Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I ahve a young corn that won't eat! I fed him about 2 weeks ago and i tried to feed him a thawed pinkie last week..he wouldn't touch it. I went and got a live pinkie Sunday afternoon and put it in the tank and he still won't eat.
I thought my tank might be too cool so I bought a new heat pad and I am using a lamp. The temp is about 85 and sall the corn does is go back in his hide. The pinkie is still alive in there and it is beginning to grow some hair. What can I do to get my snake to eat?

May be going into a shed cycle. Some snakes won't eat during that time.

I would take the mouse out of the cage. It will stress the snake out. If it has only been 2 weeks, I wouldn't worry too much. Like the other person said, it may be going into shed. Get the mouse out and try again in a week.

On the temp issue, how do you get the reading? A UTH and a lamp will probably make the cage too hot. You should not need anything more than a UTH if the room is 68-72 degrees. If you are using a temp gun or a probe you may be OK, but I know from experience that a lamp and UTH can get well over 100 degrees.
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 9yrs, Porter 4yrs)

Thanks for the advice.
I am getting the temperature reading from a thermometer on the side of the terarium. Is that not ok? I am new to the snake keeping business. Any advice is appreciated.

Ya, the ones you stick on the side are junk. When I got my first corn I had the same setup as you, lamp and UTH. The cheap thermometer said it was 85 degrees on the hot side. When I finally bought a temp gun it told me surface temp was 118 degrees under the lamp. I'm surprised my snake didn't have problems. I found out that I actually needed a dimmer to keep the temps correct with the UTH.

I don't know if this is why yours hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, but might want to find a better way to check temps. You can order a gun from ProExotics for about $20. They advertise here on Kingsnake. Get the temps right and then try feeding again. If you still have problems come back and someone can help figure out what else might be going on. Good Luck!
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 9yrs, Porter 4yrs)

Thanks for the information and advice! I ordered a thermometer and it is on the way. I also found out that my snake is going into shed...that is the reason he won't eat.(I warned you I am new at this snake keeping.)I couldn't see the milkiness of his skin until I got him under better lighting.
I really appreciate the help.

Thanks

Just be ready for the addiction to start. I'm sure you won't be able to stick to just 1
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 9yrs, Porter 4yrs)