The Corn Snake Forum
The Corn Snake Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Members | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Corn Snake Posts
 Corn Snake - General Keeping information
 new baby corn snake
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

hayleyf
Snake Mite

United Kingdom
2 Posts

Posted - 26/11/2012 :  21:30:47  Show Profile  Send hayleyf a Yahoo! Message  Reply with Quote
Hi I have been looking after a baby corn snake for a few months who was a fussy eater. I read lots of books, looked on the forums and spoke to the breeder to find ways to encourage him to eat. After what seemed like a lifetime of worry the little fella began eating small pinks then 2 pinks each week and was beginning to fill out nicely and was very friendly. The owner returned and sadly took the little guy away to live with him in Bristol for a month before deciding that he couldn't have him after all!!! Now he is so thin I am worried to death. The ex owner says he kept regurgertating his food or refusing feeds. I have had him back for 4 days and he has eaten a very tiny pink and has kept it down but he is painfully thin with loads of loose skin. I am worried sick. What should I do? please help

4 month baby anery corn
4 goldfish - Henry, Bella, John Cena and Sheamus
Parsons Jack Russel - Jake
RIP baby Corn - Evie

Razee
Fully Grown Corn

United Kingdom
2525 Posts

Posted - 27/11/2012 :  07:38:22  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hello Hayleyf,

and welcome to the forum.

You got him eating before - and then, when he moved back with the owner, problems started again?
I'm no expert - but it sounds there might have been issue with the conditions he's kept n , i.e. temperature - if that was too high or too low, he might not have wanted to eat, or regurgitate, if he was handled too early after feeding and not left to digest for a couple of days etc.
With all the loose skin, it sounds like he could be dehydrated, too.
What is your set up like - your low and high end temperatures, etc. and have you got the heat source on a thermostat?

I' wait to see, if he keeps the pinkie down, and gradually build him up again to bigger feeds, every 5 - 6 days. You've done it before already, so you must have been doing it right.
If he starts eating well, but stays thin, you could always have his poo checked for parasites. But as he was improving before in your care, hopefuly, he'll do the same again.

Good on you for taking him in :-)

0.1.0 late CB10 Carolina corn snake - Bazilishka
1.0.0 CB11 Abbots Okeetee- Little Twiddler
1.0.0 CB11 Hypo corn- Sebastianek
1.0.0. CB14 Butter Motley - Squidwood
0.0.2 CB18 normal/ Okeetee yearlings Bunny and Lalalishka
0.0.1 hognose
0.1.0 stable cat
0.1.0 house cat
Go to Top of Page

herriotfan
Fully Grown Corn

United Kingdom
5853 Posts

Posted - 27/11/2012 :  08:18:48  Show Profile  Click to see herriotfan's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
Hi and welcome to the forum.
You managed to get the little guy eating and in good health before so I'd do the same again to get him back there again now.
What a pity the 'owner' let him get in this state. Shame on him.
He's already kept one pinkie down for you so that's a good sign.
I'd offer him a pinky every 7 days. I would say 5 days but I'm not sure he could cope with them just at the moment if he's been almost starved.
You must have got the setup correct or he wouldn't have done so well before.
I'm sure things will be ok if you take the 'slow but sure' road. Good luck.


Husband....Very Understanding!!! (Phil)
Son & Daughter (Kevin & Carol)
Granddaughter (Eva)
3.4.0 Cornsnakes Amel (Sidney) Caramel Stripe (Sultan) Amber (Cleo) Carolina (Phoebe) Anery Motley Stripe (Penny) Snow (Lily) Caramel (Holmes)
1.2.0 Royal Pythons(Peeps, Pandora & Pepsi)
1.0.0 Hognose (Hudson)
2.1.0 Dogs (Dillon, Alfie, Ellie)
0.1.0 Senegal Parrot (Peanut)
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons (Bonnie & Clyde)
1.0.0 Crested Geckos (Echo)
0.2.1 Hermanns Tortoises (Ebbie, Rosie & Twiglet)
0.1.0 Guinea Pig (Dolly-Pipsqueak)
0.1.9 Tarantulas (Poppy, Gypsy, Bumble, Insey Winsey, Sonic, Cookie, Raven, Fudge, Titch & Sox)
??? Foster animals
Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex
Go to Top of Page

