• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Snake won't eat

R

RicardoCruz005

New member
Before I get linked to the FAQ, I already read it.

Temperatures are fine, low 70's. I recently re-located my snake to a different part of the house due to renovations, but he'd been eating fine in there until two weeks ago. I've tried feeding him live mice last week, both too small to be of any harm to the snake. This week I pre-killed one to see if that would interest him more, but to no avail. He hasn't eaten now for 2 weeks and 2 days, and it's worrying me. He's shown increased aggression if that means anything, he even strikes at his own reflection in the glass. I handled him frequently ( once a day, or one every other day minimum ) prior to his move to the other room, but I haven't had as much time lately, although I doubt a few days in solitude would be enough to turn my snake into a jerk. Help?
 
I won't get into the live f/t thing but since your feeding a mouse I would think it an adult. So...maybe it a male and males tend to go off feed this time of year.
 
Just out of curiosity, what are the temps on the hot side? Or is the whole cage set in the low 70s? If it's the whole cage, then you should definitely get some heat on one side, and have it set at around 85 degrees. If you do have heat, then I apologize for the misunderstanding.
The only other thing I can think of is he's stressed from the move. That can stress him out and cause the refusals.
 
Suzy said:
Just out of curiosity, what are the temps on the hot side? Or is the whole cage set in the low 70s? If it's the whole cage, then you should definitely get some heat on one side, and have it set at around 85 degrees. If you do have heat, then I apologize for the misunderstanding.
The only other thing I can think of is he's stressed from the move. That can stress him out and cause the refusals.
Click to expand...

The whole cage is low 70's, I'll try adding some heat. He ate in the room before though, that's why I'm curious as to why he won't eat now. He ate just fine the first week I moved him into the room, but now all of a sudden he wont. He's not an adult either, I'd say he's about 8 months. Also, this isn't a corn snake, it's a california striped king, if that makes any difference. If its any concern, my year and 3 month old Cornsnake moved with him into the room at the same time ( They are on completely different ends of the room, out of view of each other ) and he has been eating just fine in this enivornment.
 
RicardoCruz005 said:
The whole cage is low 70's, I'll try adding some heat. He ate in the room before though, that's why I'm curious as to why he won't eat now. He ate just fine the first week I moved him into the room, but now all of a sudden he wont. He's not an adult either, I'd say he's about 8 months. Also, this isn't a corn snake, it's a california striped king, if that makes any difference. If its any concern, my year and 3 month old Cornsnake moved with him into the room at the same time ( They are on completely different ends of the room, out of view of each other ) and he has been eating just fine in this enivornment.
Click to expand...

I would definitely put him on some heat. You should also look for signs of an upper respiratory infection (you can do a search to get the full gamut of symptoms, but you'll usually hear wheezing, clicking, popping, and you'll see liquid coming out of the nostrils and/or mouth.) because that can also cause refusals. If you're seeing signs of a URI, you should definitely get him to a vet as soon as possible - if you don't, it's very possible that he could die from the illness.
What you should do is get a UTH and a thermostat and set it at around 85 degrees. If your corns aren't on heat, you should also change that. I don't think having all of the snakes in the same room would make much of a difference - i've got a corn and a milk snake in the same room (and even within view of each other) and it's never caused them any issues.
I hope this helps! :)
 
Suzy said:
I would definitely put him on some heat. You should also look for signs of an upper respiratory infection (you can do a search to get the full gamut of symptoms, but you'll usually hear wheezing, clicking, popping, and you'll see liquid coming out of the nostrils and/or mouth.) because that can also cause refusals. If you're seeing signs of a URI, you should definitely get him to a vet as soon as possible - if you don't, it's very possible that he could die from the illness.
What you should do is get a UTH and a thermostat and set it at around 85 degrees. If your corns aren't on heat, you should also change that. I don't think having all of the snakes in the same room would make much of a difference - i've got a corn and a milk snake in the same room (and even within view of each other) and it's never caused them any issues.
I hope this helps! :)
Click to expand...

