Carlshendri
New member
Hey everyone I am a new member here! I am a first time owner of my (little over) two year old corn named Shucky. He was rescued by me from my brother who passed away 2 years ago. My brother was beyond passionate about snakes and I was his best friend so he naturally taught me everything I needed to know about his baby corn hatchling before he suddenly passed. I am very passionate about my taking care of my Shuckster buddy now that he is mine and do lots of research online. Ive come across this forum quite a lot throughout Shuck’s life and trust it so I wanted to reach out on here for my recent issue.
Issue:
Shucky was originally put on cypress mulch when my brother first got him but when my brother passed I decided to change to aspen when I saw online that it is the best substrate for young corns to burrow in. He has always had full sheds, great appetite, and exhibits normal behavior. Now that he is two, I have seen some changes in behavior like not eating/hibernating before shed and hanging out in the open more. I decided after reading about the best corn snake substrates that I would change his substrate to a mix of topsoil, coconut coir and cypress mulch. I fed him a few days before changing his substrate. Since changing it, Shucky has been on a food strike and has looked absolutely filthy yet otherwise happy and exploring. It has been almost 4 weeks now of no food so not horribly long but long for his usual appetite
. Also I have searched everywhere and cannot find anyone else who’s corn snake looks like mine in topsoil. It gets stuck under his scales and almost looks to be damaging them. Otherwise he is active and drinking water normally and the temps and humidity are the best they’ve ever been.
My only thought is that his scales are flakey from being dry in aspen his whole life so dirt is getting stuck easier? I decided to stick with my decision of the substrate mix and just add more cypress mulch as a top layer for him to rub dirt off of him. I also created an aspen trail from his water bowl to the warm side hut where he can dry off without getting in dirt. So far it has helped with the overall filth but he now has spots where his scales look damaged. He shed the night I put him in the new bedding. He is kinda starting to look thin now too. I’m so worried about him.
PLEASE HELP!!! (Images attached)
Shucky before changing substrate:
Shucky after changing substrate:
Issue:
Shucky was originally put on cypress mulch when my brother first got him but when my brother passed I decided to change to aspen when I saw online that it is the best substrate for young corns to burrow in. He has always had full sheds, great appetite, and exhibits normal behavior. Now that he is two, I have seen some changes in behavior like not eating/hibernating before shed and hanging out in the open more. I decided after reading about the best corn snake substrates that I would change his substrate to a mix of topsoil, coconut coir and cypress mulch. I fed him a few days before changing his substrate. Since changing it, Shucky has been on a food strike and has looked absolutely filthy yet otherwise happy and exploring. It has been almost 4 weeks now of no food so not horribly long but long for his usual appetite
. Also I have searched everywhere and cannot find anyone else who’s corn snake looks like mine in topsoil. It gets stuck under his scales and almost looks to be damaging them. Otherwise he is active and drinking water normally and the temps and humidity are the best they’ve ever been. My only thought is that his scales are flakey from being dry in aspen his whole life so dirt is getting stuck easier? I decided to stick with my decision of the substrate mix and just add more cypress mulch as a top layer for him to rub dirt off of him. I also created an aspen trail from his water bowl to the warm side hut where he can dry off without getting in dirt. So far it has helped with the overall filth but he now has spots where his scales look damaged. He shed the night I put him in the new bedding. He is kinda starting to look thin now too. I’m so worried about him.
PLEASE HELP!!! (Images attached)
Shucky before changing substrate:
Shucky after changing substrate:
