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I have a corn snake, hes approx 3-4 years old. I noticed lately that I hadnt seen him come out of his hide in quite a while (1 week or more). I then thought he must be shedding, so I left him to it. A while later he still hadnt emerged so I lifted his hide to see if his eyes and belly were milky, but they looked normal. His top looked slightly darker but whether it really is or not its hard to say. I touched him and he did react and rattle his tail. I left his hide off him to see if he would move back under cover, but he just lay in the same position. This morning when I came downstairs he had gone back into his hide. I left a mouse to defrost overnight and put it into his aquarium this morning, he popped his head out to look but he wont go near it, where usually he will come straight out and eat it. This is where I need your help.. what is going on here? is he about to shed or what other explanation is there for this odd behavior? Also the last batch of mice we bought him seemed slightly fatter than the ones he usually has (we bought them from a different pet shop). If a mouse is too big for the snake to manage will be ignore it or attempt to eat it anyway? (he has eaten the last 2 or so of this size though). Any information whatsoever is very much appreciated, hopefully someone can put my mind at rest

When corns shed, they go opaque, then clear up, then shed. So my guess is your snake will shed in the next few days and that's why he didn't want food.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Hypo snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

ah so they clear up after they go pale? I didnt know this, because when I notice he's pale I leave him until he sheds so I never noticed that he returned to normal before shedding.

Thanks a lot for your reply, ill leave him for a few days and see what happens.

I have a 7 mth old and he had shed once with me since I got him in January. It was a quick, easy, perfect shed. Last Thurs I noticed that he looked like he was getting ready to shed. No big deal. Then I noticed he stopped coming out of his favorite hide. Monday when I normally feed him, he just seemed off and his eyes were milky so I didn't feed him. He still was just staying in his hide. I increased the humidity and watched him. Thursday moring, he had moved to his cool hide and I could see he was begining to peel. Thursday night, we came home to a perfect shed and he ate.

Maybe it is the weather changing that is causing some difficult sheds or a tempermant shift.

Diate

thanks for the replies

I have an update, I just noticed that he had come partially out of his hide, so I gave him a mouse and he ate it straight away.. does this mean he isnt shedding after all?