Quite worried please help!

[rolldeep]

hello, i have a ghost corn snake ive had him for about year and a half hes only about 2 years old and 5foot long, about 3 months ago he wouldnt eat anything and just play with his food then leave it i was told he could just be being fussy and that its mating season so he might be on the hunt for a female, much like me lol!!!! but its been 3 months and he still hasnt and wount eat ive tried different mice from different pet shops, i havent tried live mice tho and i dont really want to. Ive tried warming and defrosting it differently and im quite worried he might be ill or something. But something that makes me think he isnt ill is the fact he is always active and i rarely see him asleep and he dosent seem any different in the way he's acting. i would love some advice please people thanks!

[rachel132002]

Chances are it's still down to the want to breed, have you been monitoring his weight and overall condition for any changes?

Rachel

[lizard lover]

I wouldnt worry mate. They can go ages without food. I know of an adult that once went 11mths. Was a regular feeder before that. My trick is only offer once a fortnight if they are being picky. May sound stupid but reverse psychology does work. If offering weekly, its almost as if the snake gets fed up and refuses out of spite. If it hasnt seen food for a while, it may grab it thinking food is a rarity. My friend had a 6mth old kingsnake that escaped. It turned up 8mths later absolutely fine. Snakes are amazing creatures!!!

One thing i will say is that if you are worried, it may be worth weighing it regularly. If it doesnt lose weight dont panic. If it does you may need to resort to force feeding, however if your not experienced in this i would contact a vet.

[*mogwai*]

i'm having a similar problem with my corn, she's only a baby though so i was getting really worried. what's worked for me (eventually) is tub feeding and i never offered her more than once a week. and check your temps, mine was too hot so i put in a smaller bulb, which mader her too cold so then i put the bigger bulb in but moved her to a colder part of the house and i think that's worked. well last night she ate in a tub & ate pretty fast as well so fingers crossed.

[Adam_R]

5ft long at 2 years old blimey hes a quick grower eh

[rolldeep]

to be honest no i havent weighed it i will TRY! lol. i havent noticed it getting thinner or anything from holding it etc. im just curious as to why it suddenly stopped eating aswell but 1st it stopped striking then eating so im unsure. Yea he has grown an awful lot i had it in a small tub at 1st then its just not stopped growning it even shed within those 3 months without eating anything lol.

[Adam_R]

also i wouldnt handle him if hes not eating as it will just stress him more and make him more unlikely to eat

[kieran8143]

try offering him food every fortnight and stop the handling atleast 3 day before feeding if you think you can stop handling him all together until he eats that would be better.

[Bernie]

We've encountered a similar issue with our two and half year old female corn. She's breeding weight and length and obviously feels a bit randy!! She hasn't eaten regularly for 8 weeks, and in this time maybe only two or three meals. She'll occasionally start to eat, then spit it out, cheeky mare! I only offer once a fortnight and hopefully, we'll get her back on track. In all this time, she's only lost a gram in weight! Incredible. Don't panic yet... patience is the key!

On a side note, mine has also shed twice in this time and followed the same pattern, stopped striking but would eat, then finally stopped eating, its almost like they lose interest gradually!

[snickers]

all the above is good. especially the bits about handling and checking the temperature.

I found that the food most ratsnakes really like is rat pups. Even the most distracted of males rarely turned down a rat pup.