Hello! My name is Nicki and this my blizzard corn snake, Evee!
I've had her since around 2008, when she was given to me by a friend of mine in 8th grade. I know my friend had her in 2004 when we met, so I would say Evee is at least 13 years old, possibly older. She's always been in great health, as far as I know! She eats a large thawed mouse every ten days with no issues, and sheds regularly. She doesn't usually shed in one piece, however, but in 3-4 smaller pieces -- she's done that for as long as I've had her. Her hobbies include slithering around her in tank for hours on end, chillin', and tormenting my cats with her presence.
Her tank is, I believe, a 40 gallon long tank (I had to measure it to determine its size, and I somehow managed to get dubious results -- but it's big). It has a cardboard hide, a rock, a log hide, a large water dish, and another log hide, as well as a tree branch (yes, a real tree branch; 14 year old me did not know in 2008 that it isn't wise to just take things from the outside and put it in a pet tank, but I think ten years later, it's all right now!) I have aspen bedding as a substrate, underlined by newspaper. Her light source is a heat lamp situated on the left side of the tank, and it is generally kept on all day (about 14 hours or so).
The issue I'm here about is the red bump I noticed on her spine tonight. It's notably discolored from the other markings on her body, and seems to be very slightly raised. Here are some pictures!
When I run my finger over it, she doesn't seem to flinch or anything, but she IS a snake after all! Could it be just a bruise? She's a very active snake. She spends much of the evenings (if not part of the days) crawling around her tank and up over her tree branch, making me think she's practicing for the Snake Olympics or something. I wondered if perhaps she bumped it against something. However, if it's something more serious, I'd like to catch it early on! I have two indoor-only cats, but even they aren't skilled enough to get inside the tank and "play" with her (not for lack of trying). Any suggestions? Thank you!!
I've had her since around 2008, when she was given to me by a friend of mine in 8th grade. I know my friend had her in 2004 when we met, so I would say Evee is at least 13 years old, possibly older. She's always been in great health, as far as I know! She eats a large thawed mouse every ten days with no issues, and sheds regularly. She doesn't usually shed in one piece, however, but in 3-4 smaller pieces -- she's done that for as long as I've had her. Her hobbies include slithering around her in tank for hours on end, chillin', and tormenting my cats with her presence.
Her tank is, I believe, a 40 gallon long tank (I had to measure it to determine its size, and I somehow managed to get dubious results -- but it's big). It has a cardboard hide, a rock, a log hide, a large water dish, and another log hide, as well as a tree branch (yes, a real tree branch; 14 year old me did not know in 2008 that it isn't wise to just take things from the outside and put it in a pet tank, but I think ten years later, it's all right now!) I have aspen bedding as a substrate, underlined by newspaper. Her light source is a heat lamp situated on the left side of the tank, and it is generally kept on all day (about 14 hours or so).
The issue I'm here about is the red bump I noticed on her spine tonight. It's notably discolored from the other markings on her body, and seems to be very slightly raised. Here are some pictures!
When I run my finger over it, she doesn't seem to flinch or anything, but she IS a snake after all! Could it be just a bruise? She's a very active snake. She spends much of the evenings (if not part of the days) crawling around her tank and up over her tree branch, making me think she's practicing for the Snake Olympics or something. I wondered if perhaps she bumped it against something. However, if it's something more serious, I'd like to catch it early on! I have two indoor-only cats, but even they aren't skilled enough to get inside the tank and "play" with her (not for lack of trying). Any suggestions? Thank you!!