something is wrong??!!!

[ambie]

Hi, i have a red albino corn, he is about 5 1/2 years old and has never had any problems with anything ever, but over the last 2-3 weeks he has had some issues come up and i have no clue what to do or whats wrong!
About 2 ish weeks ago he turned his pinkish color like he always does before he sheds and then went back to his red color so i just assummed he would be shedding soon but its been getting close to 3 weeks and he still hasnt shed and his skin is getting kinda baggy in spots and lifting scales and he has a huge lump in his belly as he would if he just ate, but i havent fed him for 3ish weeks cause i been waiting for him to shed so WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG????
And i have noticed over the last couple months he kinda has had a smaller lump but i was just thinking it was the mouse in him after eating etc, he has been pooping normal but since he still hasn't shed he has kinda been poopin here and there so im thinking he's bunged up with poop? im kinda scared to touch him or anything so what should i do???

[Lennycorn]

Man, that's odd. What part of the body is the lump at. And I would handle him just to check him out and the lump, hard or soft. Sorry I can't give you any help.

[ambie]

kinda touched his lump it felt soft but he is not really wanting me to touch him so i dont wanna push it lol, but ya when he moves and you can hear his scales crackling , and ya when he moves and curls up his skin bags and scales are lifted in certain spots almost looks like he's starving and losing weight , i dont know , confused!!!

[CornAndBall]

My best guess is a skin infection, possibly combined with some digestion issues. Regardless, you aren't going to get any advice worth more on here than this: Take him to the vet, or better yet, a local herpetologist, if you have one. They will only be able to tell your for sure what's wrong, and how to fix it.

[Nanci]

How far down his body is the lump? 1/4, 1/3, 1/2?

[Lennycorn]

Pictures would help too.

[ambie]

the lump is roughly about 14 to 16 inches from his tail... he did poop a little about half hour ago but it was a werid creamy yellowish beige color and had some black in it but if was really thick and sticky like not like it normally is but its not normal to poop a little here and there right? cause normally its one big pile , i dont know i have never had any problems with him before so i have no clue and we have no herpetoligist here, and our vet does deal with snakes but probably dont get many snakes in there so doubt they would have a clue lol but he's been more active in the last hour here so maybe gettin ready to shed so i will just see what happens and if he doesnt shed or his lump doesnt go away i will try the vet and see what they know!

[bitsy]

If there's an old skin stuck on him, then it might be constricting his body and not allowing the food to pass through his system. If the old food is festering inside him, you could now be looking at an internal infection as well as the initial shedding (or potential skin) issue.

Get a humid hide in with him and see if this helps him shed. Make sure to change the substrate regularly - damp paper towel will work fine.

Regardless of your vet's experience, it's going to be a whole lot more use than advice from us.

If you Google "Herp Information Society of Saskatchewan" you'll find an active reptile message board covering your general area. If you post there, you might find that somebody knows an expert local to you (vet or keeper) who can advise.

[ambie]

the thing is he hasnt even tried to shed he is basically staying in one spot for a a long time and then will move to a different spot , he goes from his heat pad to a cool spot but spends most times not on his heat pad, he is still in the same spot he went in yesterday around 6 pm . But yes i will google some stuff and give my vet a call tomorrow

[ambie]

and also i dont think it could be food in him causing the lump cause i havent fed him for at least a month been waiting for him to shed and he hasnt been looking for food or anything and he's still been in the same spot for 15 hours now so not looking good, if it wasnt a holiday i could phone vet today : (

[Ares2010]

He's probably not shed because he isn't feeling well enough to "rub" it off him.. sounds like to me if he's not moving around much.

Poor guy I hope you get it sorted out.

[BigByrd47119]

and also i dont think it could be food in him causing the lump cause i havent fed him for at least a month been waiting for him to shed and he hasnt been looking for food or anything and he's still been in the same spot for 15 hours now so not looking good, if it wasnt a holiday i could phone vet today : (

As far as not moving when going through the shedding process, that is normal. In my experience my corns tend to pick the cool side and sit there for a LONG while. I'm sure they move, but I work full time and sleep, so I cant always be watching for movement.

Another thing to consider is that my corns (and milk) refuse to poo when going through the shed process. Usually when I find a shed in the morning its directly next to a giant "steaming" heap however. I cant say that these are your problems, but it just goes to show, they are odd creatures.

[ambie]

well i gave him a little bath and he moved around alot in there and his skin started getting baggy and lifting in some places so he has his bottom half shed now but nothing on his head area so im hoping he starts rubbing his head he did a bit but didnt help, im also gonna feed him a small mouse when he is completely shed .. see if he eats , poor guy seems so much smaller now but thanks all for your imput , i will keep ya updated: )

[bitsy]

Starting the shed is a good thing, but I feel there's a more serious problem going on here. Any luck finding a vet or an expert to advise? Loosing weight and being lethargic can be quite bad signs in a Corn. It can take a healthy Corn weeks or months of a problem before they visibly lose condition as yours seems to have done. A bad shed is more likely to be a symptom than the root cause.

Pics would help us a whole lot.

[ambie]

welll he still never finished shedding ,his whole back half is shed and its hanging off in certain places but still nothing on his nose area, im gonna try a bath again see if that helps, and i went and talked to my vet but they had no clue about snakes which i figured, she did give me a number to a vet in regina where they take exotics if they get any at our vet, so i will call later today to see what they say! and ya i dont know how to put pics on here lol i have tried but cant lol sorry

[Lennycorn]

Add a damp towel to the bath, have the snake crawl through it, kinda of like your are drying the snake off.

[ambie]

wellll wanna thank you all for your help but my snake just died : ( : ( : ( i am sad : (

[Johan13]

wellll wanna thank you all for your help but my snake just died : ( : ( : ( i am sad : (

Sorry for your loss :(

[Dee Dee]

I was following this thread & I wanna say I'm truly sorry 4 ur loss :-( It's very sad. At least ur snake isn't in any discomfort now, altho it really does suck. My thoughts r with u.

[ambie]

I was following this thread & I wanna say I'm truly sorry 4 ur loss :-( It's very sad. At least ur snake isn't in any discomfort now, altho it really does suck. My thoughts r with u.

thanks so much, he he looked so nice cause he just got all his old skin off , well except for his head but ya i was sure hard seeing him not moving, buried him last night , but now i have this big empty tank i have to get outta here, and adventually get a new one! but thanks again:)

[Ares2010]

This really made my eyes water when I read it just now. I am so sorry and you tried so hard to help the little guy. it's so sad.

[dan803]

Aw. :(

My Mango makes crunch/crackling noises when he moves which has me worried now. He has never shed with me before... I'm hoping he will soon because his skin has a lot of imperfections, like rough gray patches as well as a scab on his snout. I heard they go 5-8 months when they get that big. (he's 760 grams)

He does seem otherwise healthy...

[ambie]

Aw. :(

My Mango makes crunch/crackling noises when he moves which has me worried now. He has never shed with me before... I'm hoping he will soon because his skin has a lot of imperfections, like rough gray patches as well as a scab on his snout. I heard they go 5-8 months when they get that big. (he's 760 grams)

He does seem otherwise healthy...

how long have you had him? my guy used to shed probably every hmmm 4 months maybe , at times it seemed like he was always shedding, but ya he was a healthy guy, he was just over 5 feet long when he died : ( weird not haveing my big tank in my living room , but good luck with your little guy, this site is good for info , the people are sure nice:cool:

[dan803]

I adopted him about 2 months ago, and it didn't look like he shed recently then either. I'm sure it's just normal wear and tear from being a snake.