Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Son has a 3 year old male corn just under 5 feet. He was given a new home at christmas 40 gal breeder tank some new decorations, repti mulch (I bought at local pet store) his temps are 85-warm and 70-75 cool has a moist hut-hide, dry-hut, fake plants, large exo terra water dish and ussually feeds every 12-14 days 3 lrg adult mice with no problems and has feed twice in his new home and hasn't feed since and is going on 6 weeks he still drinks and flicks his tounge he has no signs of any folds in his skin. I was reading that the short days we are having right now and winter may be the cause of this even though his temps are still warm is there anyone who can confirm this or give me any pointers on what to do?
Thanks
Deb

sounds like your male is looking for love. If he is not dropping off the weight, he may just be looking for a female to mate. Many males go without food during breeding season.
You could try smaller than normal meals, or other tricks.
-----
****Misty****

www.sneakyserpents.com

"Life is Killing Me"

.........
-----
Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

funny you shoud mention that my son wants to get a female but my question would be do they need to housed seperate or can we introduce them and keep them together?

first check out mikerussos post above, his is the prime example of why you should never house corns together, he would have ended up with a dead corn and a very sick corn had he not been there to seperate so quickly. Now on to Jimmy's favorite post and one I took the time to look up for you as a reference. Good luck with ya corn and getting him to eat soon.

Co-habitation
Something to think about

I feel it is best to keep snakes separate.
I know a lot of people can and do keep multiple snakes together without problems. I just feel the possible drawbacks need to be expressed.
When a person gets the experience and knowledge of each individual snake in his care, and wants to try co-habitation, it is up to them. They just need to be careful and observant enough to see and understand the subtle signs of stress in their snakes.
There can be definite drawbacks in co-habitation.
If one snake becomes sick there is a very good likelihood the other/others will get sick as well.
It may also take a while (usually too long) to determine which one is the sick one.
If one regurgitates its food you won't know which one unless you happen to get lucky and see it.
If one has a problem stool you won't know which one. Once again one may have a problem and by the time you figure out which one the other/others could end up with the same problem.
Although this is only a slight possibility, it is still a possibility and has been know to happen... one snake could eat the other. Cannibalism can and does occur with corn snakes. The smell of a prey item could trigger one snake to eat the other. Or simple hunger accompanied by a ready food source could do the same. Although uncommon, it has happened and is a possibility.
Another possibility is unwanted pregnancy. A female may become gravid and you may not have the knowledge, desire or ability to incubate the eggs, care for the hatchlings and find homes for them. With hatchlings comes added responsibility.
A lot of people rationalize by saying, "I will just put two males or two females together". That can work but mistakes can be made, especially with hatchlings. You could easily end up with a male and female.
There is also a chance of a female breeding too young or too small and becoming egg-bound. Although uncommon, it is a possibility and can happen.
With multiple snakes in the same enclosure you could easily loose them all if there happens to be an avenue of escape. Instead of losing one you could loose two or more depending on how many you decide to place together.
With multiple snakes in an enclosure, one or all of them could be stressed by the presence of the others. Stress can cause a drop in appetite and other health problems as well.
People will put multiple snakes in an enclosure and ask why one isn't eating.
When they are told it is probably due to stress caused by the other snake, the response is almost always the same "they like each other, they are always under the same hide together". Well this probably just means "that" hide or area of the tank has the optimum conditions they are looking for.
Snakes do not LIKE each other or ENJOY each other’s company.
There is no capacity for snakes to "like" or "enjoy".
I have kept multiple snakes together, without problems, but have made a choice to keep them separate. There are NO good arguments as to why you SHOULD keep them together but there ARE several good arguments as to why you SHOULD NOT.
So, in my opinion, although people do it successfully I just don't think it is worth the risk.
If you decide to keep multiple snakes together, watch closely for any signs of appetite loss, shedding problems, regurgitation or “personality” changes. These could all be signs of stress.
You would also want to feed them in separate containers and give them an hour or so before putting them back together.
My 2 cents

wow ! thanks for the reply I really appreciate that and will let him know. ( now he'll be bugging me for my extra tanks I have for our geckos!!!)
Thanks again
Deb

you could try getting a daytime bulb and a timer and set it for 12 on 12 off. it should take about 2 to 3 weeks before he gives up on love and go back to normal. if he went into brumation ( state of inactivness) this winter then love is the problem. but if he didn,t you could look at humidity or maybe even bump his temp up more and he should get the hint soon. and if he goes 3 or 4 months don't worry i used to have black rat snake that went 8 months with no weight loss then one day he just decided to eat.
wait about 2 weeks after you increase heat and get his light cycle fixed the try feeding oh yea with the daytime bulb it works best if you keep the enclosure away from a window

Thanks for replying we moved him from under a window 2 weeks ago but has always had a day light that is on 14hrs - off for 10hrs and he is very active more than usual.

>>Thanks for replying we moved him from under a window 2 weeks ago but has always had a day light that is on 14hrs - off for 10hrs and he is very active more than usual.

the increased activity does lead you to believe it could be spring fever...lol
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

Thanks Draybar, it never crossed my mind before that our snake could be such a "horny toad"!!!

It doesn't matter whether or not he was bumated...he'd be "wookin por nub" regardless.

Now...let's just see who's old enough to know what that quotation means...hmmmm?

-----
Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

>>It doesn't matter whether or not he was bumated...he'd be "wookin por nub" regardless.
>>
>>Now...let's just see who's old enough to know what that quotation means...hmmmm?
>>
>>
>>-----

looking for love..........lol
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

yes, i would agree its just mating season; but by the way i would sugest feeding your corn smaller meals more offen. Studies have show that snakes have an easier time digesting smaller meals. I feed my adult male corns (about 5 feet) one xxl(there big mice)mouse every 5 days and all my corns have grown like champs.

so with that should I still try to feed him once a week until he takes it also buy continueing to feed him every five days can he be handled right away we were told after we feed him ( 3 lrg mice every 12-14 days) not to handle him for 3-4 days and let him digest his food?
P.s. Thanks to everyone for your help

every two weeks or so? That seems like a lot of food for one snake. If I were you, during this breeding season, I would thaw out one medium mouse (or large if you only have large) every two weeks and try him. No sense in wasting food. If he doesn't eat, then you can handle him with no problem.

>>so with that should I still try to feed him once a week until he takes it also buy continueing to feed him every five days can he be handled right away we were told after we feed him ( 3 lrg mice every 12-14 days) not to handle him for 3-4 days and let him digest his food?
>>P.s. Thanks to everyone for your help
-----
phflame
kingsnake.com host