feed next week.

I want to re-iterate I know the general advice on co-habbing and know it's frowned upon. I also know feeding snakes external to viv is frowned upon, but I have done both after research and monitoring the snakes reaction to both. I would say that until now there has been no signs of distress to either.

Cohabitating of corns is not recommended, but some people do it anyway. I saw a pair for sale last year that had been together for over 5 years. I never asked if they had bred or there were any eggs. I'm not sure who frowns upon feeding outside of the vivarium. It's a good idea, especially when two snakes share a vivarium. Many people feed their corns that way. Regarding the lighter colored feces, I would take a stool sample in to your vet as soon as possible. If you can't get a sample the vet may try to use a swab or flush to get a sample. I have seen reptiles with brown feces diagnosed as having coccidiosis. Treatable, but your vet can make that determination.

Twolunger said:

Cohabitating of corns is not recommended, but some people do it anyway. I saw a pair for sale last year that had been together for over 5 years. I never asked if they had bred or there were any eggs. I'm not sure who frowns upon feeding outside of the vivarium. It's a good idea, especially when two snakes share a vivarium. Many people feed their corns that way. Regarding the lighter colored feces, I would take a stool sample in to your vet as soon as possible. If you can't get a sample the vet may try to use a swab or flush to get a sample. I have seen reptiles with brown feces diagnosed as having coccidiosis. Treatable, but your vet can make that determination.

Click to expand...

I was keen to use the extra space if I could but knew there was a high chance it wouldn't work out for the snakes. However, up until now there's been absolutely no problems. In fact they've seemed quite happy together; female eating better etc.

I stupidly decided to bin the stool, also unsure of how I use swab or flush but I could just take them both to the vet and the vet could do it for me, presumably.

It will definitely be harder to get a feces sample if she won't eat. Hopefully the vet will be able to get a sample. You should not try to use a swab or flush yourself, that is a job for the professional vet. Good luck, and let us know what the vet says.

It's worth noting that the blood may have been from mating. It's not uncommon for males to bleed a little bit (or even sometimes a lot).

Eveything sounds normal, get ready for a clutch of eggs