Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone posting a update to a adult male corn I have. He regurged about a month ago.

Since then I took the advice of Don S. and fixed his hide to his warm spot so he couldnt push it about the cage, the temp was higher befor but I have a thermostat now keeping it at 80-83 degrees (checked with temp gun) the rest of his tank stays at about 70-75 degrees.

He took one meal since the last post which was a fuzzy probably around 2 weeks ago, he shed about 4 days ago. Since then he has not ate. He refused the hopper mouse I tried to feed him yesterday, left it overnight and just took it out now.

He wanders around the tank like hes looking for food. He makes a weird sneezing noise, not like a URI wheeze but more like a cough. He still has runny stool, even without food in him he has stool mostly urates but runny.

The female that I purchased caged with him has done a 180 with the same set-up. Eats like a horse and has solid stool now(after flagyl). Im stumped, he has not lost any "real" weight yet, but he has been the most problematic snake I have ever kept.

Any ideas form anyone would be appreciated

In all actuality, he could simply be roaming around looking for a suitable place to brumate for the winter. Some snakes can take more of a brumation "cue" from the photoperiod of the sun, rather than just temps alone.

It's possible his system is just flushing out what was left from the treatments you gave him two weeks ago, and just "seems" to be less than optimum. This is a strong possibility. Going from cooler to warmer back and forth could really be throwing off his biological clock so to speak.

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

Maybe you have already done this, but monitor the night time drops in temps. Simpl having a 80-83 degree warm spot in the cage is not always enough. Just taking the temp a few times a day with a gun will not give you accurate data.

Afet listening to KJ tell me the same thing (I had the same problems you have), I finally bought a max min thermostat. Before it, I swore the cage never dropped below 78. Had a friend swear the same thing recently. However, after installing the max min, we both found out that at night, many times the cage dropped to the low 70's, enough to screw the snake up just like the other poster suggested.

I would verify the temps, if it is a drop, then get that under control and hold off feeding for at least 5-7 days and then offer again. When offering, try offering the prey in a small dark box so the snake feels comfortable. Put the box in there and let it stay a few days before offering the food. I use cereal boxes that are closed and I cut a small opening in them. It has always worked for me.

Hope this helps and sorry to ramble but I am all hopped up on caffeine right now...yikes!

dc