Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I brought them home today. They are in pretty rough shape but with the right husbandry, I think they'll be okay. The Okeetee Corn is about two years old and the normal Corn is maybe a year to a year and a half old. The Okeetee has a definite injury on his back where it appears one of the live rats or mice he fed the little guy, bit him. I tried to take a good picture of the spot, but with the bright sun outside, it was hard to see my viewfinder and I couldn't tell when it was in focus. The normal Corn still has an awful lot of shed on the very tip of his tail (!) and the Okeetee appears to have some spots on his body where he hasn't fully shed yet and the very tip of his tail is gone from shed cutting off the circulation, I'm quite sure. I have them in their tanks with heat lamps at the moment and a wet towel over 3/4 of the screen, to increase humidity. They have very large water bowls (Gladware tubs) and cypress bedding. Only the normal corn has a hide in his tank that he could fit in, the Okeetee has two or three really tiny hides that he's probably had since he was a hatchling. Of course, I'm going to solve these husbandry problems, I just want them to settle back into the familiar for a week or so before I start correcting the problems.

I do have a couple of questions before I let you guys see the pictures. Do cornsnakes need belly heat like kings do? I was planning on getting a couple of heat pads for them, but I wanted to be sure. Should I also keep the "basking" lamps? I have their tanks near a window right now, so I can control the amount of sunshine that can get in. (miniblinds, of course.) I'm going to switch them over to aspen bedding, since I prefer it. ^_^ I'll correct their hide problem and the lack of branches for a bit of climbing. I'm going to get them different water bowls, I don't like the Gladware.

Is there something like mineral oil, olive oil, or the like that I can use to help get that last bit of shed off the little guy's tail? Like I said, I'm raising the humidity, they've got huge water bowls they can soak in, and I'll gladly put him in a shallow tank of water for a bit if it will help. I didn't want to pull at the skin until I had a good amount of humidity in there to help ease it off. He has pieces of shed stuck to the side of his hide, it really looks bad. I think they've both been shedding in sections, ripping pieces off here and there.

Will the Okeetee's scale injury shed out eventually or is there something I could put on it to assist? It looks like it may have been there for a while. I'm going to convert them to f/t at the next feeding. He said he hasn't fed them in a week and a half but that they have had frozen one time before, but he preferred feeding them live because it was "more exciting to watch." I'm quite disappointed in him.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures. My boyfriend, Clarence, helped model them for me. ^_^

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Corns do not need belly heat, but they will use it if that is what you give them. Kings don't need it either for that matter. You can use belly heat or overhead heat, corns can thrive with either. In my mind, it is a cool sight when a captive cornsnake is perched on a shelf or branch basking under an overhead heat source (as long as the cage is large/tall enough for that setup.)

Neosporin is good for skin abrasions and minor cuts and such. I've used it on a kingsnake that had an abrasion where scales were gone and skin was bleeding. After 3-4 sheds you couldn't notice without very close inspection.

For unshed skin - humidity chamber - plastic box with moist sphagnum, heat pad under one side, don't overheat. Let it get very humid. Leave snake in there for 10 minutes or so. Or soak in about 1/4 inch of water for 5-10 minutes, then try to remove the skin. I have tried Aveeno moisturizing lotion on stuck sheds at the tail. My wife was angry, so I stopped. It does help but not better than high humidity or water.
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Mark

Good luck Handsome snakes....

They will be much better off where they are now.

Kind regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
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1.2.9 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garter Snakes
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - common Garter - Princess
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua"
0.1.10 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snakes
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
0.1.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" CB
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
1.2.0. Feline"Felix" "Kaja" & "Silver"
0.1.0. calico RAT
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

Thanks. I've got the little guy soaking in a small tank with a shallow layer of little-warmer-than-lukewarm water in it. I'm going to gently try to work on his tail tonight before I go to bed. I'm afraid he may lose the tip of his like the other one did. Asthetically, it doesn't matter to me much, I just feel bad for the poor fellows losing the tips of their tails like that.

