My bloodred corn died today. I'd just gotten him in july 2005 and he hadn't barely grown or changed colors at all yet. Tonight i noticed he hadn't moved from his hidebox on the cold end of the tank since this morning and when i lifted it up he was dead. I don't know what could've caused this. He had been perfectly healthy about 4 days when i last held him, and ate the next day. I didn't hold him since then until now since he'd just eaten. The only thing that looks strange on him is this dark patch on his underside. I noticed it about the same time i got him or a few weeks after, i can't remember. When i saw him just now i noticed it had gotten bigger since the last time i looked at it and it had spread just a bit up onto the lower part of his scales on his side. I've enclosed a pic of it to see if you know what it is.
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Tragedy Tonight
Replies (14)
sry this what you should reply to not the message above, i forgot to put the email notification for replies on. Thanks to anyone who can help.
I am 95% sure that is your snakes kidney. that eaves a 5% chance of a galbladder. When the snake dies it is the first to start deteriorating. The fact that you say you saw it a few months ago says to me that either your snakes belly was a little translucent and you could see the organ (could you normally see the heart and other organs?) Or maybe it had an infection and that also caused it to die...? Just my thoughts. Sorry about your loss.
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"
no that was the only spot on his stomach that i could see through. The rest of toward his head was white and nearing his tail it was speckled with orange. That was the only spot that stood out.
>>sry this what you should reply to not the message above, i forgot to put the email notification for replies on. Thanks to anyone who can help.
I've got no help for you here, but I wanted to say that I too am sorry for your loss. I hope you can figure this out. Please let us know what you come up with, so that we can also be better caretakers of our pets.
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3 Corns - Aphrodite (Normal), Freya (Normal), Peyton (Amel)
2 Florida Kings - Thor (Axanthic Brooksi) & Lilith (Normal)
1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake - MacLeod
He always had a problem keeping pinkies down. I talked to kathy love about it and she said it was most likely because i gave him too big of a pinky. Giving him smaller pinkies seemed to work but it still happened 3-4 times i can remember.
>>He always had a problem keeping pinkies down. I talked to kathy love about it and she said it was most likely because i gave him too big of a pinky. Giving him smaller pinkies seemed to work but it still happened 3-4 times i can remember.
I had a corn snake like that about 20 years ago. Mine had problems keeping food down no matter how small of a pinky and like yours didn't make it past 6 months of age. I've heard of others having similar problems with the occasional corn and they usually chalk it up to simple failure to thrive syndrome. I think it's more of a genetic defect such as a food allergy type thing - sorta like how some human babies are allergic to milk even their own mother's.. it's possible snakes can be born to be allergic to foods they are normally supposed to eat.
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PHWyvern
I agree it looks like decomposition, bruising or a hemorrhage. You should look and see what other organs might be in that area. I know that when the pancreas ruptures it starts to digeset the surrounding tissue (which could explain why it was spreading). If you're feeling adventurous you could try carefully opening the area up and having a look to see if there is something obvious like a blockage.
Sorry for your loss.
I just can't do it myself. I can't bring myself to do it. I've just got done burying him and don't want to have to dig him up to have a vet cut him open. I'm sorry i didn't think of having a vet do it but it's too late.
That's understandable, not sure I could do it if mine died either.
No telling whether anything definitive would have been found anyway on such a small animal.
You did the best you could for him.
I'm also very sorry for your loss.
You mention he hasn't grown much since you got him. That's very unusual, as most people's '05 corns are shooting up in size very quickly. It sounds to me like he had a congenital defect, assuming you were caring for him properly. The only way you're going to know anything is to have a vet do a post-mortem.
Did you take him to a vet all along, when you knew he wasn't growing and you saw this discoloration on his scutes?
Walt
i didn't think that him not growing was a big issue. I know some snakes grow to full size within a year, but it can usually be 1-3 years for some snakes to grow to full size.
I am sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose one that you have worked so hard to keep healthy.
Every Corn I have seen that has recently died always shows a dark area on the tummy. It is usually the Gall Bladder.
i also recently had a snake die. was very weird,
6 year old amelanistic male, lovely size and weight.
ate a rat last friday, regurgitated it on monday and was found dead on the wednesday morning.
tookhim the vets to see if they could figure out what it was that caused it, also pointing out a green spot like yours had.
he said that the spot was caused by the gall bladder bursting, aparently this happens when most snakes die gue to the large amount of gasses usually present within the GB which just causes the bladder to burst, the green is the tissues decomposing.
or so my vet says anyway
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i had the same exact thing a while back. one of my ultramels wouldn't grow although he ate everyweek. finally he quit moving around his cage and the next day he was dead. with the same dark spot as well. I was told maybe it was crypto but i'm not sure. Also recently i have been having trouble with his sibling who regurgitates every couple of feedings. and last week she skipped. i just hope shes ok and i'm going to get her to the vet soon to see if there is anything i should worry about.
