2 of 3 Corn Snakes died, please help.... :-( - Page 2

ilovemypets1988 · 03-13-13, 06:29 PM

If u can, spray the head very lightly with water so that the corn takes in alike water as that will help with recovery and this does sound more and more like CM poisoning the more updates u post, call an emergency gas company immediately as this can get worse very quickly. At the very least, it will give u piece of mind.

Chu'Wuti · 03-13-13, 06:48 PM

Whatever a cat might bring in wouldn't be transmissable to the snakes; I'm pretty confident they don't share any diseases other than, possibly, salmonella, which wouldn't be so fast-acting.

There are a few viral organisms that can pop up in 24-48 hours, but I'm not sure any affect snakes. I am not a vet, so I'm just speculating along with everyone else who has posted so far. That's why I've suggested that you take this one to a vet tomorrow to get a more definitive response.

I'm really glad he seems to be doing better--must be a huge relief to you!!

SpOoKy · 03-13-13, 07:07 PM

Where did the topic of co poisining come from? Seems like a little bit of a reach. If this is some type of poisoning then it would more than likely be from human error, cleaning products used in the house or on hands while handling the snakes of feeders. Please do not force any fluids into the snake if he is gasping. Never put liquids any where near something that is unable to control its muscles aand swallowing abilities. Keep in mind snakes don't drinks tons so unless it is showing signes of dehidration there is no need to force water into it. Glad to hear he is doing better, hopefully you can pin point what if any contamination happened.

SpOoKy · 03-13-13, 07:09 PM

Most smoke detectors now have built in co monitors so unless yours don't have them they would be going off. Again not sure how we got to co poisoning?

ilovemypets1988 · 03-13-13, 07:10 PM

Not in the UK, over here, smoke detectors and CM detectors are separate unless it's a mains supplied system

Chu'Wuti · 03-13-13, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpOoKy

Where did the topic of co poisining come from? Seems like a little bit of a reach. If this is some type of poisoning then it would more than likely be from human error, cleaning products used in the house or on hands while handling the snakes of feeders. Please do not force any fluids into the snake if he is gasping. Never put liquids any where near something that is unable to control its muscles aand swallowing abilities. Keep in mind snakes don't drinks tons so unless it is showing signes of dehidration there is no need to force water into it. Glad to hear he is doing better, hopefully you can pin point what if any contamination happened.

I agree that you're probably right that it isn't CO poisoning, but the concern was raised, so it was best to discuss it and the symptoms. As his snake does not have a bright cherry-red mouth, we've already suggested that CO poisoning isn't very likely.

He also says he hasn't used cleaning products in that room in about a week, so that pretty much eliminates them as a possibility, too.

No need to panic about fluids--I'm pretty sure none of us suggested that he FORCE fluids. Following Melissa Kaplan's suggestions (I provided a link to her page for further details), I suggested a warm bath and offering plenty of fresh water, but I didn't tell him to force fluids. I also warned him to watch the snake to be sure it doesn't drown.

We don't need to add to his feelings of stress in this situation; it's better to help him stay calm by being calm ourselves and by offering useful information.

SpOoKy · 03-13-13, 07:41 PM

I don't see how I added to his stress when the far fetched idea of co poising came into the conversation. If anything I would have taken my post as being helpful in telling him that the chance of it being co poisoning was slim. As for the water, it was suggested to spray the snakes head with water. Again I simply stated that this was not a good idea considering the snake had been gasping and convulsing. I really don't see anywhere where I would have raised more alarm for the op. To the op, if my post upset you in anyway, I apologize.

Chu'Wuti · 03-13-13, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpOoKy

I don't see how I added to his stress when the far fetched idea of co poising came into the conversation. If anything I would have taken my post as being helpful in telling him that the chance of it being co poisoning was slim. As for the water, it was suggested to spray the snakes head with water. Again I simply stated that this was not a good idea considering the snake had been gasping and convulsing. I really don't see anywhere where I would have raised more alarm for the op. To the op, if my post upset you in anyway, I apologize.

I doubt if you upset him any more than he already was, considering that he lost two snakes, SpOoKy. I agree that it isn't likely CO poisoning, as one of the symptoms doesn't match, but the tensing does suggest convulsions or seizure activity, which is a symptom of CO poisoning. The problem here is that we have inadequate information of why, when he seems to have left three perfectly healthy snakes in the morning, he returned to two dead and one clearly ill; poisoning came up as a plausible guess. There has been a lot of speculation because we simply don't have adequate information to make a credible diagnosis, though I have asked for more information regarding husbandry, feeding, etc.

I apologize for overreacting to your post; upon re-reading it is clear that you only intended to state your opinion firmly and weren't intending for anyone to panic about the fluids issue. Meh . . . my bad.

SpOoKy · 03-13-13, 08:36 PM

No worries, sometimes it is difficult to get a point across and have everyone on the other end interpret what is typed the same way

KORBIN5895 · 03-13-13, 10:21 PM

You really need to stop handling it so it can stay in the proper temps.

Revenant · 03-13-13, 11:36 PM

With regurge and stress as well, holding off on handling would probably be a good idea. I hope you get some answers.

RandyRhoads · 03-14-13, 03:00 AM

You really think the snake would die before any humans in the same household began feeling the effects......

Is there something about this I don't know, like snakes are extremely more sensitive to CO than humans....?

samcooper · 03-14-13, 03:28 AM

Thanks for all you help - the snake appears to be doing well this morning!
As soon as I touched her she twitched and reacted as normal, which she wasn't doing at all yesterday. She's also gripping on my fingers with the end of her tail a lot firmer than he could yesterday so hopefully he's recovering.

The reason I suspected it might be CM poisoning was purely because I don't know of any infection that could effect all 3 snakes so quickly with such huge effects. When they are in seperate vivs and nothing obvious to cause it.

I presume that snakes would be like birds where they are very susceptible to gasses and often die before Humans even notice! It might not be at all, but it came up in every conversation I've spoken about it in so a possibility I think.

With regards to handling her, it was only when she seemed to be getting very cold to warm her up and get some energy back into the snake.
Thanks again for all you help guys

jarich · 03-14-13, 08:09 AM

Sounds like a viral infection from the new additions. Im sorry to hear of the loss of your snakes, but its a very explicit example of why quarantining new animals is so important.

Chu'Wuti · 03-14-13, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarich

Sounds like a viral infection from the new additions. Im sorry to hear of the loss of your snakes, but its a very explicit example of why quarantining new animals is so important.

I'm in total agreement on that! I quarantine for 4-6 months; most breeders I talk with say a minimum of three months is absolutely essential and several of them quarantine for 6 months routinely. Some diseases can take awhile to show up.

Thinking about the "tensing" activity the OP noted--rather than "convulsions" that could simply have been the snake trying to use muscle activity to keep from getting too cold. In his most recent post, he says,

Quote:

With regards to handling her, it was only when she seemed to be getting very cold to warm her up and get some energy back into the snake.

Without an external heat source, the only means of warming up would be muscle activity.

At any rate, we're all glad she's doing better. I would still get her checked for parasites, etc., because we still don't know the cause of death of the other two snakes.