I'm new and I need some corn snake advice.

flamemomma · 05-10-13, 09:39 AM

I adopted a corn snake off of craigslist which has turned out to be a less than ideal situation. This is the second corn snake I've ever owned, and whereas the first snake was a breeze...this one has been difficult.
I made my first mistake when I didn't thoroughly examine the snake before taking it home. The young men who had owned it said they couldn't keep it anymore. We lived 2 hrs away from eachother, so we met half way in a mall parking lot. I was under the impression that the snake was much larger than it turned out to be. It was absolutely freezing outside, the wind was blowing like crazy, and we were standing outside. They handed me a little deli container that I assume they had taken it home from the pet store in originally. I peaked inside and saw a little orange motley snake--I quickly closed the lid and put it in my warm car because I didn't want it to freeze. When I saw that it was so small, I just figured...Oh, well...we'll just take good care of him and watch him grow. But before we parted ways I did ask a few questions. 1. when did he last eat? I was told the snake never missed a meal and had been fed about 1 week ago. 2. what size prey does he eat? I was told fuzzies. 3. When was the last time that the snake shed? They said, it was pretty recent..and then as a afterthought he mentioned.."it had a bit of a rough time shedding last time." Hearing this I just thought...I'll just increase humidity next time around...I can give it some warm soaks...it'll be okay.
When we get home, we let it chill out undisturbed for a couple days (we being, myself and my 6 yr old son who was the original impetus to get a snake). When we took snake out the first time, my son observed that 1 eye was dull, while the other was shiny. I looked it up and thought that a retained eye cap was quite possible, considering that the snake hadn't shed properly. I also noticed that the skin of the snake was dull, not shiny and the poor snake looked dehydrated. Like the skin wasn't tight, it had wrinkles. He had drunk from the water immediately when I put him in his new home. I wondered if they had given him water in his previous home. But the snake didn't soak himself on his own volition. I went ahead and gave the snake soaks for about 30 min. every day for a couple days-the skin would look better momentarily, but the eye wasn't changing. I couldn't really see an "edge" of the eye cap...so I wasn't totally sure. The snake didn't eat the first 2 times I offered him pinkie's instead of fuzzies...just to get him eating with us. But the 3rd time, he chowed down happily. I set up a moist hide with moss, and I misted the habitat 2 xs a day (20 gallon tank with screen lid) The humidity was about 50-80% depending upon how recently I sprayed.
One morning I peeked into his house and saw that he was just starting a new shed, it was around his head, but looked like a full piece...and I was SUPER PSYCHED thinking....Finally!!! I've gotten this guy to the other side of this dehydrated, dull eye, dull skinned issue...he's gonna be healthy and good.
But when we got home...I took him out and was horrified to discover that it looked like the "bad" eye was protruding from his head. and most of the skin came off in big pieces, but it wasn't a perfect continuous piece. I felt defeated. And although the snake was acting normal-I felt sure that this little guy wasn't going to make it. I put him back in his house. When I checked again the next day...the eye wasn't sticking out...but it looked black. I started to wonder..if the snake had been blind on that side from the beginning. I decided to just take the best care of the little guy and see what happened. I am a single mom. I'm not rich. and I live in a rural area where the vets don't really treat exotic animals.
A few days later--I take snake out and it looks like he has black scabs on 3 places on his body. I am at a loss...I take everything out...I clean everything. I soak him in weak betadine bath. I put neosporin in. I use papertowels as substrate. I immediatly turn off the heating pad under the tank. thinking maybe it's a burn...but it's not a continuous area...it's like little dashes...seperated by distances. It's not scale rot...I have changed the warm side around and added extra layers of cardboard over the heating pad area...so that there is NO WAY that the snake can have any direct contact with the glass. Even though...I never saw him make contact before.
It shed again...but in lots of little pieces. I've been soaking and peeling and it seems like more scabs have formed...but they aren't black like the first ones. Are they happening because I've been removing the skin that's flaking off? I'm not removing skin that doesn't have an "edge"that's raised. I keep medicating it and keeping it clean...and all I want is this little guy to heal up and be healthy. The snake acts and eats normally. IT seems like shedding is a HUGE issue for this guy...and I know that's how they heal...but when there are injuries on the first layer...and the first layer comes off..doesn't that just peel off the scab? Is this guy got some genetic issue? The snake is approx. 20" long.
I'm not giving up. But nothing I have read. or images I've looked at really talks to what I'm experiencing. Thanks for even reading this whole thing. I feel like this is like a confessional. I'm just feeling as bad about this as possible. I really just hope to get to the other side.

AngieT · 05-13-13, 01:47 AM

I so wish I could help!!

I'm a newbie myself, my 6 yr old daughter is half the reason I'm here as well! As she naturally inherited my love of snakes! I hope you get the answers you need ASAP!!

