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Claire
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
13 Posts |
 Posted - 28/03/2014 : 18:23:51
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Hey,
I have a 7 year old female corn snake and shes always ready for her dinner each week.
Normally fed jumbo mice I tried her a step up to a weaner rat, she took it backwards but managed to eat it and did not regurge.
However since this (nearly 4 weeks ago) she hasnt eaten. Slithers away from any food, I wondered if the rat being a tad large frightened her so I bought a very small mouse to try, still nothing.
Shes very bright, no signs of injury and shed 3 weeks ago perfectly.
Any ideas?
thanks guys, Claire x |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2014 : 22:52:02
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You say you are feeding her weekly Claire. A corn her age really doesn't need as much as jumbo mice or weaner rats. She's done her growing so just needs enough to maintain, if that makes sense. Most of us feed our adults on a large misuse every 10/14 days. Do you know how much she weighs? It's good to keep a record of her weight as it can chart progress and highlight any health issues.
I'm assuming she's in a viv with a heatmat, controlled by a thermostat and monitored by a digital thermometer? What is the temp in the warm end?
Is she more active than normal? Out and about, patrolling her viv? It is breeding season and females can be effected as well as males, but it's better to look at other reasons before assuming its down to that,
Xxx
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Edited by - Kellog on 28/03/2014 22:57:24 |
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Claire
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
13 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2014 : 18:33:28
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I weighed her two days ago and she weighs 1kg now. She isnt round but a nice loaf shape. She seemed a little frantic earlier in the week but she does have her moments where shes 'desperate' to get out for a wander around.
She normally eats weekly happy (would eat more if fed) , I will need to check the temperature of her viv at the warm end but she has a heatmat, not spending alot of time on it, no more than usual
:) |
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Razee
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
2525 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2014 : 20:24:09
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Hello Claire :-)
Would you be able to post any pics of her?
1 kg sounds quite heavy for a corn snake, even a large one... but without seeing her, it's difficult to say, if she 's overweight, or not. Kellog is right though, 1 Jumbo a week is quite a lot. I feed my bigger corns ( coming up to 3 and 4 years old, so still growing a bit ) every 12 - 14 days, mostly on L mice, every now and then on Jumbo. I had to get my male back on large mice only, every 2 weeks, as he's starting to look chubby, at 4 1/2 foot coming up to 600 g...
I have another 3 year old, he's a rehome, 3 1/2 foot, but only 340 g. He's very, very active, and has a very fast metabolism, would eat all the time, given the chance. He gets fed once every 7 -8 days, on large mouse.
Sometimes even females stop eating during breeding season, and yours might be doing just that - plus it takes ages to digest a rat, she might be really full. She could also possibly be pregnant ( with infertile eggs ) - and looking for somewhere to lay... unlikely, but it can happen.
It shouldn't be a problem if she doesn't eat for a while, they can go months without eating. Just monitor her weight, and unless she starts loosing massive amounts very fast, she should be ok. :-)
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0.1.0 late CB10 Carolina corn snake - Bazilishka
1.0.0 CB11 Abbots Okeetee- Little Twiddler
1.0.0 CB11 Hypo corn- Sebastianek
1.0.0. CB14 Butter Motley - Squidwood
0.0.2 CB18 normal/ Okeetee yearlings Bunny and Lalalishka
0.0.1 hognose
0.1.0 stable cat
0.1.0 house cat |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2014 : 09:21:38
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Razee has covered all the important points brilliantly  . 1kg is big for a corn and she certainly doesn't need a jumbo mouse weekly. My males, 5yrs old and 8yrs old, were on large mice ever 10/14 days and I moved them down to mediums every 10/14 days when they got above 800g. It does depend on the snake but she isn't growing anymore and only needs enough food to maintain herself, if that makes sense. This thread may help you work out if she is over-weight or not - http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11891 What a lot of people forget is that corns are supposed to be long and slender, and that they are opportunistic feeders so will eat more than they need if we let them.
Her behaviour certainly sounds like its due to breeding season. Females can be effected as well, although it's not as common as with males. Mine has missed 2 feeds now.
It does concern me that you don't know what the temp in her viv is, although I realise that may just be because you aren't near her viv  . Ideally you should have a digital thermometer in her viv, with the probe lying on the heatmat, so you know what the temp is all the time. Is the heatmat connected to a thermostat?
Xxx
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Edited by - Kellog on 01/04/2014 09:22:12 |
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Claire
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
13 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2014 : 10:30:25
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Hey, sorry for delay in replying!
Her viv is 24 degrees at the heatpad.
She shed two days ago, is still very active and now weighs 860grams.
Im wondering if she is just too big and doesnt need to eat right now.
Ive checked her over for lumps n bumps and nothing and shes not showing any signs of pain. |
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SilverWings
Yearling
United Kingdom
740 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2014 : 18:28:56
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| I'm a bit concerned that her hot side isn't hot enough, the hot side should be 29-30 degrees celcius, the cool side should be 21 ish. Cooler temps could mean she takes longer to digest her food. You probably don't want her to get any bigger than she is, so I'd definitely suggest doing what Kellog and Razee do, and feed a medium or a large mouse every 10 ish days. |
2.2.3 Corn snakes; Red, Rosie, Liana, Checkers, Luna, Diego, Snowman
1.0 Taiwanese Beauty Snake; Aleron
1.0 Green Anoles; Doug
1.0 Greyhound; Lee |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2014 : 20:35:03
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Silverwingss right Claire. 24oC is much too low for a warm end temp and could cause issues with food not being digested properly. How are you measuring the temperature?
I think it's more a case of her hormones being on the rampage at the moment as it's breeding season than her not necessarily needing to eat. Corns are opportunistic feeders and will eat whenever they can, even if they don't need it. The only things that seem to interrupt that are breeding season, stress and illness.
It's great that her weight is down to 860g. That's more like where you want her to be, although she could maybe do with losing even more. Is she still refusing to eat?
Xxx
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She wont eat?
