Male on Hunger Strike!

Hello again everyone

So far the lovely snake and I have been doing just fine and I've been able to get back into my daily life without worrying about coming home to a snakey disaster. For those of you who don't know, I adopted a 3yr old corn snake about 2 months ago and he's my first ever scaled friend Since early March he's settled in quite nicely and was eating regularly. Then I had a regurge at the end of march, but he ate again Mid april with no problems. After that I went on a short 3 day vacation for Easter and he's been refusing food since then. Its now been about 3 weeks since his last mouse. I know this is the crazy breeding season, and he's been ALL over his tank the past few weeks. I've never seen him so active haha. When I put him in his feeding tank, he seems more interested in escaping then in the mouse. I've tried braining them and heating their heads with hot water but with no success. The closest he's every gotten is picking one up by the leg and playing with it for a bit before loosing interest. He doesn't seem to have lost any weight (I'm picking up a scale this week) and has been very active up to two days ago. Now he just pops his head out of his warm hide every once in a while. I've tried a mouse every week and so far he's refused 3. I don't have any other mouse eating creatures, so I keep having to chuck em and I hate wasting. Anything else I can do? Are there any signs that he's ready to eat? Should I try again this week? All temps are totally normal as well as the humidity. I've been over them like a hawk so I don't think thats the issue.

Chipotle and I thank you for your help in advance

I would not be worried at all after 3 weeks. Double check your temps and start offering a hot prey item every 2 weeks instead.

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Ignore me mentioning the temps above, I didn't catch the last part of your post.

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You could also try feeding him in his enclosure instead of moving him. Heat up the mouse in hot water before offering too

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Originally Posted by TyeW

You could also try feeding him in his enclosure instead of moving him. Heat up the mouse in hot water before offering too

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I always heat the mice before feeding him, I just usually make sure the head is extra warm. I'm really worried about feeding inside his viv. First off, I don't want him to associate things coming into his viv with food, and (more importantly) I don't want him eating any of his aspen. I know people who feed inside the viv usually place the mouse on a feeding tray of some sort, but he sometimes pushes the mouse around before eating so I'm not sure if that would be effective in preventing bedding consumption.

I would say watch his attitude. My new guy had a mini-strike. I was worried at first, but he was very happy otherwise. I was handling him the other night and noticed he got way more defensive than usual(rattling his tail and getting ready to take a nip at me!). I thought "hey, maybe he's hungry! I've wasted three other mice so why not try again?" I put him in his eating box, watched some netflix, and when I checked up on him it was gone. One major change besides attitude is I put him in a very dark enclosure for feeding. He seemed to respond much better to that. Also, what time are you feeding your friend? They might do better at night/evening.

And how big is the place where you are trying to feed? IME the more room you give, the more likely your snake is to just cruise around and ignore its dinner. I restricted space so my snake and his dinner could be very close.

Don't be worried yet! Many male snakes go on a hunger strike during the breeding season. A few of mine have this year, and it is annoying, but I just keep offering them food once a week.

It is too bad that you have to waste the mouse if he doesn't eat it, but to me it sounds like you need another snake.

I would keep offering him a nice hot mouse once per week. The only change I would make to his normal feeding routine is to try offering him something smaller than he would normally eat. One of my males has been refusing food for about a month now, and he finally ate a hopper for me (he usually eats an adult).

Originally Posted by elliotulysses

I would say watch his attitude. My new guy had a mini-strike. I was worried at first, but he was very happy otherwise. I was handling him the other night and noticed he got way more defensive than usual(rattling his tail and getting ready to take a nip at me!). I thought "hey, maybe he's hungry! I've wasted three other mice so why not try again?" I put him in his eating box, watched some netflix, and when I checked up on him it was gone. One major change besides attitude is I put him in a very dark enclosure for feeding. He seemed to respond much better to that. Also, what time are you feeding your friend? They might do better at night/evening.

Oh really? Poop. Sweet little Chipotle has yet to strike or show any aggression towards me. In fact, I think he's been OVER tolerant of me haha I remember when I first got him (not long ago lol) I was afraid to take him out. I didn't mind *Holding* him but grabbing him out would sometimes take me 10min just to get up the nerve haha Unfortunately my 'feeding container' is a Rubbermaid SnappTopper which isn't very secure. It snaps shut on either end, but I've seen him push his head on the sides and the lid gives. So I can't just stick him in the closet for an hour and check up later. I tried covering the lid mostly with a blanket, and he just stops moving altogether lol I always feed him at night

Originally Posted by hypnoctopus

Don't be worried yet! Many male snakes go on a hunger strike during the breeding season. A few of mine have this year, and it is annoying, but I just keep offering them food once a week.

It is too bad that you have to waste the mouse if he doesn't eat it, but to me it sounds like you need another snake.

I would keep offering him a nice hot mouse once per week. The only change I would make to his normal feeding routine is to try offering him something smaller than he would normally eat. One of my males has been refusing food for about a month now, and he finally ate a hopper for me (he usually eats an adult).

Hmm, when I got him, he was eating large mice. Now I'm offering him small adults. I would love love to get another snake. Unfortunately, I'm 18 and still live with my mother. I think if I were to bring home another snake, she would go through the trouble to get a gun license, buy a gun, shoot me, and then throw me out.

However.... If I were willing to brave said circumstances, any suggestions for a voracious feeder? Preferably something that could live in a 30-55gal and wont eat my family in the middle of the night Also would have to be something that doesn't require precise humidity. Actually I wouldn't really care if it was even a snake, as long as it will devour left over mice and isn't terribly hard to care for