Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got a corn snake a couple weeks ago. i have boas and balls but my dad wanted this corn snake. i had him at my house at first in a room that is set at 84 and the snake ate with no problem. so we moved it to my dads and the tank is around 65 but has a hot spot of about 85 but its only in one corner. the last two times he tried to feed it the snake would just kill the mouse and doesnt eat it. it looks like he starts but then decides to not eat it. the mice were not any bigger then the one he ate a few weeks ago. and there is nothing wrong with his mouth. again i do not deal with corn snakes so im not sure if its just tring to go into hibernation. and killing the mice bc he is trying to protect himself or what. any advice would help. thank you very much mark.

Well,....it sounds like the snake has a VERY good feeding response, but this behavior can be very typical around this time of year, it wants it, but on the other hand, it probably wants to go into brumation at the same time and can't quite decide which one to do. Also,.....some snakes will do that if they see people moving about in the vacinity just after they grabbed, or killed the prey, so when feeding, make SURE that the snake doesn't see you moving around!, many times that can put an instant stop to things.

If it happens again, go ahead and shut things down and let it retire for the winter, but decide which one you want to do, as this will "mess" with the snakes mind and natural internal clock if you have temps that aren't really ideal one way, or another.

best regards, ~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

np

My Thayer's king did the same thing about a month ago. It killed a mouse that I thought was not too big (it was an adult)but would not eat it. Next feeding, I gave him a smaller mouse, he just struck at it. Then I fed him even a smaller one (actually two) and he ate them. He is now eating every week though the meals are smaller mice.