Sad face.

[cantthinkofone]

I have been having troubles with my corn recently. he just wouldn't eat. i tried everything. its been almost 30 days and he got really skinny. he was no where in his cage today and he must have escaped. Im 95% sure he is dead some where. i had everything right. temperature, setup, and feeding he just wouldn't eat. RIP Blaze.

 

[Masurai]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Shrike]

If your snake escaped you didn't have everything right. Can you post a picture of the setup? People might be able to give you some advice as to how to prevent future escapes and better care for the snake. That being said, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Entomancer]

Don't lose hope just yet.

My corn snake escaped for a year when I was about 11; he got out of his tank and didn't show up again.

I thought he was gone, and then he came crawling out of the coat closet that Fall. I scooped him up and put him back in the tank and ran out for some large feeder mice the next day.

He's about 15 years old now, and I can see a couple his coils peeking out from his hide as I type this.

But Shrike has a point; we don't mean to be nosy or critical, but some deductive reasoning in regards to the snake's setup may reveal what the problem was.

 

[cantthinkofone]

well i talked to 4 corn snake breeders and they said his setup was good. ill get a picture soon.

 

[Furret]

Don't lose hope! A few months ago, my corn snake (somehow) escaped from her tank. A few days later when I went to bed very late one night, I was in the midst of falling asleep, when suddenyl I felt something cold sliding up my leg..............
I flipped off the covers and there she was!!! To this day on I will NEVER understad how she managed to crawl into bed with me...she's not that big, and my bed's high up. Whatever the case was, she's safe and sound.
I hope you'll find your snake as well!

---------- Post added 05-31-2012 at 03:41 PM ----------

...or he finds you

 

[cantthinkofone]

well i found him late last night. he was right next to the wall and i caught him.

 

[Walk Alone]

well i found him late last night.

How is he doing?

 

[cantthinkofone]

he seems to be fine. i put a live mouse in there and he clearly killed it. it had bite marks but it wasnt in his stomach

 

[Shrike]

he seems to be fine. i put a live mouse in there and he clearly killed it. it had bite marks but it wasnt in his stomach

How large is your snake? Young snakes in particular can regurgitate prey items that are too large. Did the mouse look like it had gone down the hatch and back up again?

 

[cantthinkofone]

no it looked like it was killed just for the fun of it. he is about 15 inches long and pretty small.

 

[lizardminion]

no it looked like it was killed just for the fun of it. he is about 15 inches long and pretty small.

Only cats and humans kill animals just for the fun of it. How big was the mouse you tried to feed him? The only mouse a corn snake that size should eat is a pinkie or fuzzy.

 

[naychur]

Only cats and humans kill animals just for the fun of it. How big was the mouse you tried to feed him? The only mouse a corn snake that size should eat is a pinkie or fuzzy.

I disagree with your statement a bit. I have a Ball Python that will, on occasion kill a rat (she won't take F/T) that is of proper size and then just REFUSE to eat it. There is no other reason for the kill besides that there was "prey movement" but she had no interest after the fact. This has happened to her on an empty stomach. Now, I am not saying this is a charasteristic of Balls as a breed, but this is what mine will do from time to time.

@cantthinkofone:
I have been keeping snakes for 5+ years and have 7 snakes. I have tried Corn snakes twice. I prefer getting babies on all my snakes and the Corns were no exceptions. Both were bought from pet shop chains (one from Pet Smart and the other from PetCo -- lesson learned) and they looked just hatched in size. Both would eat for a couple of weeks then all of the sudden just stop or regerg and then there was no more eating and they both died. While I am willing to try an older corn, I have decided to no longer buy except from breeders. I do not know if this is a Corn trait or that I just got poor conditioned Corns. Also, I have a Jungle Carpet Python and he was a little Houdini!!! He escaped 4 times on me before he was a year old. The longest he was gone was 3 weeks, but since I have 3 "working" cats, they tend to locate him and coner him and he then seems to get my attention in order to be saved from the cats. ; ) I am glad you found yours. Most of my snakes are kept in aquariums. I have made belts to put around the tanks and have not had any more escapes from the tanks with belts. Since most pet owners have jobs and obligations that take us away from the home and our pets, our pets get bord and literally have nothing better to do than check their enclosure over inch by inch to see if they can find a way out. I have even heard stories that some constrictors have been able to unscrew the nut that was exposed on the inside of their enclosure and created a weekness that way. They are smarter than we give them credit for. Just because they don't want to fetch a ball, don't think they can't "do the math." : D

Good luck in getting him back on the feed.

 

[Embers To Ashes]

If he is that small he should be on pinkey mice... maybe fuzzys. Try to feed him a f/t pinkey.

 

[cantthinkofone]

thanks for all the answers. yes he was bought from petsmart and when i talked to a breeder the breeder said to keep trying but that it ws not my fault. its been 2.5 months i have no idea how he does it. im running out of options. i havent bought from petsmart since and never will again.

 

[lizardminion]

If he is that small he should be on pinkey mice... maybe fuzzys. Try to feed him a f/t pinkey.

I don't quite agree with a f/t. A troubled feeder should be tried of live or better yet- fresh, pre-killed mice since it still retains the scent of mouse.

What I think you should do is get a pre-killed, pinkie mouse(a mouse just recently killed, for those who don't know...) and nudge its snout into your corn snake's mouth to trigger a feeding response. Don't force feed it. This is called assist feeding.

Edit: Also, check your temps and basking area. Snakes need the warm temps since, being cold blooded, they can't produce their own heat to trigger their digestive enzymes.