I already checked for URI, he doesn't have any of the symptoms, although I also read they can still have it even without showing symptoms. Theres no reason he should have one, I use the correct substrate, and I keep his cage tidy. And I'll definitely get both of the snakes some heat, but sadly I have a feeling it will not change my snakes decision to refuse. How common is it that a snake eating regularly will suddenly refuse to eat and die? Especially one 8 months old :(
 
RicardoCruz005 said:
I already checked for URI, he doesn't have any of the symptoms, although I also read they can still have it even without showing symptoms. Theres no reason he should have one, I use the correct substrate, and I keep his cage tidy. And I'll definitely get both of the snakes some heat, but sadly I have a feeling it will not change my snakes decision to refuse. How common is it that a snake eating regularly will suddenly refuse to eat and die? Especially one 8 months old :(
Click to expand...

If he's 8 months old he can go a little while without food - definitely longer than a hatchling can. When I got my Black Milk as a hatchling, he went about 3 weeks without food and was fine. (I eventually got him to eat by putting him in a small container with the pinky, covering it, and leaving him alone with it for a while. That's something you might want to try as well. Just leave him in there with the mouse for an hour or two, and see if he's eaten.)
I would still definitely recommend a vet visit, and you may want to have them also screen for parasites. I would keep tabs on his weight if I were you - just make sure he's not losing too much weight. It's really hard to tell you exactly what's wrong without being able to physically see the snake, so a vet would be your best bet. You can find a local herp vet by going to this website: http://www.herpvetconnection.com/.
 
Suzy said:
If he's 8 months old he can go a little while without food - definitely longer than a hatchling can. When I got my Black Milk as a hatchling, he went about 3 weeks without food and was fine. (I eventually got him to eat by putting him in a small container with the pinky, covering it, and leaving him alone with it for a while. That's something you might want to try as well. Just leave him in there with the mouse for an hour or two, and see if he's eaten.)
I would still definitely recommend a vet visit, and you may want to have them also screen for parasites. I would keep tabs on his weight if I were you - just make sure he's not losing too much weight. It's really hard to tell you exactly what's wrong without being able to physically see the snake, so a vet would be your best bet. You can find a local herp vet by going to this website: http://www.herpvetconnection.com/.
Click to expand...

I left him with a small pinky overnight, I put the pinky in a shoebox in his cage so that he wouldn't accidently eat any substrate. He ignored the pinky, it was still alive and walking about the next morning. I'll try to get him to the vet asap, but with money being as tight as it is lately, that might not happen right away :( Thanks for the vet link, you've been a great help.
 
maybe he's getting ready to shed? did you notice a blue phase? when loki blues, she will strike at anything and everything because she can't see crap.
 
nrfitchett4 said:
maybe he's getting ready to shed? did you notice a blue phase? when loki blues, she will strike at anything and everything because she can't see crap.
Click to expand...

Haha I don't think he needs to shed. Idk, he's just become extremely irritable lately. He's got some heat now, so I'm going to try again feeding him in a day or two.
 
More heat. Try getting a frozen pinky and cutting the tip of the head off the making it do the "mousy dance". If he gets irritable and strikes, that's a good thing, let him strike until he finally gets the mouse in his mouth and hopefully he will it. Otherwise, hit up the vet for some tests.
 
Good news and bad news everyone!

First the good : My snake ate to very small live pinkies! I'm sure the temperature was the thing, because all I did was put a space heater near his cage to warm up the room.

Now the bad : Incredibly aggresive for NO reason. The snake was always a little grouchy, but I just figured thats the way he was. By grouchy I mean he avoided being picked up, and often got freaked out by any sudden movemens. Now he tries to bite EVERYTHING. Anything in sight really, bites at his own reflection even. I'm not quite sure what to do, but this isn't the subforum for that so I'll take it over to behavior, just wanted to let you all know he's eating again and seems healthy other than a really bad attitude!
 
Hold on....this is a King snake your talking about?...not a corn. This thread should be moved (this is a cornsnake forum). Luckily Kings and corns need similar care...you should really specify..

Hopefully someone with more experience with Kings than me can help you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top