3 year old corn died and I feel terrible

Sorry but if you saw that something was not right with him then you should have taken him to the vet! See if you would have done that just maybe you could of save your corn a good reptile vet would gave you some medication for him. Sorry for your lost but like Karl Mcknight said do some research before you get another snake.

Just FYI- I didn't buy this snake myself, I didn't want this snake, he was given to me and I did the best I could with my knowledge to look after him. Nothing went wrong and nothing changed over 3 years, multiple sources verified that the husbandry was good. What am I to do with a pet that I don't want when nowhere will take him except for a place where he would be put down? I did my absolute best in each situation and did plenty of research, I always tried to do what I could for him and a vet checkup earlier in the year verified that he was healthy. He was always fed, watered, cleaned and I regularly checked his body and skin.

In the situation, it's only in retrospect I feel guilty. As I said previously, had I suspected a problem as opposed to shedding discomfort of courseI would have done something quicker rather than presuming it to be thought it just to be a difficult shed.

Nonetheless, had I taken him to a vet it would have been over a 1.5 hour car journey. The nearest reptile vet is 30 mins away but on a Sunday evening nowhere is open. If he is in discomfort, do I risk causing him severe trauma and stress by putting him in a car for that long? Not exactly an easy choice to make.

Please do not suggest that I did not do enough research. How many more internet forums and pages am I supposed to scour when I have already spoken to a vet, multiple reptile shop staff, and friends who have experience of keeping reptiles?

goodbye unhelpful people!

It's a shame that nobody has actually attempted to answer the question or share similar experience yet are just here to tell people how they have done wrong, as though as a first time pet owner I am supposed to be as knowledgable as a vet (literally, followed the advice of a vet anyway) and everything was fine for 3 years, having changed nothing about his upkeep.

Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence (and sympathy), you perfect pet owners! well done to you for never making a mistake.

Lucyjane. to answer your question, no I’ve never seen what you describe.

Personally, I think this is not the time for recriminations. No one here knows what happened or if Steve could have been saved.

I can tell that you were attached to him and that some of the reactions here are very upsetting. I have not reacted that way. I have a vet and my snakes get regular vet care. I’m not sure I could have done better than you did under the circumstances. We are all always learning and even when we are doing everything we know to do, stuff happens.

I can tell that you did everything you knew and followed the best advice that you were able to get at the time. I hope that others will refrain from piling on with woulda, coulda, shoulda, right now.

We all have things we don’t know and have yet to learn.

P.S. not only have I never seen what you described, I've never heard of anything similar. What happened is not at all usual.

26°C is just under 79°F, which honestly is warmer than some breeders keep their males. I doubt heating was an issue. A regular hissing noise can mean anything from stuck shed in the nostrils to respiratory illness to a huffy attitude. I would not expect someone to automatically know the difference. As for his death throes, unfortunately it does seem to be common. Without a thorough necropsy, we can only speculate at the cause. Perhaps you could have done something, or perhaps he had a preexisting condition which you could never have known about.

But by all means, write off the lot of us before anyone else has a chance to respond.

Possibly Steve had a random seizure and that's what caused his passing?

I have seen/heard of it happening in people maybe same for snakes?

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

I am totally knew here. I've only had Daisy for 10 days but I've been reading forums, fact sheets, care sheets, listening to breeders, snake owners, pet shop owners and one thing that I've noticed..... they all have similar but different advice.

Turn the mat off at night, don't turn it off, feed in the viv, don't feed in the viv, snakes stop feeding when shedding, snakes still feed when shedding, use heat mat, use heat lamp instead.... I can go on and on. I'm a bit confused to be honest but this probes one thing. That there are several "right" ways of keeping a happy pet snake and some work better for some snakes.

A snake can die from different causes like a person can. They can have genetic conditions, tutors, heart attacks etc etc.... from what I've been reading. I've to it husbandry has been good then I don't think you should blame yourself. Research and research again but sometimes snakes, like other pets just die. I worry about Daisy all the time and I judge everything I do and the reason for that is because it's all so vague! I really don't think that a slight different temperature can kill a snake but then again I'm a college novice and I have a lot to learn myself!
I'm very sorry for your loss.

Daisy June 17, a butter motley corn snake

Apologies, I'm rushing because I have no battery and I've made a few spellings mistakes like 'proves', 'tumors' etc

Daisy June 17, a butter motley corn snake

While it is true that a lot of people have "Opinions" and "Different Ideas" about raising snakes, that doesn't mean that they are "All Ok or All right." Sometimes people are wrong. Even people that visit this website. There may be Hundreds, even thousands of members here, but "Everyone" can't be right, nor can everyone be wrong.

If we are going to keep snakes as pets, then we should seek out info from "The Experts." The young Kid at the local Pet Shop most of the times knows less than most people. So...who are the experts? You could start by reading books (yes there are actual published books) about keeping pet snakes. Somebody who has raised corn snakes for many years and has taken the time to write a book about it, and has actually got it published, and it's known for being "One of the Best Books on the Market" should be trusted over some 19 year old college kid working part time at PetsMart.

So, there are 2 books listed below, "By the Corn Snake Experts." Now, nobody has to take my word for it, or the PetsMart guy's word for it, or some internet Forum's word for it, you can actually study the best books on the subject and find out for yourself.

These are the books that about 50% of the people around here have studied, and the other 50% are the ones' that come here to argue about why their snake's are always ill.


https://www.amazon.com/Corn-Snakes-C.../dp/1882770706

https://www.amazon.com/Corn-Snakes-C.../dp/B009NI6LK8