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Health Issues/Feeding Problems Anything related to general or specific health problems. Issues having to do with feeding problems or tips.

Snake jerks violently away from thawed mouse, what the heck?!
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Old 06-05-2018, 11:57 AM   #1
Ashirah
Snake jerks violently away from thawed mouse, what the heck?!

My four year old ( female?) corn acted really weird last time we fed her. Have only had her since late Feb, and she's been through two sheds and some mating behavior, so I feel like we don't really know what's normal for her yet. But last time I fed her I thawed the mouse and held it by her hide like I'd previously done. She was interested right away and came out to take a look. This time, though, instead of grabbing it, she bumped her nose against the mouse and then jerked away from it. She did this several times, sometimes bonking her head against the side of the aquarium. The she opened her mouth and began to mouth the bottom of the aquarium, and then her own coils! Eventually she took the mouse and ate it. What the heck? I have no idea what I was seeing! She did go into the milk stage coloring about a week after this, if that is any clue. I'm about to feed her again tonight and will see what happens. Any ideas? She's acting fine otherwise, as far as I can tell.
 
Old 06-05-2018, 10:54 PM   #2
JennaJ
I've noticed my snake can be a bit "derpy"/clumsy/slow about eating, and I think when they smell food they can get so over-excited when they are in 'food mode' that they sometimes will miss their target. It's like they get flustered or overstimulated? Maybe someone with more experience may chime in with some other insights. If they are eating, pooping, and seem healthy than I wouldn't worry too much. Since they are a bit new to you, with time I'm sure you will learn their personality. We have our quirks, snakes included. ;-)
 
Old 06-05-2018, 11:13 PM   #3
SillyNoodle
I've short-term fostered a good deal of different snakes for my local shelter.
I would say some are definitely more..... meal-challenged than others. Quite honestly it's one of the reasons why I find it amusing to watch them attempt to eat.

I have had one nom its own coils for a bit instead of the mouse, one overzealously lunge at a mouse carcass and coil around itself, one get so focused on eating that he flicked himself with his own tail acted like he was getting attacked and stared down his tail for a good 15 minutes before finally resuming to eat... list could go on. Some snakes seemed more prone to.... overreacting or just acting oddly during feeding.

My current corn (not a foster) likes to attempt inhaling his mouse sideways and seems to think that if he brute-forces it, it will eventually work. It has not worked. His record is an hour trying to eat the mouse in that orientation. He's relatively consistent with his eating weirdness, though he has had a few odd feeding sessions over the years where he is much more reactive/defensive/nose bopping. I've noticed that with this snake those "episodes" tend to happen within 3-4 days of his eyecaps noticeably frosting. He's only done that twice, though.

Do you happen to have the information of the previous owner? It may be worth asking (if that is an option) whether they have experienced this before with this specific snake. I'd personally only be concerned if it was a sudden abnormal (for that snake) behavior change, and if it worsens or sustains. Without any behavioral history, I'd be concerned if it worsens, and only worry about it sustaining if it is hindering her ability to independently feed and receive nutrition or if she exhibits other symptoms and behavioral (as best you can tell) changes.

Another thought is to make sure she isn't retaining her eyecaps when she sheds - definitely physically check her shed each time for both eyecaps. This could cause some vision problems if she is retaining them, and may require a vet visit to remove the retained caps and some husbandry changes to prevent future retainment.
 
Old 06-06-2018, 12:15 PM   #4
Ashirah
Thanks for the suggestions and sharing stories. It's certainly helpful, and amusing, to hear of other snakes' oddities! I will check the last shed for eyecaps (the only shed I still have) and I can ask the previous owners (though they swore this was a female but it was sure acting like a male this spring...) She did begin to turn blue not long after this feeding, so that may be part of what happened. And she does seem to be healthy, thank goodness, so I wasn't worried just very surprised and confused! I didn't end up trying to feed her because I'm taking her into my daughter's class the end of this week. Will feed her this weekend and report back!
 

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