Q. Do I really need a thermostat?
A. YES!! This important piece of equipment prevents your snakes from overheating. Uncontrolled heating devices could become lethal to your much loved pet, so don't take chances with its welfare. If you use bulbs for your heating, ensure that they are attached to a dimmer stat, and use thermometers at both ends of your vivarium to doubly monitor your temperature ranges.
Q. Someone told me that I can feed live prey to my snake if it won't feed.
A. Wrong. Feeding live prey is illegal and dangerous to your snake, so should never be considered. If you have encountered feeding problems, please see the checklist below for dealing with appetite interruptions.
Q. My snake has legs....
A. Sorry mate...you've bought a centipede!! 
Q. My snake is going blue
A. Your snake is getting ready to shed off its old skin, this happens frequently when the snake is young and growing rapidly. As your snake matures, shedding will take place less often. Initially you will see your snake becoming dull, and the checkerboard pattern on the belly becomes milky looking (except if your specimen is a motley, pewter or bloodred variety...these guys have no patterns on their undersides!!) and then over the next few days the snake becomes almost blue grey in appearance. This phase then clears and the snake is ready to shed its skin, so ensure that they have a soak in a shallow bath or buy a suitable product to assist the snake to shed its skin cleanly. Always check the freshly shed skin to ensure that it is complete as tail tips can be constricted and drop off if skin is retained. (Dessicated skin may be due to insufficient humidity during shed, or due to nutritional deficiency, please check with a vet if you have any health concerns.) You may also find that your snake is not interested in feeding whilst in shed, and if fed heavily prior to shedding then regurgitation may occur due to the digestive system not processing food at this time....believe me, it smells BAD!!
Q. HELP! My snake won't feed.
A. Firstly, don't panic....owner's stress often affects the snake too. So, pop the little wriggly back into his or her vivarium, and check through the following points:
1. How often are you offering food? A hatchling likes to feed every 5 days, but an older baby that is capable of taking bigger prey should only be fed every 7 days, so check your schedule to see that you are not feeding excessively.
2. Is the snake in shed (see above section ~ *my snake is going blue*)? If your snake is waiting to shed its skin, then just wait patiently until shedding is complete, no harm will come to your snake from missing a meal.
3. What temperature range do you have in your vivarium? You should have a warm end of 84-88F and a cooler end of around 75F. Without this balance your snake will not digest its food, they are cold blooded animals and rely on external heat sources to moderate their own body temperature.
4. Is your snake a breeding size adult (30"-36" length), and is the room where the vivarium lives cooler than normal? Often during winter when room temperature drops this can affect the cooler end of your vivarium, don't be surprised if older snakes become a little more lethargic during this time as breeding sized adults will be preparing their bodies for reproduction. This can be remedied by keeping room temperature as constant as possible and ensuring that the vivarium isn't situated in a draught from a nearby door or window. If they still appear slow, then try reducing meals to every 10 days until the appetites become keen again.
5. Have you seen your snake toileting since last feeding? If your snake has produced no poo, check whether it's in shed as this would slow down digestion, then try to give the animal a shallow bath in tepid water to see if movement encourages the passing of waste...this usually works in cases of slow gut response. If you can feel a hardened mass, or the snake passes blood, mucus or other unhealthy products please go to a vet as soon as possible for further investigation. Whilst corns are pretty good with regards to health issues, tumours can occur.
Generally if your snake has come from a reputable supplier, is captive bred, and has fed every week prior to refusing, the problem usually stems from one of the issues in points 1 to 5, so there should be minimal to zero chance of your snake having cryptosporidium, or internal parasites. However nites can occur in unclean environments and these would also affect the snakes' appetite.
Respiratory infections due to excess humidity should be rare if the vivarium is set up as required, but if your snake has a wheeze when breathing, increase the temperature of your vivarium to 90F to give the animal an artificial fever, if wood chip or aspen is used throw it out and provide clean dry newspaper for the base of the vivarium; arrange for a vet to examine tha animal.
Q. What size food do I feed to my snake?
A. As a rough guide, the size of rodent should be no greater than 1.5 times bigger than the widest part of your snake's body. If you observe the food bulge in your snake's belly, you should see the animal slim down to normal in about 24-48 hours...if it takes longer than this, or regurgitation occurs then reduce the size of prey and the number of items given. If the bulge is gone within 12 hours, then it is probably safe to offer more items or a single bigger rodent at the next meal, and just use the rule of thumb above for size guidance.
An example of feeding regime might be as follows: hatchling age 1 to 4 months, give pinkies every 5 days, when the hatchling takes 4 pinkies at every feed with ease, start feeding fuzzies etc. (When my snakelings are taking fuzzies I generally feed them once a week to allow plenty of digestion time) Usually by a year of age the juveniles will start taking small mice, but growth does vary from snake to snake. Once your snake is an adult then every 7-10 days feeding is more than adequate and prevents obesity which can occur as a result of limited freedom to roam..
Don't forget to defrost your frozen mice before feeding to the snake!
If you have bought a hatchling which will not feed, then please consider the following:
Buy only from reputable sources; captive bred is a better bet. Breeders should be able to provide support and in-depth advice to customers, and the snakes sold should be supplied with records of feeding, shedding and weight. If the hygiene standard is poor...walk away. Never buy out of sympathy or impulse.
Excessive handling to young snakes when first arriving into a new home does cause stress, so when you buy a baby, give it 48 hours peace and quiet to settle in, then introduce the feeding schedule (preferably in the early evening) and build up handling time gradually over the next few months. Start with no more than 5 minutes a day, and don't handle it for 2-3 days after feeding. The more consideration you give at this time will give you a happier snake for the coming years.
Make sure your baby feels secure, plenty of hiding places should be provided; these can be in the form of cardboard tubes plastic flower pots etc. Also make sure the enclosure is not too big for the hatchling....large spaces are scary when you are only 12" long!