Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The emaciated baby cornsnake I got last Saturday died this evening. He went into convulsions around 11 PM (Eastern Time) and died shortly thereafter. He seemed healthy enough to make it until Thursday (when I had scheduled a vet appointment), but he went downhill rapidly in the last hour or so. I have not observed any external parasites, and he did not have any abnormal discharges from his nostrils, etc.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me with this snake. Sometimes, they just don't make it.

Sorry to here that the little dude didn't make it.

Chalk this one up as a good learning experience, and if you choose another one later on, make SURE it is feeding well voluntarily, and looks robust and well proportioned.

You're welcome for any advice I may have given you throughout the thread, it's just too bad it was all just a little too late.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Sorry about your corn. I was curious was he captive born or wild caught?

Honestly, I don't know. He was pretty docile, but of course that doesn't mean much since even wild corns can be docile.

I knew he was thin, but I thought I could fatten him up. It sounds corny to say, but I didn't want to leave him at the petstore where they would have definitely starved him to death.

The petstore had a 14-day guarantee. I will be returning there with photos of the snake and a good caresheet for corns and kings. Where is the best caresheet for cornsnakes on the web?

Yes, I know, I cant STAND to see animals of ANY kind being starved or mistreated..period. If someone has captive animals, then by god it is up to them to provide proper care for the animal(s), or simply DO NOT OWN IT!!!! that's how I feel. But this happens on a daily basis.

I know how you feel about saving an animal from less than perfect conditions. I have even bought a few substandard snakes in my day, but then again, I have four decades of experience, and am more capable of nurturing them back than most. It's extremely risky to do however, as when an extremely small hatchling has something go wrong, there isn't enough body mass to sustain it for very long at all unless you know exactly what the problem is, and can rectify it quickly enough.

anyway, it's too bad he perished, and believe me, I know how you feel. I've lost many a snake in my day too.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Here is where you can get a good care sheet, It's from South Mountain(DonSoderberg).

Also, I would go to that store with the frozen snake, and let them see it. I would explain EXACTLY what optimum conditions you were keeping it in, and you also got plenty of professional snake advice too, and their snake still died on you. If it hasn't been much over 14 days, that's what I would do. Maybe if they have a shred of decency, they might be able to do something for you,.....and if they didn't want to hear about it, then I would definitely tell them off and say that I would tell ALL MY SNAKE BUDDIES to NEVER buy anything here again!.....that has been known to get some results too!..LOL!

~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Thanks, Doug.

By the way, he died on the 9th day I had him.

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Sorry that it didn't make. I know you did everything you could to get it back on track. There are some great breeders on this site that will be able to get you a beautiful and healthy corn so you won't have to deal with this stress again. Just get that 10 gallon setup and ready and I'm sure you will no problems. Let us know how the store handles your situation. I hope they make it right, but please do not get another snake in return, as you may end up with the same situation.
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 8yrs, Porter 3yrs)

I will never purchase another animal from that petstore. I'll be heading back Thursday with the cornsnake caresheet that I got from the South Mountain Reptiles website. Maybe they'll actually look at the caresheet as opposed to guessing about the snake's needs.