Adult corn not eating...Help?

[Argentra]

My favorite corn, the bright Amel male, has been feeding very erratically for about two months now and has refused the last 3 feedings straight. Here's the schedule:

9/16 - refused
9/23 - ate (Lg adult mouse PK, FYI)
9/30 - refused
10/7 - ate, but hesitantly
10/14 - refused
10/21 - ate, but took a while to take it
10/28 - skipped feeding due to my injured back
11/4, 11, and 18 tonight - refused

He looks at it, 'smells' it, then pulls his head back and hides. If I leave it there, he ignores it. If I dangle it near him, he pulls away. He was such a consistent and eager eater before, so this has me a little concerned.
My ghost went through a similar phase at the same age where he would refuse every other feeding, but he never went three straight weeks before.

I don't know if this could be a factor, but around the middle of September one of the ramps in his tank (the kind held up on one end by suction cups) fell down while he was under it. I don't think it hurt him at all, since he moves well and did eat a few times afterwards, but could it have affected him in other ways?

What other factors could be involved? His home is an 18x18 ExoTerra tank insulated like my other tanks, his temps are about 84-87 warm, 73 cool.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts. I just want to cover all bases since he's my favorite boy.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Sometimes male corns can feed erratically during breeding season, but its a little too early for that. If he's an otherwise healthy adult, a few weeks or even a few months won't hurt him. I think its a little too early to start worrying just yet.

Are you feeding him in his cage or outside? If doing one, try the other.

You might try a rat, or a different colored mouse. My adult lavender female used to be a somewhat sporadic feeder on f/t white mice. I ran out of mice and threw in a hooded rat pup, and she went just nuts for him. Got more mice, and she went back to her old ways. So I thought it was the rats, fed her an albino rat, same thing, sporadic feeding. For whatever reason, hooded rats are her favorite. Maybe its something silly like this?

I would give him a couple of weeks off and just leave him be. Then I'd probably try a live mouse and see what happens.

[anendeloflorien]

Have you tried just leaving the mouse or rat (f/t of course) in his enclosure for a little while with the lights off? My biggest corn won't eat unless it's left in there for him. In a way it's sad because I like all of my snakes to have a healthy strong feeding response but hes more than a few years old and I've only had him for a few months. Maybe try that and see? I usually just leave it either right outside his hide or in the middle of his coils near his head when he's out.

[Argentra]

Thanks for the comments.

I have tried feeding him rats before...in fact I believe it was when I was trying to convert him over to rat pups that he started getting picky like this. He might be angry with me for messing with his feeding routine.
Whenever I do dangle a rat pup in front of him he doesn't even show any interest before pulling away, almost like he's afraid of them. Since he eats PK or FT, I tried both with rat pups (different feedings of course). No go.

Since he seems healthy in ever other way - alert, clear eyes, fluid movements, no noises, I'm not really worried yet. He did lose about 23g between September and October weigh-ins tho, and that's what really prompted me to ask for advice. Sorry, I forgot to mention that in the initial post.

I've always fed him in his cage, so I may try putting him in his holding box next Tuesday and see if that gets us anywhere. Thanks again for the responses. Any other comments/suggestions/opinions are quite welcome.

[anendeloflorien]

Since he seems healthy in ever other way - alert, clear eyes, fluid movements, no noises, I'm not really worried yet. He did lose about 23g between September and October weigh-ins tho, and that's what really prompted me to ask for advice. Sorry, I forgot to mention that in the initial post.

How much does he weigh total? 23g is not a lot for a bigger snake but geez I think it would take 3 of my little hatelings put together to weigh that!

If he seems afraid of it I would just leave it for him, he may just not like all the moving around and stuff, that's what it seems to be with my Thor. Not interested when its moving but dang when it's dead and just laying there he's all over it! Good luck sorry I didn't really have much more to add.

[Hapa_Haole]

Maybe live prey will re-spark his interest?

[Argentra]

He weighs 556g, down by 26g from last month. He's almost 2 years old.

The last two attempts I left the PK mouse in and covered the cage for about 10 minutes, but every time I looked in he was as far from the thing as he could get. Since I had other snakes to feed, I would always take the mouse and give it to someone else.

I may try feeding him first and leaving him and the mouse in his holding box for 30min next Tuesday and see what we get. Thanks for the advice.

[blackcrystal22]

He weighs 556g, down by 26g from last month. He's almost 2 years old.

The last two attempts I left the PK mouse in and covered the cage for about 10 minutes, but every time I looked in he was as far from the thing as he could get. Since I had other snakes to feed, I would always take the mouse and give it to someone else.

I may try feeding him first and leaving him and the mouse in his holding box for 30min next Tuesday and see what we get. Thanks for the advice.

What about trying live?
I know your not much of a fan, but it's worth a shot.

[RichardA]

Breeding cool down period....may be warm inside but they know what time it is.....LOL