The sordid story of Ryu

[Ryodraco]

I hope this is the right place to post this, I am new here so let me know if I'm wrong.

It all started early this year, when I at last felt like I had the financial abilities to properly care for a snake. I debated between a corn snake and California kingsnake, but ended up going for the California king in part because of its smaller size enabling me to be sure my terrarium was big enough. I brought Ryu, a three foot or so long striped male, from a pet store called Plano Pets.

It was far from an impulse buy. Plano Pets are the best reptile sellers in the area that I know of and have won awards in the past, and I observed Ryu for weeks before buying him. I confirmed he was a regular feeder and one of the most active and outgoing snakes there.

Things changed once I brought him home. He rarely came out from under the aspen and seemed much less active. Yet he ate readily most of the time, even if he almost never took anything but live mice, and his sheds were fine. I chalked his shyness up to him doing what he would have done at the pet store if he had the same amount of room there to hide. So I was overall satisfied and things continued like this for months.

Then about four months ago things took a turn for the worse. Ryu refused to eat. This was not new, but unlike in the past he didn’t accept the food later in the day or the next day, or the next week. Week after week passed. He shed but did not eat afterward. He had no apparent injuries or other health problems. I asked for advice on a reptile forum, and due to this advice added the moss box in hopes it would help him be more comfortable. Mostly I was told to just keep waiting and offering food. Months passed. I tried different sizes of mice, live and dead. I tried a fuzzy rat. All to no avail. Ryu would tongue flick them a bit sometimes but that was it. Otherwise he ignored or retreated from them.

Four months passed, Ryu was feeling noticeably less muscular when I held him, and acted weaker. He was also irritable, biting me for the first time (I actually was pleased when he did, hoping it meant he would bite the mouse too, but while he did strike at it he did not follow through). I decided it was time for the last resort, taking him back to Plano Pets to be force fed.

It was the first time I had transported him since bringing him home from the pet store, and I used the same cloth bag. However, I must have not tied it tight enough, as he somehow escaped from the bag without me noticing while I was driving to the store (a good half hour drive). Into the dashboard was the most likely place he ended up (there are no spaces under the seats for him to hide as far as I can tell and it’s a small car), and the main reptile guy at Plano Pets was confident he would come out eventually, but with this prolonged fast Ryu has been under I am not confident for his survival. That’s assuming that he didn’t somehow get into the engine from the dash as well, in which case there is no hope.

It’s been a good week since then with no sign of him, and it’s been getting into the forties at night so I fear the worst. No bad smell yet though so if he is in there he is still alive…

So, whether I find him or end up having to get another snake I want to know what I can do differently. Below are things I am considering:

1. Removing the moss box/using newspapers instead.
Perhaps I made things too humid? Perhaps the moss box should only be put in when the snake is in a shed cycle and I should put newspapers over the screen top the rest of the time? Or perhaps I should put newspapers on the screen top and keep the moss hide?

2. More frequent handling.
I read to not handle a snake for around 3 to 4 days after it has eaten, and to not handle it the day before feeding. But perhaps this was excessive as it meant I often did not handle Ryu more than once a week, and even less than that quite often. Perhaps a lack of consistent handling made him fearful all the time? He was always quite amicable when I was handling him, but never got over tail rattling when picking him up or having my hand in the terrarium, and he musked on occasion as well. Once he started fasting I handled him even less, thinking it would reduce his stress, but perhaps this had the opposite effect?

3. Somehow blacking out the back/sides of the terrarium/applying a background.
The terrarium came with a foam rock background that Ryu immediately dislodged and damaged in the process so I threw it out. But perhaps a lack of anything on the sides but clear glass had to do with why he came out so much less than at the pet store? If so then the question is what to cover the glass with. Should it be black or another color, or one of those naturalistic static-cling desert backgrounds? Should I cover the sides as well and if so with what?

Attached below are photos of the terrarium as it currently is. Note that the moss hide currently has no moss in it but would normally be filled with damp sphagnum moss. Below it is the sensor for the thermostat controlling the undertank heater, which was set to about 88 degrees.