Dehydrated/malnurished nd help fast

[7Dseven]

I took in 3 corns last night as rescues. We were told they were all 3 boys, age 2. The previous owner was not caring for them. Obviously. The tank was awful. Filthy, full of poop and lots of old shed skin. Their water bowl was bone dry and had dried up poop in it. All 3 are so thin you can see their spines. 2 of the males still move around, but the thinnest little guy is about the diameter of a pencil and he just lays where you put him and is soooo thin. I have 2, 1 yr olds myself and my snakes are fatter that these guys. He also seems very stiff. He doesnt curl up. We are trying not to hold him as he seems soo weak. Dont want to hurt him any more than he may be.
Soon as we got home we gave them clean fresh water and then cleaned their tank. They drank for 30 minutes off and on. I hated to let them engourge on the water as they were soo dehydrated but I didnt know what else to do. The stores were closed and I dont have any pinkies to offer them. I dont think they could handle more than that right now. I am not even sure if I can get the littlest to eat. But I will be hitting the store as soon as it opens this morning. Is there anything else I should get or do until I can find and get ahold of a snake vet? I am afraid time is an issue with this one. Really worried he wont make it long. If I can get or do something right now, maybe it will buy him some time. Any help is appreciated.
(I just joined the forum last night so I havent figured out how to add a pic yet.)

[Nanci]

It might be good to soak him if you think he is still dehydrated. I guess I'd go about 20 minutes in room temp water maybe three times a day. The water should be shallow so he can just lay in it.

[beaniebopps]

Welcome to the forum and well done on the rescues. Poor little corns, I hope all 3 make it. I can't really offer any advice about what to do with the little guy other than what you are doing and what Nanci suggested... But try not to worry too much. They are hardy creatures, I'm sure he'll hang on till you get to the store and try offering a little pinky. And keep giving him the opportunity to drink by holding his head at the water if you aren't going to soak him.

Theres some formulas often for sale at pet stores, for dehydrated malnurished snakes. I have some myself, but its hard to administer and hard to tell whether its actually any good.

[wade]

Get some Pedilite. Not sure on the spelling but it will be in the baby food sections at the store. It is used to rehydrate babies. If you can get some of that in them it would be good.

Make sure they are plenty warm. Getting them up to at least 85* or maybe 87*. That will increase the metabolism but it also increases their immune system. It will especially help if you can get them to eat.

Rest. Don't bug them too much. Let them rest as much as possible in a stress free environment. Make sure they have a good hide so they don't feed threatened.

Good luck. The little one sounds pretty bad.

[kman7183]

you can try misting your tank once a day till they are better plus i would separate them.

[Susan]

And starting them off on pinkies is a great idea. Small and often meals will be much better for them and not tax their system until they are better able to cope with the better care. Feeding about every 4-5 days should be fine for awhile. You can gradually increase the size of the meals as they get stronger. But that "last" one sounds as if it's going to have a rough time for awhile, if it survives. Good luck!

[Widget]

Ditto on everything said, with one exception. I would only feed them a small pinkie every 7 days for a while until their system gets used to processing food again.

One of the babies that I got from my friend was in similar shape. I was feeding every 4-5 days. He did ok for about 3 weeks, then its like his system just shut down. He got really constipated then started regurging and we lost him.

He had also had a history of regurges that was unknown to me until after he died which may have had something to do with it. Or it may have been too many meals too close together.

The other one was not in as bad of shape and is now doing great. After the problems started with the other one she was feed 1g pinks for a month every 7 days, then 2 grams for a month, then 3 for 2 months. She's now up to 4 gram fuzzies and growing like a weed. Good luck with the babies.

[7Dseven]

Thank you for all your wonderful advice. We bought frozen and live pinkies. The larger 2 corns, a miami phaze, and a creamsicle, ate f/t with no problem. They seem to be doing very well. Well enough to have some attitude. LOL The creamsicle bit my husband tonight while we were returning them to their newly cleaned and sanitized home.
The smallest, a snow corn, refused to try to eat all day. He is still very lethargic. He does seem more alert since working on the dehydration though. We spoke with several reptile breeders and specialist today and were given several ideas to try. We are trying to get him to take Repta Aid critical care formula, and we were told to try chicken baby food with a syringe. We are also soaking him periodically in warm water. He is being kept seperate and not being held unless we have to. So far so good. Keeping our fingers crossed with him.

