Mister Internet
New member
Hello all!
I have a gorgeous big boy, purchased from Kathy Love 17 years ago... he's pushing 6' now, and has always been a good eater. For the first 15 years or so, he would eat anything... thawed, room temp wet rats, BOOM. Then he got a little picky and I had to change it up to ASFs, and then he kept eating pretty well. For the last few months, he's only taken the Lg ASF about every third feeding.. every 6 weeks or so. He's alert, clear eyes, great muscle tone, very active, moving a lot and flicking, no obvious loss of mass or mobility, etc.
Is it just that once corn snakes are "elderly", they only need to eat every 6-8 weeks or something? My experience with colubrids has been that their metabolisms are high enough to encourage more frequent feeding, and he's been on about a one large prey item once every 2 weeks schedule for many years now. Is it just another round of pickiness that I need to see if he will switch back to regular rats, or try something else?
He's always been the picture of health, and like I said, nothing obviously wrong now. Temps are spot on, he's in the same conditions I've kept him in for 14 years... AP cage, Herpstat controlled temps, etc. Ideas and experiences welcome, especially from those with older snakes...
I have a gorgeous big boy, purchased from Kathy Love 17 years ago... he's pushing 6' now, and has always been a good eater. For the first 15 years or so, he would eat anything... thawed, room temp wet rats, BOOM. Then he got a little picky and I had to change it up to ASFs, and then he kept eating pretty well. For the last few months, he's only taken the Lg ASF about every third feeding.. every 6 weeks or so. He's alert, clear eyes, great muscle tone, very active, moving a lot and flicking, no obvious loss of mass or mobility, etc.
Is it just that once corn snakes are "elderly", they only need to eat every 6-8 weeks or something? My experience with colubrids has been that their metabolisms are high enough to encourage more frequent feeding, and he's been on about a one large prey item once every 2 weeks schedule for many years now. Is it just another round of pickiness that I need to see if he will switch back to regular rats, or try something else?
He's always been the picture of health, and like I said, nothing obviously wrong now. Temps are spot on, he's in the same conditions I've kept him in for 14 years... AP cage, Herpstat controlled temps, etc. Ideas and experiences welcome, especially from those with older snakes...