I'm wondering if I'm unknowingly stressing out my baby corn (Larkin) and making him unhappy. I never see him being active, looking around the viv, he just sits in his hide box all day and all night, and now he's stopped eating. He just shed a perfect skin on the 15th, which was good, but he had already missed his last feeding. Its been 3 days and he's not eaten for over 2 weeks, rejecting the pinkie I put in his cage 2 days after his shed.
So my questions are:
1. Is there something wrong with him if he's so inactive?

2. If he's not eating just because he's not hungry, should I wait a couple more days or the next feeding day (another week away) until I should try putting food in his cage again?

3. I was handeling him just before I put the food in his viv so could it be that he was stressed (in which case I just leave him undisturbed for a couple days and try again)?

4. I've thrown away 3 pinkie mice in the past 3 weeks because of his rejections and so is it a complete faux-pas to just re-freeze the mouse and try using it again?

His Conditions: I've only had him long enough to feed him once, where he ate the pinkie without issues, the temp at the time being 80F(warm side) and 72F(cool side) -at night time. I've been told that he might not have eaten this time because it was too cool, but in the entire time I've had him he refuses to ever sit on the warm side (day temp 85F) and he digested the first feeding while staying on the cool side the whole time, so I wouldn't really think that's the problem.
Thanks for any help!

1st off,,,babies are naturally skittish, they think everything is a threat to them. 2nd, being so skittish most babies will stay in there hides and you will rarely see them being active. 3rd, if she's new,,,,she'll need time to adjust to her new home before she establishes a set eating pattern. My advice would be to leave her alone for at least a week, no handling, then try to feed. My baby albino boa I have had for almost 2 months and I NEVER see her out of her hide.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Whew, thanks. I know snakes can go a long while without eating so I guess I could wait another week. It's still annoying to have to throw away so many pinkies though. Why is it really bad to re-freeze them after they've been thawed and rejected and use them again? (not that I have, but just wondering)

Its easier to refreeze an adult mouse than it is a pinkie and you can only usually do this once. As you keep reheating and refreezing, the prey starts to break down and you'll have less nutrients in it than in a freshly frozen never been refrozen pinkie or mouse. This is what i've heard anyway.

In my experience the more you do it, the thinner the skin gets as well and it gets kind of nasty. instead of wasting the pinkies, just wait a week then try. That way you won't waste the pinkies.

When my 2 corns were babies I rarely ever saw them outside of their hides. If you think about it, its like something huge coming to your house, ripping off your roof and taking you out. Kind of scary.

Just give your baby some time. It takes some snakes longer to adjust than others. Once he feels secure he'll eat when he's ready. Corns are usually good about eating once they get settled into a routine.

good luck.

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~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear