Corn snake doesn't want his dinner!

emwilly90 · 07-14-17, 09:03 AM

Ever since I have had my corn snake (4 months) he has taken every meal and gobbled it straight down. Today it is feeding day and I have just offered him a pinky but he is turning his nose up at it. He struck it twice (it sounded like he hissed too) but didn't take it from me.
I am new to this and this is the first time this has happened, so I'm just wondering what I should do now. Do I leave it another week before offering him another one or do I try again in a few days? He still seems healthy, his tongue is always flicking around and he is very active when I have him out of his enclosure so I don't think there is anything wrong with him however I would be open to suggestions.
Thanks

emwilly90 · 07-14-17, 09:04 AM

Also he is not in shed - he just shed last week.

Scubadiver59 · 07-14-17, 09:12 AM

Leave the snake food in another week, during the normal feeding cycle...no need wasting f/t every few days.

Defensive striking at prey? I've had that a few times but they eventually come around the next week, or sooner depending on when I offer. I have one snake, a Dumeril's, that refuses to eat f/t, so I fed it a live fuzzy the other day which it took while I was at work.

Hopefully your snake doesn't do you like my new male Anthill Python did to its previous owner--it ate f/t for a while and then just turned off of them and would only eat live after that. I'll probably try f/t with the Anthill to see if I can turn him back, but I won't be surprised if he doesn't accept.

Good luck with your snake!

Quote:

Originally Posted by emwilly90

Ever since I have had my corn snake (4 months) he has taken every meal and gobbled it straight down. Today it is feeding day and I have just offered him a pinky but he is turning his nose up at it. He struck it twice (it sounded like he hissed too) but didn't take it from me.
I am new to this and this is the first time this has happened, so I'm just wondering what I should do now. Do I leave it another week before offering him another one or do I try again in a few days? He still seems healthy, his tongue is always flicking around and he is very active when I have him out of his enclosure so I don't think there is anything wrong with him however I would be open to suggestions.
Thanks

SerpentineDream · 07-14-17, 09:38 AM

Unless I'm mistaken I don't think live feeding is legal in the UK.

Most likely after a week off he'll go back to eating. A snake can refuse a meal for any number of reasons. I would suggest checking your temps. Other than that I'd not be too concerned yet since he seems otherwise fine.

Scubadiver59 · 07-14-17, 10:07 AM

Really? No live feeding? What about snake owners that breed their own mice/rats? Or is that illegal as well?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SerpentineDream

Unless I'm mistaken I don't think live feeding is legal in the UK.

Most likely after a week off he'll go back to eating. A snake can refuse a meal for any number of reasons. I would suggest checking your temps. Other than that I'd not be too concerned yet since he seems otherwise fine.

SerpentineDream · 07-14-17, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scubadiver59

Really? No live feeding? What about snake owners that breed their own mice/rats? Or is that illegal as well?

Correct. Regardless of who raised the feeder animals, it's considered to be animal cruelty. Some of our UK members might be able to go more into detail about that.

**EL Ziggy** · 07-14-17, 10:15 AM

As previously stated snakes go off feed for a few reasons. Double check your temps, wait a week, and try to feed again. Keep us posted on your progress.

SSSSnakes · 07-14-17, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

As previously stated snakes go off feed for a few reasons. Double check your temps, wait a week, and try to feed again. Keep us posted on your progress.

I agree. Don't worry about a snake missing a meal or two. If he starts to lose weight, then you need to be concerned.

emwilly90 · 07-14-17, 03:58 PM

Thanks for all of your replies. I will leave him until next week and try again. I will let you know how it goes

emwilly90 · 07-15-17, 04:30 AM

I don't know much about it but I've never been able to buy live mice over here.

emwilly90 · 07-16-17, 03:27 PM

So I have been looking at my temps, the ambient temperature of his viv is always around 23/24 degrees C as I always have a thermometer in the cool end of his enclosure. I put a thermometer with a probe inside his warm hide (which is placed on top of a heat mat) and it goes up to 37 degrees C which I know is WAY too hot for a corn, however when I take the hide away, the temp of the heat mat is 33 degrees C. I know this is still too hot, which obviously means my thermostat isn't working properly as I have that set at 28 degrees C. I have turned it down to 22 degrees C to see if that makes any difference. If that doesn't work I assume I will need to buy a different one.
Obviously when I put the thermometer inside the warm hide, it is picking up the temp of the air inside the hide which is making it so much warmer. Would the high air temperature inside the hide have been dangerous to him? He is hardly ever in his warm hide, but I have checked him over anyway and he is fine.
The thermostat I have is by swell reptiles, has anyone else ever had any issues with this brand of thermostat? The reviews of it on the website were really positive!

Doug 351 · 07-16-17, 11:07 PM

Yeah, live feeding is illegal in the UK....But they have kippers for breakfast.....hmmmm....fish breath in the morning???

So glad we won!!!

dannybgoode · 07-19-17, 12:59 AM

Kind

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug 351

Yeah, live feeding is illegal in the UK....But they have kippers for breakfast.....hmmmm....fish breath in the morning???

So glad we won!!!

Live feeding is not illegal in the UK. It's a common misinterpretation of the law. Live feeding for entertainment is illegal so you can't film it and stick it on YouTube for example but you have a legal duty of care to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal in your possession.

So if a snake is starving and live feeding is the only option then this is ok so long as the prey is properly cared for before being offered and it's removed if it looks like the snake is going to unduly suffer as a result of bites and scratches from the prey animal.

Similarly if the prey isn't taken reasonably quickly then it would be expected to remove it until such time as to give it another go. This is the reason for no filming as feeding for entertainment could be construed as causing unnecessary harm to the prey animal.

It isn't done very often and only ever as a last resort and it's not something that's discussed much - just done when necessary and move on. But illegal? No...

Doug 351 · 07-19-17, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Kind

Live feeding is not illegal in the UK. It's a common misinterpretation of the law. Live feeding for entertainment is illegal so you can't film it and stick it on YouTube for example but you have a legal duty of care to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal in your possession.

So if a snake is starving and live feeding is the only option then this is ok so long as the prey is properly cared for before being offered and it's removed if it looks like the snake is going to unduly suffer as a result of bites and scratches from the prey animal.

Similarly if the prey isn't taken reasonably quickly then it would be expected to remove it until such time as to give it another go. This is the reason for no filming as feeding for entertainment could be construed as causing unnecessary harm to the prey animal.

It isn't done very often and only ever as a last resort and it's not something that's discussed much - just done when necessary and move on. But illegal? No...

Thanks for the clarification. I'm actually a member on a UK based site, and my snake eats either, I was asked why I would ever feed live. SEE ABOVE^!!!!

My reply: snakes sometimes go off-feed, dead rodents spoil fast, live ones... not so much..

(Although......... hmmmm... I did take my pet rats into a tent last night for awhile, then let them run loose in the house the rest of the night, and they do get their treats....hmmmmn...)

dannybgoode · 07-19-17, 11:15 AM

In the UK live feeding is only ever after last resort and no breeder should really be offering animals for sale that are not readily taking f/t (although it does occasionally happen). The goal of pretty much every keeper is to have every snake feeding on f/t.

Sure there is the odd animal that never makes the switch and these would stay out of the market except perhaps as a trade between specialist keepers who knew what they were taking on.

As I mentioned above it is rarely discussed in general discussions in 'open' reptile groups but does feature as a topic in specialist circles.