Corn Snake not eating

[JadeChristal]

Hello, i'm new here so not sure if i am posting this to the right place :')

I have an amel corn snake, about 7 years old and i have had him for just over a year.
The last 7-8 weeks he has not eaten a thing, he is also more active than he usually is.
He gets medium mice every 7-10 days and has eaten every one once presented until now.
I studied animal care at college so i am thinking it could be something to do with mating season.
He was eating during winter and this started just before spring.
I know they can go quite a while without food and still be fine but it still worries me.
Should i try with smaller mice? or keep trying every week or two with the mice he already eats?

 

[jagodzinski]

First of all, welcome! (And this is a totally appropriate place for you to post this).

This time of year many snakes go off food. 7-8 weeks seems like a lot of time, but it is not super alarming yet. Keep offering food on the regular schedule - are you feeding (f/t) frozen thawed? If so, make sure they are warm and you can try moving them around a little to seem more appealing.

Otherwise, make sure he has fresh water, and otherwise seems healthy. This is breeding season for them like you said - so others I am sure are experiencing the same thing.

If you start to notice any other concerning things, you could call your vet to speak to someone on the phone, but right now I would not worry too much.

Look around the forums, use the search function, and I am sure you can find other similar stories to help reassure you!

 

[Karl_Mcknight]

I've heard of many snakes not eating for 4 or 5 months and they are perfectly fine. As long as he seems ok otherwise. ie - He's active, Drinking water, Not acting sick, etc....

He will eat when he's ready to.

But..... go down the check list just to be sure - 1. Are your temperatures right? Many snakes will not eat if the temps are wrong. 2. Have you changed something in his cage or surroundings? 3. And have you weighed him recently? Is he losing weight or staying the same?

You did mention he was 7 years old and you fed "medium mice" every 7 to 10 days.

I feed my snake "Adult Mice" and he's just over a year old. Depending on what your snake weighs, but I'm betting if he's 7 years old he's probably at least 350 grams or more, and he should be eating mice @ 30 to 40 grams (Large Mice) every 10 to 14 days.

Good luck with him.

 

[jagodzinski]

Do you have a scale? It would also help us if we knew the mass of your snake and the mass of the mice you are feeding currently.

 

[Ronzie]

Actually I was going to ask the same question. My emel who will be 6 this Aug. is not eating for the first time ever. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since his last scheduled feeding. He doesn't want anything to do with the frozen/thawed mouse at all, but is very active & still loves being handled. He's a big boy naturally so I'm not overly worried. Luckily my female reg. has no problems so the mouse doesn't go to waste.
If he wasn't so active or if there was a change in his behavior, then I'd be worried. I haven't weighed him since Nov. '13. Then he was 589g. He's a little bigger now and 55" long. He' at least 6" longer than my female reg. who is a runt.

 

[daddio207]

He was eating during winter and this started just before spring.
I know they can go quite a while without food and still be fine but it still worries me.
Should i try with smaller mice? or keep trying every week or two with the mice he already eats?

Welcome !!
A LOT of adult corns go off feeding this time of year (mating season).
Keep with what he already eats and try again in a week or two.

Snakes can go ALONG time without eating. I had an adult ball python go almost a year before eating again. I have a house snake that went 18 months before I had to start force feeding. He just had a perfect shed.
I have dozens of snakes go off feed this time of year. NO WORRIES........

Ronzie, Welcome Same thing ^ Males will get very active looking for a mate and stop eating. At that size definitely NO WORRIES