Symptoms
- corn snake refuses 2 or more meals
Cause
- incorrect husbandry
- relocation stress
- illness
- too much handling
- offering the wrong prey
Treatment
- Check your husbandry — make sure that your temperature gradient and humidity is correct. If the snake doesn’t have a hide, it may need one.
- If you move your corn snake to a different enclosure to feed, try offering the prey in their “home” enclosure.
- If you handle your corn snake frequently, stop handling until it starts eating again.
- Note that some snakes lose their appetite if preparing to shed.
- Some snakes have a preference for live prey over frozen/thawed or vice-versa. If you offer live prey, supervise the interaction carefully and do not leave the rodent in the snake’s enclosure for more than an hour at a time to prevent possible injury.
- If your corn snake is young, try scenting the prey with lizard scent (like Reptilinks’ Anole Juice). This can stimulate a better feeding response.
If you have tried all of these suggestions without success, the root problem may be more serious. Make an appointment with a certified reptile veterinarian ASAP.