Strange Regurge

[CornSnakeManiac]

I recently bought a baby corn snake from petco (all the other pet stores were asking $70 or $80, petco was asking $40) and he is my first snake. He was purchased on Wednesday the 20th. Because he looked thin, I thawed a frozen pink and fed it to him with no problem, ate he within minutes. I then fed him another pink on the 24th same time (night) woke up and it still wasn't eaten so I threw it out. I tried again the 28th, still didn't eat. So on the 30th I tried feeding live, inside the viv on a plastic shoebox cover. I also removed the hide because he never has left so far. He saw the water in his dish and drank like mad (I don't think he realized it was there before). About 20 minutes later I check on him, pink is still sitting on the lid. I look at him and he vomits right in front of me, this clear liquid that resembles spit. :-puke01: He is now moving around his viv very fast. Could it be because he just drank way too much water too fast? :shrugs: I am clueless on what to do or what happened, except that he might have an enternal parasite. :eek1: If you need anymore information please tell me and sorry for the long story, just telling you all that has happened. :crazy02:

[DogStar5988]

He was probably dehydrated as a lot of pet store snakes are. How are your temps? The first thing that comes to mind is that your temps might be off. As for the clear liquid I would guess that after not having water for a long time he might have just had too much too fast and it just upset his stomach. But of course I could be wrong, I would try to feed him again soon and see how he acts. If he eats and there is not reurge then maybe it was just a fluke. Good Luck ;)

[Susan]

Some more detailed information about the viv set-up may be necessary. First...you didn't give your new snake time to settle in before feeding it the first time. You are lucky it didn't regurg that meal. If your snake isn't leaving it's hide, especially to get a drink, your viv may be too big and/or you don't have enough hides in it for your snake to feel secure about moving around. Hatchlings have a strong instinct to stay under cover to avoid becoming a meal. Double check your temps as being too cold or hot on one end of the viv will prevent a hatchling from moving around to that side.

Have you done your research on keeping cornsnakes? If not, I would highly recommend that you read the FAQ threads located at the beginning of several of the subforums (Husbandry & Feeding being most important)...ASAP! There are also several excellent books that you can purchase. Kathy Love's and Don Soderberg's books may be purchased directly from their websites (www.corn-utopia.com and www.cornsnakes.net).

[CornSnakeManiac]

It is a 20 gallon long tank,the bedding is aspen.I will make the hides smaller and add more of them as there was only 1 and it was huge,a tissue box cut in half with a door way. So there is the hide at one end, the water bowl at the other, and a fake branch in the middle. I just bought a thermometer and put it in the tank, NO change between the inside and outside temps! So I investagated and removed the UTH and plugged in a lamp and it didn't turn on! Faulty wiring + my house is pretty cool. :sidestep: I will move the viv to a different plug. My mistake for not buying a thermometer and not checking the plug (It's behind my bed so I never used it). Hopefully things will change. :)

[CornSnakeManiac]

I forgot to add that I have a book on cornsnakes and it's by, Philip Purser.

[tyflier]

Good luck, maniac. Having a temperature gradient is extremely important in allowing your hatchling to thermoregulate. It is also imperative to have a hide at each end of the viv so that your snake doesn't need to choose between comfort and security. If your hatchling can hide in both the warm and cool sides, it will be MUCH happier...

[Susan]

A 20 gallon long is huge for a hatchling. Definitely add several more hides/branches for your baby to feel secure enough to moce around. Closely monitor the temps on the warm and cool side...now that you have it working! My personal preference is to set up an monitor a new viv for at least a week before getting the snake that will use it. I'm not familiar with Mr. Purser's book, so I can't tell you how recent/accurate his information is. If you get a "spare" $10.50 (Don Soderberg's book) or $19.75 (Kathy Love's book), definitely get one. You can purchase both books on Kathy's site (she has a lower shipping cost for Don's book than on his site).