sweetpea3829 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I know one of you has a daughter the is quite the young herpetologist. My son forgot to water his corn snake. She's about 3 yrs old. The snake is extremely dehydrated and when found, she was so near death, we weren't sure she was even alive. I put her in a small tub of sports drink, warmed up and look and behold, she lives. But she is not well, and seems to be crashing. Writhing, flipping upside down, and now she's very still with her head arched to the side. I'm still soaking her in the solution. Any suggestions/thoughts? He's devastated, especially because it's his responsibility to make sure she's watered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 pm dmmetler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Take her to a vet-ideally one who specializes in exotics. They can put her on an IV. The sports drink may not have been the best choice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 Take her to a vet-ideally one who specializes in exotics. They can put her on an IV. The sports drink may not have been the best choice. I found a herp vet about 30 minutes north of us, but unfortunately, Razor the Snake did not survive the night. DS10 is devastated and everybody is "carving" memorial rocks for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Realistically, that behavior sounds like than just dehydration-and it takes a long time for a corn snake to show significant signs of dehydration, especially if they were being fed at all regularly. I doubt he caused this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 Interesting. She was being fed regularly, and I don't think she went more than a week without water. When she was found, she was in her water dish, and she was pretty dessicated. Her skin was tented and drawn. She had been very healthy up until this happened. Any other ideas what may have caused this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 The behavior you describe sounds a lot like stargazing. Corns can carry the trait genetically, or it can be caused by extreme temperatures, especially sudden shifts, or disease. http://www.petmd.com/reptile/conditions/neurological/c_rp_stargazing_syndrome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 We have a rough green snake as a pet. We've had it since last May. We'd been feeding it smaller crickets all summer (About all it will eat. It won't eat frozen or the mealworms we got. It did eat one spider we caught but we are nervous feeding it animals caught around the house). He'd eat 8 crickets in 6 days so we left 12 crickets in the cage for the 10 days we were gone. When we got back from vacation, the store was out of the smaller crickets so we bought the larger ones. (We left him with a larger supply of smaller crickets on our 10 day vacation, but they were all gone when we got home and we didn't know how long he could wait). He ate all 8 of the larger crickets in about a day and a half. Ah -- he must have been hungry, we thought and got larger crickets again -- another "6" (They give us 8 when we buy 6 it seems). Again, the snake gobbled them up REALLY quickly. (2 or 2.5 days). And we had to get another quantity. We are, of course, continuing to get the larger crickets since he appears to really enjoy them. But it is baffling he is actually eating more crickets when they are larger than when they were smaller? Also, now some of his poops actually have recognizeable cricket parts in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) Snakes are opportunistic feeders, and most will eat a less than ideal meal, but really get excited about a good one :). Our corn occasionally gets small rats instead of mice when we get ones too small for the ball python to eat (he will refuse prey that is too small), and she gets extremely excited and eager. Just because he's eating more doesn't mean he needs that much all the time. You may want to see if there is anyone who breeds Dubia. They'd be a more "meaty" prey-and are much less prone to escape and quieter than crickets. Large crickets have pretty hard shells that can be tough to digest. (In general, Rough Greens are basically lizards in snake costumes-that's how DD's mentor describes them, and crickets are usually less than an ideal diet for lizards. They're one of her favorite snakes. You also may want to try softer bodied worms-mealworms are super-hard shelled. Waxworms are well liked by the small insectivorous snakes that sometimes end up taking temporary residence with us. My hint on feeding insectivores-make friends with your local bait shop. It will be much, much cheaper and have more variety. Edited August 31, 2017 by dmmetler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Sweetpea I am so sorry about your pet snake. :grouphug: Dmmetler, I don't have snakes but love animals and honestly, the things I learn on the WTM boards...amazing. And such a testament to your DD's love of snakes that mom knows so much too. :001_wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 What's even more amazing is that I took no science in college except for one class on acoustics-I had enough AP courses and no interest in doing more than the minimum-and the minimum for music is pretty low :). Even in grad school, I had two classes in teaching science, but mostly did my higher courses in teaching math. That is one downside of DD now mostly doing stuff without me. When she was 8-10 and needed me to be allowed to even go on campus, I got to learn, too. Now I just get to pick her up at 12:30. I figure I have a few years left for conferences, at least-she can't check into a hotel alone! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 It appears he is also getting ready to shed (I had a corn snake some years ago and note the similarities. I was very surprised to discover this one did not eat mice!). I will definitely look into that other kind of food. I have never heard of dubias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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