Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My corn snake definitely looks hungry - he is constantly searching for food, but he stalks his prey and then instead of attacking he looks at it and crawls away.

After the first time he did this, I waited a week and tried again today. Once I was sure he wasn't going to eat the live mouse, I prekilled it, but he still just looks at it and then ignores it.

Normally, he is very easy to feed. I adopted him from a woman who said he stopped eating thawed mice and she didn't want to feed him live food, so I've never given him prekilled mice until today.

Should I try feeding smaller prekilled mice. Maybe he would be more comfortable with smaller prey? Could it be that I haven't handled him as much during the past few weeks, so he is not as comfortable with distractions near his cage? I left him alone with mouse for awhile, after he didn't go for men dangling it, but it didn't seem to make a diffence.

Has anyone dealt with this before? It just seems so strange that we would stalk around his cage but refuse to eat.

Has he ever eaten for you?
If not, something may be wrong with your setup.

Have you tried leaving a dead mouse in with the snake overnight?
Snakes can be shy about feeding in a new environment.

Tim

Third Eye

If it's a male, breeding season has started, so it may not be interested in food.

Tim

Breeding season, eh?

That makes sense, because I got him almost a year ago. Maybe he didn't get tired of thawed mice, he was just on the hunt for something else.

If that is the case, how will I know when he's ready to eat again?

It's pretty cool that he would know its breeding season, but if he doesn't hibernate, how does he know?

Ah, the wonders of nature.

Light cycles trigger breeding. Hibernation is something that is done which is thought to increase fertility. The lengthening of daylight hours in the springtime gets them "in the mood." I'd just try feeding it every week or so, until it starts eating again. Males are often unusually active during breeding time, so that may be a good clue too.

Tim

Yeah, he is very very active.

Now I feel bad that my snake doesn't have a woman, but at least he's healthy. I'll give a couple weeks before I shove food in his face again.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

i have not observed this in my Corn Snakes but I maintain 2 King Snakes and a Ball Python that will only take prey at night. The King Snakes are ok either way but the Ball Python will only take FT and whats worse will only take it in a closed bucket. For this reason I must put a FT prey item in the bucket with her, close it and come back in the morning.
Foot Hill Reptiles