dead skin on corn snake tail??

[DeesBalls]

so i had my corn snake, steve, out for a little bit before i went to bed and i noticed like a centimeter or so of his tail was like dead skin ish looking??? what is that from, how can i help it and what causes it? is he in trouble? .... my gecko just died on me and i dont want to loose another one:( please help me out!

[Geckogal]

Isnt it a failure to finish skin thing? Dunno much about snakes but thats my best bet.

[percey39]

Does it look like a piece of left over shed? How long ago did it shed last?

[Feebo]

Have you been checking when he sheds to make sure that the entire shed has come off? Sometimes they leave a little bit on the end of the tail and it`s very important to check that after each and every shed. If you don`t do that and a bit of skin remains on the tip of the tail, it will restrict blood flow and kill off the tip of the tail which could possibly kill your snake by infection. Here`s what to do, IF it looks like fresh shed skin, like when you get sunburned, soak a flannel or small towel in luke warm water. Allow the snake to go through the towel while you`re holding it and get the end of that tail nice and wet. You could even put the snake in a tub with two inches of water in the bottom to soak for half an hour. Then GENTLY run your thumb and forefinger back away from the head end and over the tail, trying to unravel the skin. DON`T attempt to pull this off if it`s not fresh skin, if you`re looking at a tail that has had shed skin stuck on it for quite some time and is already loosing blood flow, in that case, get your snake to a herp vet ASAP. If you can take a picture we`ll be able to tell you whether it`s bad or not, it`s easy to tell but not without experience. If it`s quite fresh and has only been there a matter of a week or two, it`ll come off really quite easily and is no cause for concern :) Once you get this sorted out, check your snake after every shed and make absolutely sure that the tail doesn`t have a bit left on there and the eye caps have come off, sooner or later you`ll have to deal with a stuck eye cap too. Any questions, just ask, we`re here to help :)

[shaunyboy]

as feebo said mate if you could post some pic's and let us know when its last shed was.that would help us determine,if its just a bit of its latest shed needing soaked off,or if its been there that long the blood to the tip of the tail has been restricted.when any of my snakes shed i always check the shed to make sure that the tip of the tail and the eye caps are complete and part of the shed.that way if they are not part of the shed,you then know to check your snake as they will be more than likely to be still attatched to the snake.if theres no sign of infection then dont panic mate as its an easy fix.if infection is present take it to your vet he will clean it up for you and give you something to treat it with.
cheers shaun

[DeesBalls]

ill get some pics up later, its been about 2 weeks since her last shed. i dont know how i never noticed it:( i get her out atleast once every other day or so. ill try and get it off hopfully i can.

[DeesBalls]

i looked at it... it looks like the tail is dead on the tip. doesnt look like left over skin, i tried to get a pic, but its hard as hell because shes so hyper. what will it look like if there is infection present?

[marvelfreak]

GET IT TO A VET. I seen a burm with these before. Every time it shed it seem to work it way farther up the tail. After about 3 shed the guy finally listen to me and got it to a vet. By then it was to late to stop it. It was 17 inchs up it body on a 3 foot snake. Poor thing died a month later. I asked him why he took so long to take it to the vet? He said the guy he bought it off of kept telling him it was nothing but a old injury and it would fall off.

[DeesBalls]

making an appointment today!!

[DeesBalls]

UPDATE:
called the vet and they said i should soak it 1st and see how that goes. If it dont get better they will take a look at her. so hopfully this passes im petrafied that she is going to die :( . any way just to let you all know! thanks...



BTW anyone intersted in taking my sand boa off my hands? i have to move home and my parents will only allow 2 snakes... trying to talk them out of it, but who knows... let me know if interested, i know ive been back and forth ALOT with this but this time i think it might have to stick....


any way, thanks!

[Feebo]

I`d be a bit more assertive with that vet mate, you don`t have time to see how soaking goes if that tail is constricted, you`ll lose her. They won`t deny you an appointment surely ! Just call it a check up. To ensure a good soak put the snake in a couple of inches of luke warm water in the bottom of a plastic tub and let her soak for twenty minutes or so. If that tail is constricted be careful that you`re not picking at it with finger nails, if it`s skin you`ll be able to roll it off when it`s damp. I can`t stress enough how useful a picture would be here dude, if you can`t picture her tail when she`s out of the tank, try putting her in an empty tank, she`s bound to stop moving at some point, then you snap away. Take a load of photos to make sure you end up with some decent ones. We`ll be able to tell a lot from a picture. Call that vet back and MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ! :)

[marvelfreak]

I would be soaking it to night and if it don't come off i get it to a vet tomorrow. CAN NOT STRESS ENOUGH GETTING IT TO A VET.

[DeesBalls]

going to the vet tomorrow ( thursday ) at noon :) i soaked him and the tip didnt come off at all or even a little so i got worried even more and make an emergency appointment.

[Feebo]

Excellent, that`s the best thing you could do for your snake :) I expect you`ll be looking at a course of antibiotics for six to eight weeks, I would imagine the tail won`t be amputated at first, I recon the vet will want to see how much it recovers with antibiotics first to get a good idea of excatly how much of it is dead. Of course this all depends on how bad it actually is, it might not be nearly as bad as it looks..... All the best mate, I`m sure she`ll be ok :)

[marvelfreak]

going to the vet tomorrow ( thursday ) at noon :) i soaked him and the tip didnt come off at all or even a little so i got worried even more and make an emergency appointment. bestof luck and let know what you find out.

[DeesBalls]

JUST GOT BACK FROM THE VET!!

good news, it was a little bit of old shed left over, she lost like a tiny tiny tiny bit of her tail. she will be fine. shes 22g and i found out that "steve" is a girl... lol everything is good, the vet took that dead peice off and i need to watch for infection. need to put triple antibiotic ointment on it 2 times a day for 4 days. and last need to get rid of the cypress multch because the moisture can help spread infection, need to use newspaper or something that dont have alot of moisture for about a week or so.

im happy!! :):)

[Feebo]

Nice one ! I`m really happy for you :) I`d keep her on newspaper for two weeks or more just to be safe. :) When she sheds next, the skin might not want to come off the affected area and that may happen for a few months so keep an eye out for that and check the eyes too, every single shed. :D I`ve got thirty four snakes and I check every soingle one of them after shedding lol Well worth it. Excellent, well that`s great news !

[DeesBalls]

thanks, i am very happy as well... thanks for all your help everyone...

im sorry... did you say 34 snakes??!?! lol

[infernalis]

Sorry I didn't jump on this thread sooner!

Glad it worked out, My corn snake has a "nubby tail" from this same exact thing.

[DeesBalls]

haha its sort of funny now ( talking only if everything is okay, if shes sick then its not funny ) but lol shes does have a slight nub

[Feebo]

Yup, thirty four at the moment :) I`ve only just sold a clutch of Cornsnakes it was fouty four not long ago ! lol I`m lucky enough to have a beautiful snake room to house them all in too. :) I had thought about adding up all thier lengths at one point to see how many feet of snake i`ve got lol :D Maybe that`s an idea for another thread lol :)

[DeesBalls]

lol that would be an awesome thread and a sweet idea, im curious to see how many feet that would be. lol

well i thank you all again :)

[infernalis]

I have to add up my snakes, I forget how many I have.

Last spring when the babies were born, it was like a few hundred snakes, made feeding interesting!

[DeesBalls]

wow.... i have 3, with a 4th possibly on the way