Why did he die?

After wanting one for 8 or so months, I went to a reptile expo and bought a baby snow cornsnake. This was for my birthday which was may 5th. I set him up in a 20 gallon tank with screen top, heat lamp with 60w day bulb, thermometer, soaking bowl, hide and wood shavings made for snakes. I did quite a bit of research both before and after getting him, and my roomate who used to breed lizards helped out as this was my first ever reptile. Her mother who used to breed boas dropped by a day or so before I got my snake, and said the setup looked great.

When we bought the snake he was only 9 or so inches long. He hid a lot which I read was pretty normal for when you first bring a snake home, and particularly liked burrowing under his soaking bowl. When you took him out though he'd love being held and would curl around your fingers, sometimes getting quite energetic. I tried to feed him one defrosted pinkie about a week after we brought him home, but he showed no interest. My roomate asked her mother who said we should just try again every few days, as he might still be nervous after moving in or just not be hungry yet. I did a lot of research on feeding and whether the food was too big (alot of it on this forum). Two or so days ago my boyfriend managed to get him to take the pinkie by making him angry (a tip we found somewhere online), and he swallowed the whole thing over approximately half an hour. It was about 1.3 times the size of his thickest part. Yesterday he seemed fine, the lump had moved down to his stomach area. He was sluggish but I assumed this was normal as he was eating a big meal.

Today at about 7pm I went to check on him and refill his soaking bowl. I found him dead inside his hide and already starting to smell bad. He was partialy stretched out and his nose was slightly red. I could still see the food lump inside him but it was smaller. The darker coloring from his food was almost down to his tail. We are not burying him until tomorrow night so if pics of the body would help, I can get some.

Please tell me wheat happened to my poor baby snake :c I'm pretty torn up about this and I'm afraid I killed him.

Sorry for your loss. Sometimes, do to no fault of ones own, an animal just dies.

If he really was only 9 inches, that's really tiny even for a baby. I know I've seen very small babies at expos and I avoid buying those ones. I really don't think you did anything wrong. If you decide to get a new one, I'd recommend an older one and also I think a heat mat would be better than a heat bulb. Sorry that your little guy died.

A heat mat (UTH) with a thermostat would be better than the lamp. But like the other posters said babies can simply fail to thrive. If you decide to get another snake make sure to clean your tank and decorations with a 10% ammonia solution, let it sit for at least 10mins, scrub well, rinse alot and let air dry. Also I recommend going for a yearling. They are bigger and are established eaters. They still have alot of growing to do so don't worry about not seeing your baby grow up.

I'm sorry for your loss!

Thanks for the reassurance... pretty much everyone has said that babies just die sometimes. My roomate says we'll go to another reptile expo and buy a much bigger snake, and make sure that we ask about how many feedings he's had and that he's not a problem feeder and such. The reason I don't have a heat mat is that she's told me they can be dangerous for lizards because they'll burrow under the substrate and burn themselves on the mat. I'm assuming snakes are smarter than that?

And yes, he was only 9 inches plus a head, so probably 9.4 or so inches all together. We stretched him out once to measure him. He was only about as big around as say, a pencil. His thickest part was a little thicker than that.

recrdchaos said:

The reason I don't have a heat mat is that she's told me they can be dangerous for lizards because they'll burrow under the substrate and burn themselves on the mat. I'm assuming snakes are smarter than that?
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Snakes can do that as well, but with a thermostat regulating the temperature, the UTH won't be hot enough to burn.

Sorry for losing your first little one.

So sorry that must be so devastating. I am so sorry you lost your little bitty baby.

I'll go with the others. You want heat tape (flexwatt is the brand most use) under the tank with a thermostat (like a Hydrofarm which can be had from Amazon.com). Corn snakes are nocturnal, so they don't benefit from heat lights. If they can't get away from the heat, it can hurt them badly. Here's a couple of links to threads that may help you:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1558771&postcount=1

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1568858&postcount=1

I'm so sorry for your loss! That's hard to take, especially after wanting one for so long. It doesn't sound like it's anything you did. Some people are less than ethical and sell snakes that they know are having troubles or aren't feeding well. Alicia's correct that starting with a slightly older snake represents a much safer start, at least for your first one. Reputable breeders (and there are plenty on this forum) can help you choose a snake who is healthy and likely to thrive. That said, they are living things and there are no absolute guarantees - although most reputable breeders offer a health guarantee of some type.

Again, I'm sorry for your loss.