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Aaron Dobson
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
34 Posts |
 Posted - 10/07/2011 : 14:14:40
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hello my male corn is about 5 years old he hasnt fed now for about 7 weeks and has become very skinny his female girlfriend has just had 25 eggs but i dont think this should affect him.please help thanks  |
0.1 citrine corn |
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Crackerly
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
32 Posts |
Posted - 10/07/2011 : 15:45:43
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I found this post hope it helps.
"Habitat, temperatures and shedding all have to do with whether a snake will not eat. Make sure that your temps are correct. The next thing you will want to look for is shedding. If a snake is getting ready to shed they may go off feed until done. Lighting can affect the snakes as they will not hibernate, but without the proper light cycle it can decrease the appetite. It is known that some snakes can go off prey for a year at a time. I would make sure the snake is getting a good soak, so he is not getting dehydrated. Get a weight to be sure he is not loosing weight. Try some different type of prey. Some snakes will start eating if the diet is changed up a bit. You can try braining the mice which is allowing the fluid from around the brain area to leak after make an incision or cutting through the skull. If there seems to be weight loss, then a Herp Vet Visit should be done. If you need a Herp Vet. If you need a herp vet I can locate one in the UK for you. Snakes are known to go on hunger strikes at different times of the year. During breeding season which we are in now and winter months we see the hunger strikes. This may be one of those incidents. Keep up with soaks, get the weight and monitor it for any loss. Try different foods. Try waiting two weeks before offering food. If this continues, you may need to see a Herp Vet if this continues and there is weight loss."
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Edited by - Crackerly on 10/07/2011 15:49:13 |
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Mamma
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
4494 Posts |
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gingerpony
Queen Bee
United Kingdom
10455 Posts |
Posted - 10/07/2011 : 20:12:34
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| fist of all house them seperately, this will give the male some time on his own to get breeding off his mind. check your husbandry is correct as poor husbandry/incorrect conditions can have a negative impact on feeding. and don't handle him till he's had at least 3 consecutive feeds. |
cornsnakes, ratsnakes, bullsnakes, boas and day geckos
Location:Leeds/York/Selby area |
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Aaron Dobson
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
34 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 10:31:37
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| ok thank you very much for the help |
0.1 citrine corn |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 20:00:04
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has the snake lost a lot of weight in the 7 weeks? its implied in the post, this is quite important. Now isnt really the time of year for natural fasting, so a number of things to check, firstly, temps, hot end should be about 28, a little either way isnt a problem. Humidity, no extra humidity is required. housing, ideally he should be on his own, search 'cohabitting' and you will see why. Food, poor quality food can be a problem, i have dealt with that twice recently, impaction, feel down the belly of the snake, if you can feel a hard lump, then impaction is likely, impactions can be caused by intestinal worms, so thats one thing to bear in mind. Finally, if all the above are right, and the weight loss is rapid, then its really time to consult a vet, there are a number of internal parasites that cause impactions and rapid weight loss, and pin worm is one of them, and isnt at all rare.
the vet will be able to take a swab from the vent of the snake to try and determine whether any worms or eggs are present (worm eggs), seeing as he hasnt fed for a while, a fecal wont do it!
Before you just to the last conclusion, there are a few things to look out for first:
Activity, permamnently on the go, or subdued and hiding away.
Drinking, lots, little or nothing?
calm or grumpy?
The first thing you need to do is to isolate him, if worst case he does have a parasite, then he WILL pass them on, then you have 2 snakes to treat, and thats twice as expensive.
Once isolated, keep an eye on him, see if his behaviour changes, if it does, and he either calms down, or becomes more active, see if he will feed, even if he doesnt, see what his reaction to the food is, is he interested, or completely not interested? If he is not interested, he is likely to become agressive towards the food, if he is interested, then he will sniff it, nose nudge it, and will be flicking his tongue like mad.
If he is interested, but doesnt want to eat it, maybe leave it in overnight, he might suffer stage fright!
If you are going to leave a mouse in overnight, it is absolutely essential that you have them separated, beleive me, if he decides he wants it, and so does she, one WILL eat the other, and taht will kill them both.
If he is not interested at all, then leave for a while longer, but monitor his weight constantly, give me and you and idea of how much weight is being lost and how fast. To do this properly, we need to know how long the snake is, not a guess, not an about, an exact length, the reason being, is a lot of people over estimate by quite a lot, not intentionally, we just do, so get a tape measure out!
A weight and length is a good place to start.
If there is what you think to be an impaction, you can use a warm bath to help it along, it will help the snake relax and pass anything that has blocked the system, should you get a decent sample, take it to the vets and have him do a float test for worm eggs.
Should the weight keep falling rapidly, and there is a lot of muscle being lost, then you need to seriously think about the vets, Internal worms WILL kill the snake, quite quickly too, so its a good idea to get on it right away. Should you decide to go to the vets, try and get a sample, urates is not ideal, but may be able to give the vet a float test to see if there are worm eggs present in the snakes vent.
Dont bother looking for worms, they are tiny.
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Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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Aaron Dobson
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
34 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 08:50:58
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| ok his weight lost is rapid but he look as if he is going to shed im going to find and ring a vet today...... |
0.1 citrine corn |
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gingerpony
Queen Bee
United Kingdom
10455 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 13:22:52
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| rapid weight loss implies there's something else going on, definitely get to an exotics vet. and definitely isolate the male (if you haven't already)incase it's anything contagious |
cornsnakes, ratsnakes, bullsnakes, boas and day geckos
Location:Leeds/York/Selby area |
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Aaron Dobson
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
34 Posts |
Posted - 18/07/2011 : 12:47:18
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| everything is ok with him now he is looking good again.he has just shed and is feeding again. |
0.1 citrine corn |
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worried about male snake
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