Criminal Nails
Hatchling

Spain
275 Posts

Posted - 27/11/2012 :  10:35:24  Show Profile  Visit Criminal Nails's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Hey! That owner was shameless... I can't believe people mistreat their pets like this. I am glad the snake is back with you, and as others said I am sure you will be able to get it to the right condition again. Try not to feed him too much too quick for now though, because his body needs to get used to feeding again. After a couple or three feeds, increase the size of the prey gradually.
I am sure it will be fine :)

Criminal Nails .-
0.0.1 Ghost Corn (Discordia)
0.1.0 Vietnamese Blue Beauty (Furia)
Go to Top of Page

Nasicus
Egg

United Kingdom
74 Posts

Posted - 27/11/2012 :  19:05:07  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I'd get him checked out by a vet, if he's gone from healthy to very thin in a month :S

Corns:
0.1.0 Snow - Lister
0.1.0 Amel - Psiren
0.1.0 Fire - Cat
1.0.0 Normal - Rimmer
1.0.0 Kinked Butter - Kryten

Hognoses:
1.0.0 Greenphase - Scout
1.0.0 Greenphase - Pyro
0.1.0 Normal - Rocket

Beardie:
1.0.0 Alduin
Go to Top of Page

musical2one
Snake Mite

USA
46 Posts

Posted - 28/11/2012 :  19:51:51  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I agree with the others. His original owner must have had him in a condition not suitable. Also, the little guy may be stressed out from being moved around several times. I would do what the others said, which is feed it every 5-7 days, but try not to stress it out.
You just don't know what happened with the other owner, so you gotta take things carefully. A vet trip may be a viable option, with a poop check. Also, check this sticky out: http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3720

may be of some help in the long run.

http://reptilesia.blogspot.com/

Go to Top of Page

eac84
Egg

United Kingdom
70 Posts

Posted - 28/11/2012 :  21:57:54  Show Profile  Send eac84 an AOL message  Reply with Quote
I went to the vet recently with non feeders and the vet recommended using AviPro Plus. its a probiotic that is added to water with other multi vit added to help the little fellas out and give them a bit of a boost. I got mine at the local pet shop and believe its common and easy to get hold of. good luck and good on you for doing the extra for him even when his original owner never.

Euan
1.1.0. normal stripped, normal corn 0.1.0 e.s.s
Go to Top of Page

cobweb251
Hatchling

United Kingdom
435 Posts

Posted - 28/11/2012 :  22:12:28  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
it sounds like you know what you are doing and i think its just a case of back to square one, do what you was doing before and I am sure he/she will recover just fine :)

Go to Top of Page

hayleyf
Snake Mite

United Kingdom
2 Posts

Posted - 05/12/2012 :  22:29:29  Show Profile  Send hayleyf a Yahoo! Message  Reply with Quote
Hi everyone so sorry for not replying sooner. I had connected to the facebook link from this forum and was using that. Also I couldn't find a link back to this post {new to this!}. We tried very very hard to save the little fella, we upgraded his viv with a desert floor heat pad, thermostat, digital thermometer. We also brought some prebotics for his water. We gave him a warm bath to rehydrate him as also suggested by members of the forum, he seemed to perk up for a while. On Monday evening, after refusing several tiny pinks he became lethargic, floppy and then it seemed like he had a lump in his tummy - like he'd not long eaten?
I was beside myself, we rang every vet and they weren't much help. We eventually got an appointment for the following morning at 10.30 when a vet with knowledge of snakes would be available. We had so much online support from the wonderful members on the fb page but alas the little guy lost his fight for night curled on my hand shortly after. Needless to say I was devestated and am still upset by the whole thing. In the previous owner's defence, he has since informed me that he brought a corn snake starter kit from the reptile shop along with the baby corn and they told him to wall mount the heat mat and that he didn't need anything else - no mention of digital thermometers, thermostats or that by placing the heat mat on the wall, it was merely heating the ambient air and not the base/substrate as needed. When he visited them regarding the snake not eating they never once mentioned the temperature or the effect that could have on him and told him to stop reading things on the internet it was all rubbish!!!
Thanks to all of you who messaged me back x

