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Question!

loulou
11-30-2008, 03:21 PM
Ok this is going to sound very random but here goes,

I had an anery striped corn snake, approx 4 years old male, he died a few weeks ago.

I discussed this with a few UK corn keepers about two years ago and nothing came to light then, we all assumed it had neurological problems as no other corns had expressed the same issue (that we know of)

Heres the story, about 2 years ago I picked up this anery striped male, he was being put into a tub while I cleaned his tub out, he started havign what i can only describe as a fit in my hands, his body went completely distorted, he looked like he was trying to turn himself inside out, his mouth was gaped and he looked dead. I thought he had died in my hands, so I tubbed him and went to inform my partner, on returning he was slithering about as if nothing had happened. He had done this a few more times since then and the vet and ourselves coudl find nothing wrong with him other than this, it was put down to a neurological condition and he was kept away from everything else (and never bred). He ate shed and did his business ok from then on and appeared normal other than this occasional "fitting" .

Well I never thought anythign more of it tbh I just got on with it and continued with passing onformation onto my vet, but I went and had a chat with another keeper the other day, he was showing me his corns and he got this wee one out, it was a normal stripe, suddenly this srtipe started having a seizure in his hand, its spine looked like what i can only describe as disjointed liek every vertibrae had clicked out of position its mouth was gaped and it looked dead. I advised the keepers to put the little corn in a tub and watch her, 3 minutes later she started righting herself as if she was clickign all her bones back into place, and then started slithering aroudn as if nothign had happened. We immediately thought of our little anery stripe when we witnessed this as its nearly identical. I would also like to add I had never ever been to their house before that day.

The same people had another stripe die a week or so earlier and it looked distorted, aparently it looked identical to the one she saw fitting, but that one had actually sadly died. Ther husbandry is excellent, their hygiene is excellent

I am not trying to start a fight or cause trouble and I dont want to start scare tactics this is NOT an epidemic people, but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed anything similar, as I said every test the vet could do while alive was done on my anery stripe and nothign "nasty" was found,

I was just wondering if theres a neurological condition some corns can possibly carry that I do not know about or if this is completely random and we were just very very unlucky (as were our corns) or if any other keepers have seen similar (I am babbling now sorry)

RobbiesCornField
11-30-2008, 04:05 PM
Is it possible they got him/her from the same breeder you got your anery stripe from? Or maybe their from the same bloodlines? These "seizures" could very well be a genetic neurological disease. Did either you or the other person have a necropsy done? Have you checked the water to see if it might have been something from the local tap water (if that's what you're using)?

sober_serpents
11-30-2008, 04:53 PM
i agree with robbie. but i have also heard of this happening when people use some kinds of paint in or around their houses, Orkin men sprays(or other pest sprays), as well as flea powder... i read a story a few years ago how someone let their friend use a vacuum. The friend used the vacuum to clean up flea powder from a flea infestation at their house. the friend gave the snake owner the vacuum back and the powder became air-borne and did the same thing to the snake... i have also heard of snakes biting themselves repeatedly in the same spot during one of these fits and after a necropsy found the reason in the area of the bites. for example. i have a friend who worked at a vets office and 1 of her corns was having these fits and biting itself... after a necropsy they found out the snake had been having a heart attack and was biting the area of the heart. Kinda like if something hurts on us, we rub it... the snake was being hurt so it was biting back.

Susan
11-30-2008, 05:07 PM
As a certified veterinary technician for over 25 years, what you are describing brings seizures immediately to mind. Your description, duration of the attack and lack of other findings is virtually identical to a grand mal seizure seen in mammals. Hubby is sleeping in the room that has all of my reptile medical books so I can't look seizures up in them at the moment. I Googled it and didn't have much luck there. If I don't get back to this thread later tonight or tomorrow, send me a PM reminder.