Year and a half corn snake feeding

[Nathalie]

So my year and a half old corn snake is currently shedding. For the first time I decided that I won't offer him food during his shed because from earlier experiences he has difficulty eating in this time. Now he's been roughly 15-17 days without food and just entered his blue stage.

I was wondering if it's okay for a such a generally small snake to go so long without food? Im assuming he'll be done shedding in three to five days, so that'd be a total of over 22 days. The longest he's gone without food has been about fifteen days thus far.

He's completely healthy, good length and weight, and never has trouble eating (except for when shedding). I know he's probably fine but I just have to make sure since it has been the better part of a month since his last meal.

[Bogertophis]

It's fine to wait until he's done shedding- no matter how many more days that is. Even if you offered food now & he accepted it, he'd likely have trouble digesting it or trouble shedding*- that's why snakes instinctively refuse food when in shed. *Both digestion & shedding uses up moisture in the snake's body, so doing both at the same time is challenging. If snakes eat while in shed, it can cause them to have a very difficult shed that sticks & only comes off in a zillion pieces. So truly, it's better to just wait. It's much easier on the snake, just doing one thing at a time.

As creatures that love to eat a number of times a day, it's sometimes hard to relate to animals that evolved eating only now & then, & that are able to fast for long periods of time. Don't "lose any sleep" over him not eating until he's done with his shed- just be patient. BTW, I've raised & kept corn snakes for decades- I currently have 5, & my oldest one is 23 years old.

[Nathalie]

Thanks!

I didn't know that. Yeah it's a little hard not to feel bad for him because I know he's hungry, but like you said it's for the better and only for a couple more days

It's nice to hear that one of yours is 23 years. And five? I want to have as many one day - when I'm a little more experienced

[Bogertophis]

Btw, I'm moving this thread to the "corn snake" forum: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/foru...y.php?86-Corns