One last question though, guys.. He told me that he has been feeding them medium to large rats. Does that sound right to you guys? They seem awfully slim to accept such large food. I have a sneaking suspicion that he may be assuming mice and rats are in the same "group". However, if you guys think these boys are big enough to handle medium to large rats, I guess I'll shell out the cash and locate some. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.1 Okeetee Cornsnake
0.0.1 Cornsnake
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Holly,....that guy is the LAST person you should be taking serious advice from, about ANYTHING he says!..LOL!....use your own common sense, He doesn't strike me as being "Joe Husbandry" to say the very least..LOL!. I have some mice in my freezer right now that those two could barely be able to swallow,....just use some judgement on what would be a slightly larger than the biggest part of their girth, and that would be an ideal guide-line to follow. They look like they'll do just fine on large mice once every 5-7 days or so. And if you can only get smaller one's for whatever reason, just give them two. Whatever they get now will be much better than they were doing before..LOL!

Something else to remember here,......it all depends on how many layers of old shedskin is attached still, and it also depends on how many times it keeps getting moist, and then dried out again. The more it gets wet, dries, and DOESN'T come off, the drier and tighter it becomes. I got a snake one time(can't remember wwhere now) that had a couple layers of dry shed on the tail, that literally seemed like it was adhered on by superglue!, no matter how long I ran it under water, etc...I thought I was about to rub it's scales off! So for these extremely tough cases, you simply put the snake into a cloth pillowcase that's been soaked in slightly warmed water, tie it off, put the bag(and snake) into another plastic container with approx. 1/8 to 1/4 inch of water at the bottom, put lid securely on to prevent escape from snake forcing weak corners of pillowcase fo 24 hrs, or overnight, and Bingo, it falls right off, many times it's left inside the pillowcase itself!,....then if need be, a little dab of Neosporine,....end of story!

Nice snake's Holly, I'm sure you'll do fine with them!

~Doug


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

Thanks Doug! That's what I was thinking too. I'm going to get by a local pet store tomorrow, see what size feeders I can buy for the two of them, then order in bulk online next week. I soaked the normal corn (the one with the layers of shed on the tip of his tail) in water for a bit earlier, the layers came off, but all he was left with is a very black, tiny, skinny tip on his tail. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. The Okeetee is already missing that tip of tail. The guy admitted to me that he hasn't really taken care of them for the last six months, aside from adding fresh water and tossing in a "rat" every week.

I'm still planning on getting them into the vet for probing and a general check-up to make sure they're fine. I have to wait until payday, but I'll get them there. I believe the good herp vet around here is the same guy I used to take my horse to. If so, he's awesome and will give me an honest opinion regarding anything to do with them.

I just added some climbing branches to both tanks and two bigger hides in the Okeetee's tank. He's climbing all over them, licking away.

I'm really glad I chose to bring these guys home. Clarence is thrilled that we have snakes we can hold. Eddie is still very skittish because he's young and small (understandably). We held the Corns earlier for pictures, but that was about it. I wanted them to settle down in their tanks after their big move. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.1 Okeetee Cornsnake
0.0.1 Cornsnake
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Very cool!,....I'm sure you two will enjoy them alot more than the previous owner,......have fun with them!

~Doug

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

This is what a healthy cornsnake can do, as long as the snake has access to optimal temps for digestion. I would go smaller for your rescues until they are established.

We do not always offer what may be optimum temperature and humidity choices in captivity, which is why smaller prey than I've shown here is often better for captive snakes. I mean, a snake can only digest so much at 82 deg.

In the wild, a hungry snake is often not picky about prey size, within reason.

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Mark

Thanks. I bought a pack of "large" Arctic mice from Petsmart today, so they have something to eat this week. I'll be ordering a bulk package online next week. I think I'll get the "large" mice from the webpage. Not the "retired breeders", but just the "large".
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.1 Okeetee Cornsnake
0.0.1 Cornsnake
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

I commend you for accepting the challenge. I wish you & the snakes well.

Hang in there!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com