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Moving

M

Mauricia

New member
So I'm homeless for 13 days because I'm switching apartments and the leases don't match up. I brought my corn snake to my parents house which is only an hour from my house because none of my friends have air conditioning so I figured my parents house is a safer option. I'm just not sure what to do about her feeding.
She is an adult and I feed her 1 adult mouse each Tuesday, usually.
I last fed her on Tues 17th. I moved her early this morning so she had 4 days to digest. Should I feed her this Tuesday, or should I give her a little more time to settle? I'll be moving her again on Sept 2nd. Any advice on how to space her feedings around these two moves would be awesome.
Also, I had to move all my fish too, and I brought all my water with me so that they wouldn't be stressed, which made me wonder if my snake will car about the water change in her dish? My parents have well water and the snake is used to city water, should I bring her a gallon of my water to minimize stress?
I also haven't handled her since her last feed (just picked up her whole tank and put it in the car) should I avoid handling her until after she's in my new apartment for a week? My sister's really want to see her but I told them I want to minimize her stress so I would ask for people's opinions on here.
Thanks!
 
Once a week is quite frequent for most adults so she must be pretty healthy. In your place I'd wait until you're settled in your new home. Moving her around with anything in her stomach risks a regurge.

Plus she's in unfamiliar surroundings now and will also be when you get into your new place. You need to treat her as a new arrival and not handle or feed her for a week after each move. She'll still need to acclimitise and calm down after the stress of the move(s), even if she's in her usual tank.

Going without a feed for three weeks is nothing for a healthy adult. It's not recommended routinely, but she'll be fine as it's a one-off.
 
Thanks for your reply!
Ok I'll wait three weeks, the last time she didn't eat each week was two years ago so I think she'll be fine.
She'll be at my parents house for two weeks so if I wait a week to handle her she'll still be there, I was thinking I shouldn't handle her for three weeks until after she digests her next feed because I feel bad for having to move her twice and want to make it as pleasant as possible for her. Would it really be ok to handle her after a week at my parents (just for my sisters' sake, I don't really care, although I wouldn't let them hold her since she's used to me and I think that's too much stress for her) or would you wait until the moving is all done?
I just feel so bad about doing all this to her :(
 
Snakes don't have human emotions. The move will be more stressful for you and the snake will hardly notice it. The only thing the snake will notice is a few different odors and slight temperature changes. Well water without all the additives of a city water system is better for the snake anytime. The only thing I might suggest is to keep the cage covered so the snake isn't bothered by different people moving around.
 
I don't really think of stress in Corns as the same as stress in humans. In reptiles it's an instinct - the snake doesn't know where it can be safe and it'll take a while to settle in and be comfortable again. I have one that goes on a lengthy feeding strike if I put him in a new tank - I interpret that as him being stressed (in a reptile way) by the unfamiliar. Most of my others don't give a hoot about new tanks.

Seems to be an individual thing, but as this is the first time the OP's snake has moved (I assume?) then I'd plan for trouble and be grateful when it doesn't happen.
 
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