Young corn death, need help in identifying problem...

[JennaDee]

I had a 14 inch corn snake that i bought Feb 2. He regurgitated the 3rd meal I fed him (1 small pinky) so I waited 10 days then fed him a pinky head. He ate it with no problem but I noticed he was laying out of his hides (which he never did) and his pinky head lump wasn't going away a few days later. The portions of his body where the vital organs are not located seemed to be wasting away and very skinny. I thought he was dehydrated because the skin by his head and by his tail were wrinkled slightly. I made his soak in warm bowl of water for an hour in hopes he might drink some water but I guess no luck, he died the day after. When I took the carcous out of the cage, I noticed a bluish green discoloration on his under belly right before the anal scale. This all happened within a 5 day period.

Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this?? I'd love to be able to prevent this from happening in the future.

[Rich in KY]

There is no way to know for sure what killed him. There was obviously an internal problem. The only way to tell is to take his body to a herp vet who could do a necropsy(sp ?).

The bluish green discoloration is normal foe a snake that has died. I believe it is his gall bladder discharging its contents.

[JennaDee]

ok, thanks for the help!

[lyndy299]

Whilst working in a reptile shop I saw a similar case. With that many hatchlings...there's always a few that just don't thrive. The hatchling in this case had been having feeding problems since hatching (one of the ones bred by the owner of the shop, the snake was not for sale but in the back room of the shop) and when it did eat it seemed to regurge. It just couldnt keep the food down. We finally thought we were getting somewhere when the snake ate and the next day there was no regurge. Unfortunately 2 days later we noticed the lump was showing no signs of going. The snake was taken to the vet but died the following day. You win some, you lose some. Don't be disheartened. If you are going to replace the snake, I would try a different supplier...chances are the snake was not feeding well beforehand...and therefore should not have been sold. Hope this helps a bit.

Lynda

[JennaDee]

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I am a first time buyer of young corns so I guess I wasn't ready for it. Thanks alot again

[lyndy299]

Aw, I know this is a horrible situation but I honestly think from the information you've given me that it wasn't your fault. Keeping corns is a fantastic hobby and I would hate for you to be disheartened because of your experience. It's just one of those things in nature. I obviously haven't asked about your set up but if you've been on these forums and researched which it seems you have since you knew to wait 10days before the next feeding attempt if you feel like you want to, it might be good for you to try again. If you do, you can search and ask anything you want on here before you make your purchase. You'll get fantastic advice from all of the people here. Infact there are users on here who have had very similar experiences.