Agressive behavior and non-feeding

Question
I'm very concerned for my 3 year old Corn.  A bit of background is needed I think.  Our Corn (no name) was housed in a large 6x4' enclosure. We had done a extensive job recreating a naturalistic environment complete with two rock built hides(hot and cold), branches, live plants, varying substrate from calcium sand, to gravel to repti-bark.  She was a very happy snake.  The tank was located in our dining room so she was exposed to a regular stream of traffic from us and our other pets yet she didn't seem to mind.

Then we moved.  There was a 3 week lag between when we moved into the new home and the time we could set up hers. In the mean time she was housed in an opaque mail tote on the top of the fridge.  She was checked daily and seemed well.  We finally got her new set up done in the basement and fed her just prior to letting her move in.  She ate no problem.  This was at the end of February.  She hasn't eaten since.

We went through a few different idea's, we double checked the temperature in the tank and realized that it was cool overall.  A basement in winter, in Canada is not the easiest place to keep warm.  We adjusted that to acceptable standards yet she still would not eat. Against out better judgment we took some advice from a live feeding snake owner who told us she was probably bored of eating dead, that it happened with a few of his pythons, how you need to engage their instincts, blah, blah, blah. When we introduced the very young mouse to the tank she simply avoided the thing.  After reading a bit on the internet about the comfort angle for feeding snakes we decided that she wasn't getting exposed to the same traffic level as her earlier set up and this might be causing her to be fearful when she did sense movement and noise. So we moved her back to the mail tote (the last place she ate)  and gave her some time to acclimatize.  

I tried to feed her a thawed baby rat last night and she displayed behavior I have never seen in a constrictor before. I presented the rat and she backed away from it, then I did the old tooth pick in the brain thing and she got excited, tongue flapping away and she came close.  Then she retracted quickly and started shaking her tail like a rattler. I gently persisted in presenting the rat and she got even more agitated and shot it a few defense strikes but would not wrap it up.  I left the rat in the box overnight with her but it was still there this morning.  It seems to me that the experience with the live mouse may have frightened her and now she sees her food as a threat. We are looking at a more appropriate 25-30 gallon tank to transfer her into but I'm worried at the amount of time she has gone with out eating. Any ideas?

Answer
What you're describing is not totally uncommon behavior. I have seen it many times when moving a snake form one enclosure to the next. You are on the right track in terms of trying different variables to get your snake to feed. Also, if the snake was being fed regularly prior to the move and is of healthy weight, you don't need to be too concerned just yet as a healthy snake can go several months without food.

A couple of things come to mind. Earlier it's cage was in a dining room, which I would guess gets more light than the basement it is now in. Snakes sense seasonal changes not just on temp but by the amount of light they see each day. The first thing that I would do is try to bring the enclosure back upstairs if at all possible so that it can see regular daylight. You also mention the temps -- you must be sure that one end of the cage is in the low 80s.

The idea of trying live food wasn't all that bad. The point is that you may need to try varying it's diet to get it going again. I usually find that smaller prey than what it's normally used to may help. So if it was eating a weanling rat earlier, try a rat pup, etc. Another thing that I've had success with is scenting with catfish. Just buy a single fillet catfish fillet from the grocery store, that the mouse/rat in warm water, then rub the catfish all over the prey item. I can't explain what it is about catfish but it has worked on several different problem feeders for me in the past.

Lastly, going down to a smaller cage size is also a good idea. To start with, I'd go with something very simple....aspen for the bottom, and a hide on the warm end of the cage. That's it. Give him a few days in the cage like that, then give him the prey item. You might also try putting the food item inside of the hide box. When I thaw a mouse, I usually use very warm water. Once thawed, if the water has cooled I dump the water and get the mouse warmed back up with very warm water. Many snakes don't care if their thawed mouse is warm or cold, but others don't seem to care for a cold mouse. Go figure.

Good luck and just remember to keep trying. I'd like to hear back if any of these suggestions worked for you.