why does my cornsnake sleep all the time?

Question

i have a heat mat plenty of light a hot rock ive had it a couple of days the expert said feed it a pinkie and dont feed it again till wed thurs it sleeps all the time

where is the best place to put the heat mat i have put the rock in i have one but it felt to hot to me its not over heated it is a live it moves

Answer 1

how do you know it is sleeping? I dont believe they have eyelids!
Maybe you have the heat too high in your tank.
Heat rocks are bad for snakes. They can burn their stomaches.
If you have a heat mat, and some type of substrate, then you can remove the heat rock.

Answer 2

you shouldnt use a hot rock they will give the snake burns
if you just got it it will take about a week to settle in leave it be for a few days then offer it a pinkie if it doesnt eat it within a few hours remove it from the tank. Is it a baby ? you might have to entice it to eat by holding the mouse in front of it an moving the mouse a little bit to see if you can get the snake to strike it
it sleeps because they are dusk and dawn feeders they are more active through the evening and early morn they sleep all day they also sleep after feeding for a day or so

the heat pad should be on the same side of the tank as the light source so it can have a cool moist hide and a warm basking area
feed once a week if it seems really hungry feed 2 pinkies once a week - it wont eat if its going to shed- his eyes will get cloudy then clear up then it will shed then feed it. hope this helps if you need more info e-mail me i have 3 snakes

Answer 3

NEVER use a hotrock. They are terrible for reptiles of any kind. They cause burns and that can sometimes be deadly. Make sure the heatmat is under the enclosure and not in it.

Feed it once a week, and only a prey item that is big enough to cause a SMALL bulge in the body.

Your snake is resting all the time because thats what snakes do. My corn snake has been in his hide for 3 days without coming out. This is completly normal. As long as the snake has a dark, warm place to hide, thats where it will normally stay. Since they are exothermic, they don't make thier own body heat, and use most of thier energy digesting and killing prey. They don't like to spend their energy wandering around.

I'd be more concerned if your snake was moving around a lot as this is a sign of a stressed snake. The fact that yours stays in hiding a lot is a good thing. It means the snake is happy with its enviroment and it just wants to enjoy the warmth.

Make sure you have somewhere for it to hide. It is unhealthy for the snake if it doesn't have a dark place to hide.

Answer 4

i believe that they sleep alot and it best not to mess with them its natural there not like dogs and cats