I have a 5yr old Corn Snake - it stopped eating 5-6weeks ago - plz help.?

Question

he is 5ft in length & i feed him large adult mice [frozen] x2 every week.

he stopped eating after his last skin shedd
not sure what to do - may try getting fresher frozen mice from pet store
or take him to the vet if all else fails.

any help will be greatly appreciated - thx : )

Answer 1

snakes can stop eating for months at a time you really have to look for two things if he looks sick or starved. It also does not hurt to take him to a vet that has a well known history with snake if you do since snake illnesses can be very complicated

Answer 2

check if there is any skin left ont the tip of it's tail from the last shed, if so put the tailin some luke warm water and peelit off slowly. Left over skin on the tail can be irritating and may cause loss of apetite. I have a 6 month old corn snake and the same thing happend. Don't worry snake's as big as your's can go for up to 3 month's without food. I had to try smaller mice and defrost them in my hand until they reach your body temperature and my snake is eating fine now and soon i will put him on to the bigger mice again. Also make sure there is always fresh water and keep the snake warm using the heat mat under 1 half of the tank keeping the water in the cool side. Good luck!

Answer 3

Way too many things this could be. Go to kingsnake.com and check for caresheets, and get on the appropriate forum there. Giving answers to these kinds of questions requires background information that you have not provided.
Anyone would just be guessing with the information at hand, but, the temps could be too low, it might be stressed after the shed and it might not have been a clean shed, it might have an infection or parasites, it could be dehydrated, the prey might be too large, it may feel insecure in it's environment, males may refuse to eat just after hibernation and during the breeding season, females will often refuse to eat when they are gravid, etc., etc.

Did you recently move it or change it's habitat in any way?
Did you hibernate it? Are you providing adequate lighting and heat? Is it regurgitating? Did you change the prey size, method of feeding, or supplier of mice you use?

These are some of the questions you need to answer and review for yourself to find the answer. The first thing to check is make sure it's warm enough, has access to fresh water and is not dehydrated, and then offer smaller prey instead of larger prey. Place a sheet over it's tank and give it some space and quiet in case it has been disturbed in some way and is stressed. If it is just in a generally listless and lethargic state after temps are double checked to be proper, then it might be ill, in which case you should see a vet before it goes any longer. They can go a while without food, but this also places more stress on them and hinders recovery.

Answer 4

I would take him to the vet if I were you. I had an albino california kingsnake. She died because she wouldn't eat. For awhile when I force fed her, she would keep the mouse down, but after a while, she wouldn't. She ended up dying because she wouldn't eat. So, I would take the snake to the vet and hope that they know what to do.

Answer 5

Taking him to the vet should be yout first option not your last one, because you may be making condition get worse and not know it by not having expert advice. So please take him to the vet first!