Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My corn snake is 21 years old. He has not eaten in 7-8 weeks (regular feedings had been every 2 weeks). As soon as we put him in the feed box, he dashes to climb out of it, over and over. No interest in the mice we drop in.

Then, when he's back in the cage he circles around much of the day like a maniac on caffeine. Makes a beeline for the door when it's opened.

His cage is on the cooler side - about 73F - but it's always been that way and he has a heating pad under part of the cage.

He does drink water. Yesterday we thought he was dead because buried himself partially in the bedding and was still even when we poked at him. Today he's alive and moving like a crazy snake again.

Is this snake dying? I'm not sure what to do!

The behavior is typical of a snake that is either too warm or a male that smells a female nearby this time of year. That behavior isn't really associated with a snake on its way out.

I would feed in the cage and offer a meal that is a little smaller than typical, such as a hopper or even fuzzy.

Double check temps with a temp gun or probe. If you have a female, put them in separate rooms.

Generally speaking, as a snake nears an age-related death, they will experience some pretty severe muscle wasting, no matter what they eat they lose muscle, they get sluggish, have problems shedding, and it becomes obvious.

I agree with Aaron that this sounds like something is off: temps warmer than you think, oddly extreme breeding behavior, or possibly-but-doesn-sound-likely something health wise is wrong causing "pain" or stress. In elderly corns nearing the end, I tend to see lethargy, a reduced appetite, and a loss of body mass faster than you would expect based on the calories in. Basically, they lose mass even when eating or lose mass faster than they should even when eating a little. Those are the typical signs of senescence in my experience.

For elderly snakes, I often switch to small rat "pups" - depending on snake size - for the added calories and ease of digestion. (Rats are generally harder to digest cpmpared to same mass mice, and that is part of the reason you go small. The other reason is digestion is easier on prey with a lower surface:volume ratio. You do NOT want to see a bumb after the eat unless you know they can still easily digest it....which you seem to currently have concerns.

I don;t usually recommend feeding live, but a live SMALL rat "pup" can't hurt the snake, and it might trigger a feeding response....even if you leave it in the cage instead of a feeding box for now. Think of it as an option if you feel it is necessary.

...and a vet visit should always stay an option if you feel that is needed.

-KJ Lodrigue

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