Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm really at a loss at this point. I have a baby cornsnake, a few months old now, got from petco and was very healthy for awhile. I live primarily with my mom, and she lives at my dad's, so I only see her once a week and my dad is supposed to take care of her. I don't know what's going wrong, but her health has been rapidly declining. The very tip of her tail bleeds sometimes and is crusty and very thin. The skin on her head is also very wrinkly and dry. I think this is from too low humidity levels. I have soaked her in room-temperature water for about 20 minutes to hopefully hydrate her, although I'm not sure if that's even the problem because she has water in her dish that is fresh. She also refuses to eat, and I'm at a loss. Right now I have her in a box with the pinky and I'm going to leave it there until she eats it or overnight, although all she's doing is sitting there staring at it and trying to escape.

Also, in the process of removing one of her eyecaps, I think I pulled off too much skin and now her one eye is swollen. This was a few days ago, and the swelling has gone down, but still. Should I worry about this?I'm very worried for her health. We called a vet and they hardly helped. I"m at a loss. What should I do?

To be honest it doesn't sound good. Living away and only checking it once a week is not gonna help the situation. If a Vet is out of the question then all you can do is supply it with all the right variables. Make sure the temps are proper (80- 85), give it a moist hide container with moist spagnum moss, make sure it's substrate is very clean, and get him to eat. He will need his strength to survive it is going to pull out of it, but at the same time if he looks thin and weak, a large meal can do him in. It's hard to give advice on a snake without seeing it and it's set up. I would try my best to get Mom to let you keep it with you at least untill it gets better, but I have a feeling that's not an option?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Thanks :| I am taking her to a petco right now as a last resort before the vet since they aren't open on weekends. Hopefully I will get her to one on Monday.

My mom doesn't like snakes, but she did say if I was that worried about her, I could bring her over. But she won't allow me to bring the frozen pinkies for her to eat, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that..

When baby snakes get dehydrated, they often refuse to eat. The dry skin, etc points to dehydration. Perhaps there is something else, but for now, treating for dehydration will not hurt one bit and may solve the problem. I say that because you said the snake was fine at first. That is a clue.

Water dish does little. A baby snake can dehydrate right next to a bowl of water. They lose it through skin and lungs. What you want is to prevent water loss. Are you using a screen top tank? Bad for baby snakes unless your relative humidity is moderate or higher. Plastic shoebox is better in that regard.

So, moist hide. Way cheaper than a vet. Petco will not help unless you get lucky and they have someone who actually knows something about snakes, but even then I bet they won't know about dehydration. Why stress the snake further? Babies dehydrate quickly. Adults not so much.

Suggestion: Get New Zealand sphagnum moss (ZooMed) from Petco or wherever. Moisten it, put it in a clean cottage cheese container or similar and place partially over the basking area. Snake will love it. You can use the lid if desired - cut a big hole in it first.
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Mark

Thank everyone so much for replying. Yes, I am using one with a screen. I am trying to up the humidity anyway, and have gotten a spray bottle and I'm also putting a humidifier in the bathroom with her. I took her to the vet today and she gave me some cream to put on her dry spots and some fluid to give to her through a syringe orally. Her mouth is very swollen on the inside and doesn't close completely. The vet said there is a good chance she won't make it, but we are trying are best to make sure that doesn't happen.

The swollen mouth suggests some type of infection in her mouth also called mouth rot. It may also be related to respiratory infection. If far advanced, mouth rot infection can travel down the esophagus and into the respiratory and digestive tracts. Not a good sign and I am surprised the vet did not suggest antibiotics to treat the snake. Mouth rot can occur from an injury to the mouth that gets infected, or from unsanitary conditions. Respiratory infections can occur from improper temps and humidity conditions. The problem is that these infections could have begun at the petshop and just gradually worsened in your care. I would suggest increasing the cage temps to at least the mid eighties, provide the moist hide as suggested, and see about finding a vet that knows more about reptiles and treating infections. This sounds too advanced for corrections to the husbandry conditions to correct IMO.

#1 raise the temperature
#2 Set up a moist hide - research how to do this, it's very simple
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Jack Jeansonne