recrdchaos
05-21-2013, 10:50 PM
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.
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.