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Ok folks-got a problem. 4 weeks ago I fed my 9 month old albino corn smake her normal weekly meal of 4 defrosted baby rat pups. She ate 3 of them but I did not notice until a day later that she pushed one of them to the side of the cage-it stank by that point.
Now she has been off her food for 4 weeks and refuses to eat at all-just turns her pretty little nose up at any food. I keep defrosting food and flushing it down the toilet. Otherwise she looks completely heathly and is very active as usual.
Suggestions on how to get her to eat-or should I just wait it out? I am very experienced with Ball Pythons but this is my first Corn.
Now she has been off her food for 4 weeks and refuses to eat at all-just turns her pretty little nose up at any food. I keep defrosting food and flushing it down the toilet. Otherwise she looks completely heathly and is very active as usual.
Suggestions on how to get her to eat-or should I just wait it out? I am very experienced with Ball Pythons but this is my first Corn.
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Mon, September 19, 2005 - 7:16 PMI'm not an expert on corns, but my 14 month old normal corn, Lili, eats 1 or 2 fuzzies (mice) per week. She seems fine with that, and is growing quickly. I don't know how normal her diet is, although we are following the instructions of her breeder, and it seems to correspond with what we've read. That seems to be significantly less food than yours is getting- maybe yours is just not hungry? Are you thawing the food too much (cooking it)? Is it too cold in her viv? When they slow down in cold weather, they can go without food for months.
These are the first questions that came to my mind. Hopefully they help, or someone with more experience will chime in, but it seems like it probably wouldn't be harmful to wait her out awhile, since they can go for so long without eating... Has anything changed since you posted? -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Mon, September 19, 2005 - 7:25 PMI have to say that i dont have any experience with corns either but I remember when my ball python wouldnt eat around this time of year as we were going into winter... my iuana is not really eating much either right now... I'm not sure if the turning of the season may/ may not have something to do with it.. but maybe its time for the vet.. just call and ask questions.. there should be a herptologist somewhere near you or by phone. Just make sure your little one has water so he/she doesnt dehydrate. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Tue, September 20, 2005 - 12:33 AMI have a 2 1/2 yr & a 2yr old corn , they don't have that much per feed . the larger one has a large mouse & the smaller one has a small mouse once a week .
Shedding could be your problem , both of ours are much less hungry when due to shed
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Mon, November 7, 2005 - 11:13 PMHas your snake eaten since then? (I just looked here after not being on tribe much for a while.)
All my corn snakes brumate over the winter, except the ones less than a year old. (9 months isn't too bad - wondering how she could be that age, though - January is a strange time for a clutch to hatch!)
Brumating is like hibernating but the metabolism doesn't slow down quite as much, and it's what they'd do naturally - you can get more info elsewhere, but basically I reduce their heat when the light decreases (October or November, usually, over 2 - 4 weeks) and they won't eat again 'til I've warmed them up for spring. Yours might be reacting to light levels and getting that it's fall, and slowing down accordingly.
You can try setting up a light on a timer (12 hours on, 12 off) and making sure the heat is high enough if you want her to eat, or you could let her brumate if you make sure you have the right info on it. If she's too cold she won't be able to digest properly, so definitely go one way or the other. It sounds like she was eating very well before (rat pups are more caloric than similar size mice, fattier I think) so she could probably go quite a long time without eating. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Tue, November 8, 2005 - 12:16 AMYou can also try a fresh kill, they tend to be more appetizing then a defrosted pup. Your feeding schedule is heavy but it all depends on what you are looking for. If you want accelerated growth like most breeders then you are fine. If you want your corn to live a bit longer and grow slower then one to two a week is more than enough for a corn. You will see a reduction in feeding interest over the winter as others have mentioned unless you are able to mantain similar temperatures year round. I doubt the discarded stinky rat has anything to do with it. Also you can try adding a little life to the pray with long tongs to stimulate a feeding response. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Thu, November 10, 2005 - 5:25 PM"Also you can try adding a little life to the prey with long tongs to stimulate a feeding response."
We do this as well, dragging the mouse around, and then shaking it a bit as if it's struggling after she's struck. It certainly makes a more interesting experience for the snake and any watching humans. The movement of the prey gives the snake the opportunity to hunt and strike and constrict, and gives a us the opportunity to see her in action. It's just amazing:)
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Thu, November 10, 2005 - 7:27 PMYou don't want to have to do this every time though because this will hieghten your snakes feeding response. Over time this will make it more likely to strike at a hand when you reach in the cage when it is hungry. I forget if you said either way but never feed your snake in its cage. Always feed it in a feeding space designated somewhere else. Boxes or rubbermade bins with towels as substrate work well :) -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Fri, November 11, 2005 - 11:28 AMI use feeding boxes for all of mine (remember to make sure they have some ventilation holes) and it's very helpful. Several of my snakes are housed together and I don't want to put prey in with more than one snake, also they now associate the feeding container with food and that helps encourage them to eat when I want them to (and not think me reaching into the cage is food). Some snakes, the ball pythons especially, are happier if I put a towel or something over the container, so they do not feel as exposed (the containers are clear) when hunting. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Tue, November 15, 2005 - 1:06 AMI too use feeding boxes for both my corns , they are housed together and seem to enjoy each others company .
it also makes things much easier for mucking out !
ours now react when I take the feeding boxes down from the top of the vivarium and come out of their hidey holes coz they know grubs up ! -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Tue, December 6, 2005 - 6:33 PMMy corn snake eats two adult mice every week. You were feeding rat pups - maybe try mice? My corn snake is the best eater of my three snakes (my ball python gets finicky in winter and my red tailed boa is hard to understand sometimes) and she is hungry every week, even in the winter.
Maybe yours just needs to forget the stench of the rat pup? My red tail had been biten by her rats before and won't eat again until she has forgotten the bite (and it has healed).
Good luck. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 5:21 PMjust curious.. why do you feed live? out of 10 snakes, only 2 of mine eat live and they were that way before we got them and one is a ball python and we're lucky he even eats! -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 8:20 PMmy snakes will only eat live food - I got them from someone as adults and unfortunately they eat live and in their cages - couldn't break them of either habit.
sigh. -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 8:57 PMAh.. hate that!!! we tried and tried with the pre-killed and our BP but he just had no interest :( -
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Re: Corn Snake-Got a problem-help!
Thu, December 15, 2005 - 1:44 AMHere in the uk live feeding is a big no no ! I also have a great likeing for my fingers so prefer to feed defrosted food to my 2 snakes
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