Snake stopped eating! Help!

My Corn snake is a few months old and this is his first winter. He is in a 20 gallon tank and he is 27.5 inches long. For the first five or so weeks that I had him he ate one fuzzy a week. This is the second time in a row that he has gone about three weeks between feedings. Sometimes he seems interested and slightly opens his mouth, but doesn't take it. So my question to you guys is, is it normal for a corn snake to slow down his eating habits in the winter?

PS- I haven't changed his lighting, heat, type of bedding, cage size, etc. since i got him.

I don't think it's normal for few month old corns to go off feeding due to weather. My snakes have always fed consistantly regardless of the weather. Have you tried leaving your snake alone with the mouse? Maybe he'd like some privacy. I know that with one of my corns, he will not eat if I am watching him, and only eats when I cover his feeding bin and leave him to eat alone the dark.

Aside from not eating, is he acting normal otherwise? Are you sure the temps are warm enough?

Yes i've tried that and yes the temps are warm enough

Might be worth trying to tempt him with a couple of pinkies instead of one fuzzy, if he's *almost* eating. Have you tried leaving him with a fuzzy overnight?

Without any other signs of trouble or husbandry issues, I can't think what else to advise.

herper915 said:

Yes i've tried that and yes the temps are warm enough

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Please don't hear this a criticism; I'm looking for clarity. What are the actual temperatures in the viv? How is heat provided? How are you checking temperatures? Does the snake always have access to clean, fresh water? Has something in the household changed, such as a window in the room being curtained leading to more darkness, or a new pet being added, or someone having something noisy (TV, stereo, computer) in the environment?

Growing healthy snakes usually eat consistently. Some go off feed when they're due to shed, and males may stop eating in the spring. If temperatures are adequate, they don't stop eating for wintertime. Heck, there are plenty of snakes out foraging in the woods near me because it's been over 80 F until just days ago. Don't panic, but do keep trying to figure out what's going on with yours.

Two things come to mind:

1) A corn snake that is a few months old would not be 27 inches. That snake is probably over a year old.

2) That cage size is pretty big. I find some snakes feed better when kept in smaller enclosures.

If you snake is over a year old, it may be "shutting down" for the winter.

he has a heat mat and a light. the temperature in the tank is around 83-85 F. There is a thermometer and a meter for moisture in the enclosure. He has fresh water at all times and i have not changed anything in or around his enclosure.

yes i have tried leaving it in there overnight. btw i feed him in a separate, smaller container.

do you mean multiple pinkies all at once?

herper915 said:

he has a heat mat and a light. the temperature in the tank is around 83-85 F. There is a thermometer and a meter for moisture in the enclosure. He has fresh water at all times and i have not changed anything in or around his enclosure.

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Does he have a cold side of 70-77f (this is important)? I'd also just forget about the light, that might even fix the situation. I've always assumed that snakes could be slightly more comfortable in low-light conditions, seeing as they are nocturnal. As long as there is a difference between day and night (even /some/ natural light accomplishes this), it's good.

Stars said:

Does he have a cold side of 70-77f (this is important)? I'd also just forget about the light, that might even fix the situation. I've always assumed that snakes could be slightly more comfortable in low-light conditions, seeing as they are nocturnal. As long as there is a difference between day and night (even /some/ natural light accomplishes this), it's good.

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yes he has a cold side. and i don't think the light is causing the problem and don't take this the wrong way but i don't know how qualified you are to answer my question so i don't think i should take your advice

herper915 said:

yes he has a cold side. and i don't think the light is causing the problem and don't take this the wrong way but i don't know how qualified you are to answer my question so i don't think i should take your advice

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LOL....You did ask for advice.

Id lose the light. Lights in corn snake enclosures do 2 things, they add heat and they stress the snake. Corn do not need lights, they aren't basking reptiles. They need BELLY heat, from a heat mat.

Im curious what kind of thermometer you use. One of the things people often do wrong is use those sticky thermometers to read AIR temp. Air temp is useless. You need a digital thermometer to measure the exact spot of the heat mat. And you need a thermostat to shut the heat mat off when it reaches 85, because after 30 minutes, more then likely your temps are in the 100s.

Now if you have a heat mat with a thermostat, and your thermometer shows 83 degrees and the probe is under the aspen.....the top of the aspen where your thermometer is not can be up to 90, 95 degrees because you have a light on.

Im curious what kind of thermometer you use, because you said "Its about 83-85" If you had a probe thermometer your answer more likely would be exact, not an about. For example, my Abbotts warm side right now is 85.2

I hope I sound qualified enough for you

herper915 said:

yes he has a cold side. and i don't think the light is causing the problem and don't take this the wrong way but i don't know how qualified you are to answer my question so i don't think i should take your advice

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What is a qualified person? The people on this site that offer advice have to get it from some where. Very few pull it out of nowhere and comments like that are going to keep others from answering you just for the simple fact that you were being rude with no reason. (Surprised Wade has not popped in to comment on this yet.) If you are asking for advice then take what you are given. We can only share what we know and its up to you to decide if you are going to use the advice or not. There is NO reason to make comments that shut someone down for trying to help you which is the reason you posted in the first place.

How much does your snake weigh? In grams. That will help the people reading to decide if what you are feeding is to small or to big. What are you feeding? Live? F/t? Stunned? If you feed pinkies don't feed more then two in a feeding. The more info about what you are feeding, how you feed, what you feed in, and the tank setup the better we will be able to help you. If we know all of the factors then we won't have to waste time asking questions to find out. So tell us everything so that us unqualified snake owners can try to help you, if of course that is what you want. If not don't waste our time.

Also, just because we all like seeing snakes, can you post a picture or two?

Don't ask for advice if you're going to pick and choose which answers you like. This is laughable.

When my father-in-law gets advice he doesn't like, he proclaims the giver unqualified.

Herper915, we're all here because we care about the animals. We also care about the people who care about the animals. That's why this is a COMMUNITY, and a good one. No one is forced to act on advice given here. No one is forced to give advice. Some people earn respect by sharing their knowledge which is proven sound. Others earn a raised eyebrow or flames because their lack of knowledge (or tact) is potentially problematic.

You asked for advice. We're trying to help. Play nice.

Have you tried putting the mice in chicken broth or egg? Maybe that would help. I know mine has done the hunger strike thing before, but it seems too late in the year for that. I hope everything is ok.

ok i didnt mean to sound so rude. I was pissed off at the time and I'm sorry.

We all have bad days. Typing things often makes them sound worse than intended. To make things more complex, there are a lot of members whose native language is something other than English who may not always understand tge tone of a message.

We all have bad days. Only good people really apologize for them. :cheers:

Over the years I had have snakes go off feed for no apperent reason and then go back on . This is that time of the year . The fact you may keep it warm does not always stop them from going off feed. Do you get natural day light come in the room. I do and I get strong light As soon As I get a cold snap in the room I get a few that go off feed . now I dont use heat because the room is pretty warm from 70 to 90 degrees depending on what time of the year it is and how much sun come in the room and how much heat I get in late fall and winter . The more cold it is outside the more heat I get. when the heat goes off the sun starts to get strongeg and they start breeding. So if exsposed to strongly lit room by sun light the photopearod can make them go off feed and start going to the cold side of the tank.

Your snake also might have parisites or a cold. I dont know I'm not there feel free to call me if you like maybe talking to you on the phone we might be able to come up with something 718 792 2593