Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female corn snake that is about 9 months old. She seems to be hungry and goes after the live fuzzy's. She eats them but then throws them up a day or 2 later and they are still whole. I don't know what is wrong with her and was wondering if anyone could help me out.

Also - I was wondering if female snakes are harder to take care of. I have already lost 2 female snakes and now this corn snake cannot keep down her food. I also have a python and boa(males) who are fine. All snakes get treated the same. Thank you for you help!

How many times has she puked, and how long have you been waiting to try and feed her again? You need to give her at least a full week to let her digestive system recuperate before trying to feed her again. During that time: NO handling...just leave her alone. And don't break down and feed her after 3-4 days just because she looks/acts hungry. Then...feed her one pinky, smaller than the meals she has been puking. Wait another week...NO handling, etc. Then, give her another pinky. Still no handling. Work her slowly back to her usual meals. Some folks have suggested cutting the head off of a pinky the first time or two to allow it to digest faster...probably not a bad idea. Don't rush the feeding or handling or you will lose another snake.
What happened to your other two? Are your temps and other conditions OK for corns? Might be great for your other snakes, but maybe even too warm for the corns? Good luck, and let us know when she keeps a couple of meals down for a week or two.
Duffy

I just had this happen recently with three of my yearlings. For no apparent reason they started regurging their meals. Cornsnakekeeper and duffy have already told you exactly what I did with my snakes, except for the fact that I also began supplementing all my snakes' water with grapefruit seed extract.
During the time they weren't handled and I didn't feed them, they were also separated from the rest of my collection, and turned the heat up a tad in their cages, approx. 85 degree's for about two weeks. After they started eating and holding it down for two meals, I turned their temps back down to 80. So far so good, no regurges after 5 meals now. Knock on wood.

D80

First of all, don't try to feed her again for at least a week. Give her time for her stomache to recover from the regurgitation.

When you try feeding her again, feed her a pinky. A single pinky. Maybe the mouse is too large for her, even if it doesn't appear so to you. You just want her to keep down something, anything.

Corns are typically very hardy snakes, I can't see how you could be on number 3 already. Please tell us how you have her tank setup, temps., feeding schedule, etc. and we can correct anything you might have been doing wrong.

Once we get her eating, we'll then have to discuss the fact that she needs to start eating frozen/thawed, as adult mice can be dangerous to her!