Starbuck · 05-13-13, 10:03 AM

after 5 posts you can share pictures, that could really help us figure out what is going on. At first it sounded like maybe your issue was mites, but now i am not so sure. I would say your first priority is to get the snake in good body condition (lots of food) and well hydrated. If you dont have a humid hide, i would set one up (small deli container with moist paper towels or sphagnum moss).
Can you tell us more about the snake (how long is he, in inches? how often do you feed him?) and his environment (what temp in degrees is the warmest spot in his viv, what is the coolest?) what kind of setup do you have? 10, 15, 20 gallon tank? eco-terra cage, something else? how are you controlling humidity, do you mist at all?
Hope things work out ok!
Erin

flamemomma · 05-14-13, 11:30 AM

There is no evidence of any mites...no black or white moving dots on the snake. Nothing jumps off the snakr when soaked either. The set up is a 20 gallon- glass tank-I am only using papertowels as a substrate to avoid hurting his booboos and also to be able to easily keep it clean...u can't miss a mess on a white paper towel. On the cool side it's 68-72 degrees with a rock hide. I will put damp spagnam moss or damp papertowels in when he's getting ready to shed. There are plastic plants vines for him to crawl thru and on. There is a bowl of spring water in the middle of the enclosure. The tank has a locking screen lid. On the warm side the temp. On the growd is in the 80-85 range. I have a heat mat that is actually on the side of the tank wall attached to the outside. I have a piece of cardboard that is attached on the inside of the tank covering where the heat mat is so that the snake can't lat directly on top of or against the hot glass. There is a small upside down plastic flower pot the I attached fake plants to the top on the warm side. The snake likes to curl up inside the warm hide or on top of the flower pot hiddwn under the fake plants. I have a small heat lamp that is suspended about 8 inches above the screen lid...so it's not on top of the screen lid. And I don't leave it on constantly-but it makes the top of the flower pot a place where it can be about 88-90 degrees when its on . There is a piece of mopani wood that acts like a bridge and a ladder. .it's rough in some places and smooth in some places. There is a hygrometer and the humidity vaeies feom about 50% to 70% depending upon how recently I've misted. To help keep humidity inside -I have a plastic mat that I put on top of half of the tank.
I feed the snake 1xs a week. I usually offer 1 FUZZY. last week I offered a fuzzy and 1 tiny pinky ai had left over from when I first started feeding him. Snake eats in a seperate plastic container. Snake eats and poops well. Since I posted the first time my snake shed his skin...again not in entire pieces. A lot of the booboos are looking much better...but one of his scabs on his body is an issue. I don't want the top layer of skin to come ofc because it will just reopen the injury and he'll bleed and make a new scab. The scab looks like it's on the verge of falling off...but the first time it came off in the towel after soaking him and it rescabbed. So I'm just leaving it alone as much as posible. I am continuing to put neosporin on each boo boo and it's all getting better-slowly. But since the last time he shed..there is dry skin that's pulled back a bit on his snout and a u can clearly see the edge of it behind his head. Everytime I try to loosen it the snake jerks really fast and I dont want to hurt the poor guy. I'm leaving it in the hopes that it will figure it out on his own.

flamemomma · 05-14-13, 11:37 AM

I forgot to tell you the size...Flame the snake is about 18" long. I've been feeding him weekly to give him plenty of food to heal and enough food to make him shed often in the hopes of healing him up. As problematic as the booboos sound. ..Flame looks so much better in all the other area od his body. He's got an actual sheen to his skin and his body looks taught rather than wrinkled and dehydrated. His eating and his demeanor are reassuring.

NextMorph · 05-14-13, 12:01 PM

It sounds to me like you really care about this snake, which is the first step!! There's no sort of miracle cure you can give him to fix scabs and scars, etc. I would recommend taking him to a vet if it was possible for you as they will know exactly what is best for the snake. If not, I would continue what you are doing paying close attention to humidity levels when he is shedding.. which is exactly what you describe doing. I think that since he has these scabbing issues, I would try to refrain from really helping him peel back skin at all, especially around scabs, to avoid furthering his injuries. I think the best you can do is make sure it's very humid, give him soaks when he's about to shed while he's still having these problems, and make sure there are enough rough things in his enclosure to get the shed off with.

Good luck!!

Starbuck · 05-14-13, 06:26 PM

It does sound like you are taking really great care of Flame, its good to see

Reptiles tend to take quite a while to heal, and i am currently going through something similar with my honduran milk snake (also a craigslist find....) she has tons of little scabs and larger wounds :/ but after her shed they seemed to have improved a lot. Here is a link to that thread:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/lampr...ilk-snake.html

Best of luck, i'm sure it will just take some time

flamemomma · 05-26-13, 06:56 PM

I have a new theory about Flame the corn snake. He had shed incompletely-which I expected because of his healing scabs. I put him in a lukewarm bath and I added some "shed ease" & let him hang out about 30 min. When I took him out I used a damp cloth to wipe away the now soft and loose skin. And I swear there were more than one layer that sloughed off. My theory is that he hasn't had a proper shed maybe EVER...or just in a really long time. Because after moving down his body 1 "sock" pealed down and then another "sock". It would explain why his skin has been so problematic since I got him. So that's my most recent observation and hypothesis. He's coming along.
I think I've been bitten by the snake bug...I keep thinking...I want another snake.

Starbuck · 05-27-13, 03:17 AM

lol well glad things are going well. In the future i would just try a lukewarm soak (no shed ease or any other products) first. If your set up is all spot on, you shouldnt need to help him shed anymore. If you do decide to get another snake (go for it!), make sure you do your research on where its from, WC vs CBB, if its an established feeder, etc. I would recommend going to a reptile expo or contacting a breeder who will ship to you, rather than a pet store or craigslist.
Best of luck.