When we cleaned the tank, we found mite strips and very dried up eggs (they are supposed to be all boys) and some of the skin we removed was obviously not from these little guys.

We checked the miami phaze and creamsicle over good and besides being very dehydrated, they have had shedding issues as well. The miami phaze has a long thin section going down his body that didnt come off and flakes periodically all over, including around 1 eye. Have been unable to remove it for him as of yet. The creamsicle had about a 3 inch section on his tail that hadnt come off. We were able to remove that after several soakings in warm water.

Will keep you all updated on our progress. Thankful for all the help! Will post pics of the little guys soon. Want to let them get settled and used to us first.

[Susielea]

Kudos to you for giving these guys a fighting chance :cheers:

The only concern I have is that you say you're giving them soaks in "warm" water? Please remember that warm to us, is actually very hot to a corn snake, I believe they don't tolerate temps over 90F very well, so you should really use a thermometer (a digital one with a probe would be best) to measure the temp of the water, it shouldn't be above about 85F, in other words it should feel tepid to cool, to your touch :)

Good luck, best wishes and keep us posted on their progress,

[7Dseven]

Kudos to you for giving these guys a fighting chance :cheers:

The only concern I have is that you say you're giving them soaks in "warm" water? Please remember that warm to us, is actually very hot to a corn snake, I believe they don't tolerate temps over 90F very well, so you should really use a thermometer (a digital one with a probe would be best) to measure the temp of the water, it shouldn't be above about 85F, in other words it should feel tepid to cool, to your touch :)

Good luck, best wishes and keep us posted on their progress,


Thanks.
I should have specified that. The gentleman that gave me the advice to soak them said to use a digital thermometer and have the temp around 80F, no higher. So thats what we are doing. Its just above room temp, to me at least.
Also, as an update. The little guy, which we have dubbed "Chance". (since he is getting a second chance at life) Ate today!!! Whoo hoo!! He ate a very small pinky. He is still lethargic and doesn move around much but is much more alert and moves his head if we get near his container. If we put our finger near the plastic side, he actually does his tongue thing now. A major improvement!! :dancer: He may not be out of the woods but I have faith he is gonna be just fine.

Thanks again for all the help. I dont think Chance would have lived another few days in that house.
Love the forum. Glad I joined. Wish I knew about it long before I took in this sick little guy. Found it when searching for help.
Will officially introduce myself and our growing zoo later.
Thanks for all the help. Thanks to you guys, he is gonna be just fine!!!

[bitsy]

The little guy, which we have dubbed "Chance". (since he is getting a second chance at life) Ate today!!! Whoo hoo!! He ate a very small pinky. He is still lethargic and doesn move around much but is much more alert and moves his head if we get near his container. If we put our finger near the plastic side, he actually does his tongue thing now.

Those really are amazing steps forward. Once they get into that state they can slip away so fast (I lost a rescue at Christmas time). So glad that things are starting to pick up for him. Good for you guys, for taking on this basket of problems.

[7Dseven]

Those really are amazing steps forward. Once they get into that state they can slip away so fast (I lost a rescue at Christmas time). So glad that things are starting to pick up for him. Good for you guys, for taking on this basket of problems.

I am sorry for your loss. I started out with 1 about a year and a half ago. I cant believe how fast we have acquired so many. Hard to believe so many people would misstreat, abandon, etc their pets. Most people paid good money for these snakes. I hadnt planned to become a rescue for reptiles. But thats what we have become and we are enjoying it.

Just an FYI for all of you reading this. Chance is coming along. He is beginning to move around some in his container. He is no longer where we left him. He has yet to curl up but he seems to be "able" to move. We were getting worried that he might have damage along his spine but it seems fine and he has now turned completely around so I am hopeful that he is doing much better.
Thanks for all the support and ideas!