Auskan
01-16-04, 09:55 AM
My partner just called to tell me that he checked on his cornsnake and it had died. We have no idea what might be the cause and are looking for ideas.
We bought this little guy from a breeder on Dec 18th. He was sexed by the breeder and appeared to be in very good health. After a settling in period, he was offered a pinky and ate. From that point on, he ate every 5 days. In between he was alert & active. He was handled a little but not for at least 48 hours after eating and no handling session lasted more than 15-20 minutes. He had no mites, and had constant access to fresh water. In addition, at some point during each handling session we would "offer" him a drink of water and most times he would drink at that time (I also observed him drinking on his own). His last meal was 10 days ago, and when we offered him a meal 5 days ago, he refused. I assumed he was going into a shed cycle since he had never refused before.
He was on paper towel substrate, had a small heat pad at one end of the enclosure and we monitored the temps closely and the hot side was never too hot. He had hides at both the hot and the cool side.
The only idea I've had so far is internal parasites, since I had not yet done a fecal on him (I was just thinking a few days ago that I probably should do this). Does this sound likely or can anyone think of another possible cause of death?
We bought this little guy from a breeder on Dec 18th. He was sexed by the breeder and appeared to be in very good health. After a settling in period, he was offered a pinky and ate. From that point on, he ate every 5 days. In between he was alert & active. He was handled a little but not for at least 48 hours after eating and no handling session lasted more than 15-20 minutes. He had no mites, and had constant access to fresh water. In addition, at some point during each handling session we would "offer" him a drink of water and most times he would drink at that time (I also observed him drinking on his own). His last meal was 10 days ago, and when we offered him a meal 5 days ago, he refused. I assumed he was going into a shed cycle since he had never refused before.
He was on paper towel substrate, had a small heat pad at one end of the enclosure and we monitored the temps closely and the hot side was never too hot. He had hides at both the hot and the cool side.
The only idea I've had so far is internal parasites, since I had not yet done a fecal on him (I was just thinking a few days ago that I probably should do this). Does this sound likely or can anyone think of another possible cause of death?