Hi all,

My corn snake is a few months old and hasn't had any problems eating since I got him. He's moved up to fluffs easily and usually eats within minutes. He was due a feed yesterday and just won't touch it. Usually I feed him outside of the tank in a container, but after he wouldn't eat I put the container in his tank overnight hoping he'd eat at some point and he still hasn't. Does anyone have any advice to encourage him to eat?

Temperature wise, I usually have his heatmat on about 32 and the cold end of the tank is about 20 with the hot end about 30. However because it's getting to winter the house is colder and the cold end of the tank is often a low lower than it usually is (even if I put the heat mat up). I'm not sure if this is related to him not eating or not or how to control the temperature without having my heating on all the time.

This is my first snake so I accept I might be missing something!

Thanks,

From what I remember about snakes (30 odd years ago) they don't need to eat everyday. I the wild they eat when they can not to any schedule so you don't need to worry of they miss a meal or two it could just be their normal (in the wild) feeding pattern.

Thanks I usually feed him every 5 days but I'll try again next week. You're right, they can manage for a while without eating so i'll only worry about it if it continues.

As he's only little he might be due to shed his skin again!

Is she due a shed? Usually the cause of lack of appetite!

This.

Or he could just be a difficult little sod, it happens. One of my royals has just wolfed down a rat after refusing food for 2 months. Try dipping the head of the mouse in some hot water for a few minutes before feeding, makes the smell stronger.

In regards to temperature, a heat mat isn't ideal if the vivarium isn't in a heat stable environment, they do little for the ambient temperature of the cool end.

My standard set up is to create a false wall on the back of the vivarium, lining the inside with heat cable so it heats the viv evenly. That gets plugged into a pulse stat (a thermostat that keeps it on at a low heat constantly) with the stat probe in the cool end set to cool temperature. I then use a heat lamp in the hot end to create a variant.

Keeps the vivarium stable irrelevant of the temperature of the room. An absolute must if you want them to breed as well.

You could look at insulating the vivarium a bit more when it's cold. Some polystyrene panels placed on the back, top, sides and underneath the viv should keep his cool end a decent amount warmer without having to change set up.

Does he have hides in both the warm and cool end? Snakes will often ignore temperature in favour of being hidden, so make sure he can regulate his temperature whilst feeling safe.

Whilst it's a topic of differing opinions amongst herpetologists, I don't personally agree with using a separate feeding enclosure. There is very little evidence to suggest it makes the snake less likely to bite you (which with a corn isn't a worry, until he gets bigger he won't even draw blood and they're usually docile little things) or in fact has any real benefit. If anything, I've always thought that handling or moving a snake before or after a feed is best not done if possible.

Christ I ramble on sometimes, this is why my friends have learned not to ask me things about reptiles

Wow, thanks for that!

I will try dipping the head of the fluff in some hot water and try him again. He's recently moved from pinks to fluffs but he's had a few now and he always eats very quickly so he's never been difficult before.

As he's a few months old and hasn't shed for about 4 weeks, I do hope that'll be it. He's coiled up under a hide in the warm end and still being very inactive. I suppose one of the reasons i'm so worried is because last time he shed I didn't notice any difference in behaviour so i'm not used to it. Is there anything else I can look out for to figure out if he's shedding, other than a blue belly and a change in eye colour? I might try putting some damp moss in one of his hides to help him along a bit if he is.

Generally, I try to keep the radiators off in the room he's in so the change shouldn't be too dramatic but obviously the house does heat up when I have the others on. I usually have the heat mat set to 32 which is under the viv and causes the actual warm end to be about 29/30. The cold end was averaging at about 23 but recently can go down to about 17 when the house is cold. I will definitely try to insulate the viv and yes he had hides at both ends.

I'm very tempted to pick him up when I get home to check if he is feeling weak or if I was (hopefully) just imagining it, but I don't want to disturb him. Oh, and the reason I feed him in a separate container is just because I use aspen for the bedding and I've heard they can get really sick if they accidentally digest any.

P.s. nice username!

P.s. i'm not saying he has a blue belly and glazed eyes (if he did i'd feel better), just that I know to look out for it

I wouldn't worry too much, sometimes they just go off food for a while plus bare in mind in the wild she'd be in the cold winter months now. I've got a 4 year old Corn and he just went 3 weeks without eating, and my Diones Rat Snake always goes off his food from the end of Oct till the end of Feb.

If she is too cold she won't eat as snakes can't digest, but her metabolism will be slower so it shouldn't hurt her, in the wild they go through a period called brumation where they're still awake and active unlike when hibernating but they don't eat just drink.

If you want more info try www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums as there are a lot of very helpful and knowledgeable people on there.

Very pleased to report I woke up to a perfect shed today and Tobias has just wolfed down his food thanks for the reassurance and suggestions x