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View Full Version : Death - any ideas?


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?

Invictus
01-16-04, 10:20 AM
Why were you "offering" a drink only during handling? Did the corn not have his own water dish?

Dark_Angel_25
01-16-04, 10:22 AM
Invictus: I am sure it did, he did say that he noticed the snake srink on its own... my concern would be dehydration... as snakes don't usually drink all that often... well mine don't anyway, but then again I don't own cornsnakes...

Auskan
01-16-04, 10:25 AM
I did say in my post that he always had access to fresh water and I had seen him drink on his own (I wish people would read posts before replying). I always offer my baby corns a drink while I am handling them as I have found that they will almost always accept a drink at this time.

sapphire_moon
01-16-04, 10:30 AM
Originally posted by Auskan
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).

He had access to water.....
I'm sorry to hear that your snake died, is there anyway to take it to a vet and have a necropsy done (I think that is what it is called, I don't know though a snake autopsy? lol). If you do let us know what you find out...

Auskan
01-16-04, 10:32 AM
I was wondering about that as it would be nice to know (for future reference) what went wrong and if there is something we could have done differently. Any ideas how much this costs?

Dragon_Slave
01-16-04, 11:02 AM
I'm not sure what could have been wrong, except for the possible internal parasites. Anyway, I'm sorry for your loss. And the only way you can really know what happened is to have the vet do a necropsy. You never know, it could have been a birth defect.

Dani33
01-16-04, 11:08 AM
I am really sorry to hear about your little snake. Let us know of you find out what happened.

reverendsterlin
01-16-04, 11:13 AM
a fast death from an apparently healthy animal would make me suspect a toxin. Possibly someone in or near the residence or outside(vent systems, ect) sprayed some type of cleaner or poison, carbon monoxide from heating system, ect. sorry for the loss.