Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! I'm new to the group, and although I'm not new to herps, I'm new to snakes. Although we've had an iguana, and still have a mating pair of bearded dragons and a mali uromastyx, we just recently acquired a red rat snake (same as corn snake?) at a local pet store.

The sales person said that the snake was eating approximately one pinky/fuzzy once a week. We bought ones of the similar size that the snake was used to eating.

We have now tried for three weeks to feed him, but with no results. He has not eaten in the three weeks that we have had him, and we're not sure if we should be worried or not.

He is approximately 29" long, and we have him in a 20L gallon tank. He has an undertank heater and a light on one end of the tank, and the other end of the tank is his cool spot. The light gets turned off at night, although the heater is on 24/7.

I know that our lizards have slowed their eating patterns during these cooler months (we live in Wisconsin), but they still eat SOMETHING (just not as much as they do the other months of the year).

At what point should we begin to worry if our snake doesn't begin to eat? Also, does anyone have any tips as to how we can get our snake to feed?

Oh, and one more question -- the pet store said the snake we purchased was a red rat snake. When I did research on-line, it seems that rat snakes and corn snakes are used interchangably. Are rat snakes and corn snakes the same, or different?

Thanks, in advance, for your responses!

Have you checked the temps on the warm and cool side of the cage?A light and a heating mat on one side could get pretty warm.Do you have hides on both sides of the tank?At 29 inches is it captive born or wild caught?At 29 inches your snake should be able to eat adult mice with no problem.Have you tried fresh killed or stunned mice yet?Have you tried feeding at night?Are you handling your snake alot?Is your snake in a high traffic area of your house?Please get back with us....Paul..

Paul -- Thanks for your response.

I have checked the temps on both sides...there are hides on both the warm side (driftwood) and the cool side (slate).

The pet store where we bought it didn't give us any information on whether it was CB or WC...but they did tell us that it had been eating fuzzy mice that had been previously frozen, and then thawed, so we bought the same size, at the same store.

We haven't tried fresh killed or stunned...can you purchase those, or would you have to do it yourself?

We have tried feeding at night with the lights off and no one in the room...although, the tank is in the living room, so it is a relatively "high traffic" area during the day time.

We handle him outside of the cage at least once a day -- is that too much? Too little?

Handling a snake that is trying to get used to it's new enviroment will throw it off feed.If you can put him someplace quite and undisturbed for a week or two i bet he will start slammin mice.After you get your snake to feed resist the urge to handle for 3 or 4 days,we dont need any regurges.Give your snake a few weeks to relax and get used to its new home before trying to handle again.As for making mice take a dirtnap it's real easy.Just put in a bag and slam it on something hard.

If your snake is 29" it's probably at least a year old. It could be w/c. I've never had a w/c corn, but I do have two texas rats. They can be pretty picky. I would try a small live mouse. Be sure to pay close attention while it is in the cage. Some of my snakes do slow down when the weather changes, but your snake needs to eat. If he eats a live mouse you can hopefully get him to switch to frozen after a while. Keep us posted
Jim

My yearlings are smaller than 29 inches, but not by much, and I have a hard time believing they could handle anything larger than a hopper. They all look stuffed after eating 1 hopper.

If you feed a mouse that is larger than 1.5 times the girth of the snake, then you are asking for trouble (e.g. regurgitation).

I agree with Amanda E....can not hurt to try smaller food items for your snake. I have two yearlings the same size BUT one will only eat smaller mice. Strange phenomena that I have never seen before, but oh well. When presented with mice that are the appropriate size for a snake his girth/size...she refuses (maybe simply be stressful). MOST snakes are pigs that will eat anything at anysize as long as it smells like a mouse.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH...
KEEP CAREFUL RECORDS ON THIS SNAKE. EVERY DEFECATION, EVERY TIME YOU HAVE TO HANDLE IT (WHICH SHOULD ONLY BE WHEN CLEANING HIS TANK ONCE/TWICE A WEEK TILL HE SETTLES IN or WHEN YOU WEIGH HIM). CHECK HIS WEIGHT OCCASIONALLY TO SEE IF ITS DROPPING. IF IT IS 29 inches THEN IT MUST HAVE EATEN AT SOME POINT TO GROW.lol

good luck, LET US KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.
carl3

-----
BA HUMBUG

www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes
-carl3

I have a four month old corn who has just finished shed last night, well she woulden't eat and i threw out 2 pinks... so i went to the local pet shop and bought their smallest frozen pinks. Just about 15 mins ago i put one of the warmed up pinks in the tank and my snake didn't touch it. So i opened her hide and dropped the pink on the lower part of her body when she was curled up... Guess what this did the trick for me Have your warmed up the mouse in a bag in some warm-hot water so it feels like it is freshly killed?
Good luck
Demon

>>Give your snake a few days without disturbing it. ( at least 3)
After waiting a few days go with another frozen/thawed mouse the same size it had been eating, but do two things.
Poke a hole in it's head to release a little brain matter and then put the snake and the mouse in a tupperware or similar style dish and place it back in it's tank. You don't want the dish to be too big, though. You want it to be basically impossible for the snake to miss the mouse. Do this at night and do not disturb it for a couple of hours. After a couple of hours check on it with as little disturbance as possible. If it has eaten, GREAT. If it hasn't eaten leave it alone with the mouse, overnight. Check it again in the morning.
This usually works.

-----
Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

Thank you all so much for your input and suggestions! I will try them, one at a time, until I find one that works! Thanks again.

One of the great things about kingsnake is all the input you can get from the forums.Im sure you will figure out something that works for your snake.After awhile you will just get a Feel for how to take best care of your snake....Paul..

Keeping snakes is not an exact science. Snakes are all different. Some are great feeders, some picky. Some like the hot end of the tank, others the cool end. Some are active all the time others hide all the time. etc. etc. The trick is to pay attention to your snakes and adjust to their needs. What works for some won't work for others. Always remember when in a bind, Think like a snake. Sometimes you have to throw out the book and just do what works.

maybe the snake is ready for brumation.
I,ve had snakes before that put them self into brumation and
quit eating all together. sometimes it may be acceptable to cool them if they are otherwise healthy.
any thoughts?
thanks Chris

yes, my okeetee did this last year, and I don't brumate my snakes, he just cut down to eating once a month for about two months, so I just turned his UTH off for the winter, and he was still offered food every week, but he only ate every 3 or less meals. I turned his heat back on in February and he started eating every week again. It was all his idea, seems to me I hear it happening with males a lot more than females. but I could be wrong.
-----
Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
0.1 Snow (Ruby)
1.0 Anery A (Breaden)
0.0.4 Normal het-snow (no names yet)
1.1 Bloodred (Vlad the Impailer and Natasha)
0.1 Anery Stripe (Morticia)
1.0 Candy Cane (Kane)
0.1 Amel (Christine)
1.3 Cats (Alexys{f}, Mikki{f}, Timothy{m}, Seven{f})
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents