I had a snake as a teenager, and I think my negligence killed it.

[sandylocust100]

I had a corn snake that was housed with my sister's snake. We had to separate them when hers was growing and mine wasn't because we were worried the bigger one would end up eating him. I tried coaxing him to eat his pinkies but he just wasn't interested. I thought around 72 degrees, which is how hot the house was, was good enough so I didn't look into heating lamps much. I did have a little heating pad I put under the tank but looking back it wouldn't have been powerful enough to penetrate the plastic. Besides, as I said, I thought 72 degrees was fine so I didn't worry about it much. I later learned they really need to have access to temperatures in the 80s. I think something was wrong with him to start with because my sister's snake thrived in the same environment he started to fail in, but I can't believe I didn't care enough to do something as simple as look up temperatures. Who knows, it might have saved him.

Ever since I learned this the guilt has actually kept me up at night. I should have been more careful and proactive. This was actually over 10 years ago this happened, but I still haven't been able to move on.

My question is this: To try to make amends, which snake rescues or charities should I give some money to? I ask because so many charities or rescues aren't actually helpful despite their public persona and you're snake people, so you might know which ones are for real.

My negligence killed one, so I feel I probably should help save a few if I can.

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome and best wishes Sandy. It's nice that you want to help animals. USARK is a great organization that advocates on behalf of reptile keepers. I'm sure your donation would be warmly received. On another note, guilt is a negative emotion that doesn't help us to move forward. We all make mistakes as teenagers. Forgive yourself and do better next time. You may even want to keep snakes or other reptiles as pets in the future. Just make sure to do your research first. :)

[MartinD]

Hi Sandy and welcome to the forums. As Ziggy said 'guilt is a negative emotion' and this can stop us going forward, as well as giving a donation to a charity perhaps you may offer your help to an animal charity and work with the animals and learn first hand how to care for them, it would be a great positive step in the right direction.

[TRD]

72 F is not enough to cause a corn snake to die though. Likely the underlying cause had little to do with that. There is nothing you should be guilty about because I doubt there was anything you would of been able to do for him/her. Losing an animal of any kind from anything except old age naturally makes you wonder if there wouldn't be anything you could of done differently. This only shows that you care and you started to think about it. You went to look up information on the snake and learned some new things about them.

Donations to any animal charity is always a good thing, I tend to donate to local shelters/local animal organizations... they mostly require the help much more than the larger organizations.

You take care now, and be at ease :)

[GyGbeetle]

I'm going to agree with the previous comments that you were not to blame for your snake not thriving. I recently lost a baby snake that I thought was due to my negligence, or lack of willingness to pursue invasive testing at the vet. What I was told by 3 very well-respected medical professionals was this: snakes have large clutches in the wild, because only a small few will survive the first year. Some die from the elements, some become a meal, and some are just born with a congenital abnormality that, no matter what they do, will not thrive and eventually will die. In captivity, the clutches tend to be smaller, but those congenital abnormalities are still present. It's Darwin's theory at its most simplest.

I understand the guilt, but it can be counterproductive. You have taken initiative now to learn and research, which may mean at some point, you will make an amazing snake handler. You know what to watch out for. You know how better to find resources. You know to reach out to a community. It's more than some handlers will do (myself included).

I also agree with the USARK charity. They are amazing, and funds will be put to good use. They are really big on educating the public too, so it'll be a good resource if you ever want to have a snake again.

Take care!

[Cricket1234]

Its great that you are donating! You seem like a great person who really cared about your animal, I'm sorry for your loss :( A corn should be able to live with that temperature for a while though, health problems can be caused after a long period of time like that but not within a year or two. The snake probably had something wrong with it to begin with. A good charity i have heard of is Friends of Scales. Its a non profit organization in Illinois, but you can donate online. They do adoptions as well so if you want to get back into the reptile hobby..... Anyway, hope that I helped!