Very sick corn

My room mate got a corn awhile back. Baby, he bought it from a pet store. Actually.... he bought two, but one died a few days ago. He hadn't been taking care of it and the second one is in terrible condition. I asked and found out they hadn't been fed for a couple weeks. They were kept under constant heat, upwards of 90 degrees and with little to no water. On top of all that, there were snake mites everywhere. Literally.

Basically, I am nursing the little guy back to health. I fed it and have watched it closely. It's VERY lethargic and can barely move itself. He can't even hold his tail up when you hold him. I have to pick mites off of him when I have it and it barely responds to touch at all.

I've never dealt with a snake so sick, mine is in perfect condition and is very active. I would be devastated to lose the little guy. I need advice. Please, help me.

You will need to do more than pick the mites off. You will need to get some mite treatment. For tonight you can soak it in room temp water. Make the water just deep enough to cover its body but not its head.

Did you get the temps to the right level in the viv?

What substrate does the snake have?

When did you feed it and how much?

Oh, by the way, great job trying to save this snake!!

I agree with Rich, I have noticed that you can get mites in some forms of bark substrate. If that is what your are using, I would switch to Aspen. Good Luck.

Oh, how horrible! Good on you for trying to save it.

Also remember that mites do travel! So change your clothes and wash your hands thoroughly before handling your healthy snake.

Good luck and keep us posted.

You will most likely want to grab yourself some mite treatment, but in the meantime, you can get rid of some of the nasty things manually.

Bathe the snake, as someone else suggested, but you will need to submerge the head; otherwise the mites just move up to the head to avoid drowning. It isn't very nice to do but no more unpleasant for the snake than being covered in mites I shouldn't think.

While the snake is bathing/swimming, clean out the enclosure. You will need to sterilise the tank in some way - try bleach, or boiling water or vinegar may do it. Discard any loose bedding and replace it with something like paper towel, which allows you to monitor the appearance of mites more closely. Remove and sterilise or discard any nook-and-cranny furnishings; provide a basic water dish and a couple of hides in the tank, to minimise the places mites can lay their eggs.

Mites do travel as well, so it might be an idea to clean the outside of the tank as well, and any surface fairly close to it - the table it sits on, the carpet around it, etc etc. Can't be too careful, especially with another, healthy snake in the picture.

I recommend you repeat the bathing/cleaning process at least once or twice more over the next couple of weeks, as treatment will often kill the adults but leave the eggs untouched, which then hatch out a few days later and reinfest everything.

Hope that helps in some way. I've encountered mites myself and this is what I have done to treat them. Good luck to you and hope the little guy improves some.

I also had a snake with mites, and I used a 'ring of death' with vaseline around the tub's rim and a contact insect killer around the area it was in to try to contain them.I was lucky enough that none of the other snakes got the mites

I think your roommate should go without food for a few weeks and covered in mites and see how he likes it...makes me so mad that animals are abused like this...neglect=abuse...

Best of luck trying to pull this little one through, please keep us updated!!!

Theres not much i can say in the way of advice, But just thought i'd say good for you stepping in to help the poor little guy and i hope you manage to get him back to health!.

The only thing I will add is something I'm sure you're doing, but will say it anyway...

Be VERY VERY careful and strict with your quarantine regimine. I'd go so far as to change clothes and take a shower between holding the new snake and yours. Keep them as far as possible from each other.

Good luck!

Okay, well... The little guy is too weak to move himself. I tried bathing him and he wouldn't even move. I'm afraid of bathing him because he might use the little energy he has left. Last night, I was afraid he wouldn't make it through the night.