4 month baby anery corn
4 goldfish - Henry, Bella, John Cena and Sheamus
Parsons Jack Russel - Jake
RIP baby Corn - Evie
Go to Top of Page

Emmzi
Hatchling

United Kingdom
431 Posts

Posted - 05/12/2012 :  22:57:44  Show Profile  Click to see Emmzi's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
Awwh so sorry to hear hope you are alright and at least you gave him a loving home before he lost his fight

1.0.0 amel corn (Dakota)
0.1.0 Anery Het Hypo Motley (Takara)
0.1.0 Ghost Het Motley (Galaxy)
1.0.0 Classic Corn (Archie)
1.0.0 Royal Python (Khan)
1.0.0 Leopard Gecko (Shibuki)

Go to Top of Page

coxymk2
Sub Adult

United Kingdom
1245 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2012 :  08:25:56  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
So sorry poor little thing. My local petshop provides a care sheet with all the animals they sell you would think that in this day and age all stores could provide a proper caresheet it's not rocket science after all

0.0.1 ANERY (Liquorice)
0.0.1 CAROLINA (Bangle)
0.0.1 AMEL (Boozer)
Go to Top of Page

Razee
Fully Grown Corn

United Kingdom
2525 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2012 :  18:22:06  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
So sorry to hear that he didn't make it, poor little chap.... but you gave him a good home and did everything you could for him, and that's the main thing.

0.1.0 late CB10 Carolina corn snake - Bazilishka
1.0.0 CB11 Abbots Okeetee- Little Twiddler
1.0.0 CB11 Hypo corn- Sebastianek
1.0.0. CB14 Butter Motley - Squidwood
0.0.2 CB18 normal/ Okeetee yearlings Bunny and Lalalishka
0.0.1 hognose
0.1.0 stable cat
0.1.0 house cat
Go to Top of Page

Moppet
Fully Grown Corn

United Kingdom
3315 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2012 :  19:34:57  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Sorry to hear that Ugh, bad petshop advice strikes again! Poor little snake, but at least you tried to get him better, he had a comfortable home for a while.

2.4.0 Corn snakes
1.0.0 horse
0.1.0 Golden retriever
1.4.0 Guinea pigs
Go to Top of Page

herriotfan
Fully Grown Corn

United Kingdom
5853 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2012 :  19:44:36  Show Profile  Click to see herriotfan's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
So sorry to read that the guy didn't make it.
At least he was loved for a while and you did your best.
RIP little one. xxxx


Husband....Very Understanding!!! (Phil)
Son & Daughter (Kevin & Carol)
Granddaughter (Eva)
3.4.0 Cornsnakes Amel (Sidney) Caramel Stripe (Sultan) Amber (Cleo) Carolina (Phoebe) Anery Motley Stripe (Penny) Snow (Lily) Caramel (Holmes)
1.2.0 Royal Pythons(Peeps, Pandora & Pepsi)
1.0.0 Hognose (Hudson)
2.1.0 Dogs (Dillon, Alfie, Ellie)
0.1.0 Senegal Parrot (Peanut)
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons (Bonnie & Clyde)
1.0.0 Crested Geckos (Echo)
0.2.1 Hermanns Tortoises (Ebbie, Rosie & Twiglet)
0.1.0 Guinea Pig (Dolly-Pipsqueak)
0.1.9 Tarantulas (Poppy, Gypsy, Bumble, Insey Winsey, Sonic, Cookie, Raven, Fudge, Titch & Sox)
??? Foster animals
Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
The Corn Snake Forum © 2000-11 thecornsnake.co.uk Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000