Dead or Alive

We have a 9 month old albino corn that has just BARELY learned to complete a shed all by herself... we thought. I guess the coloring kept us from realizing she had left overs on her tip Maybe about a half a centimeters worth. Just strangling the life out if her poor little tail. Probably 3 weeks before I noticed so I immediately got to work and freed the tail from the sheds grip and the more tail I exposed I would notice it would start to plump up a tiny bit. It's still shriveled and sad looking... but not black like most of the horror stories i read in my frantic Google search to find out if the tail was gonna make it. It's much darker in color than the rest of her beautiful body but not black. More like partial deep red color. There was no blood loss during the removal. I worked quick but was gentle. Wondering if there's anyone that reads these long winded posts like mine and if they think this tail has a chance?!

Just to add... shes kind of a friendly snake as far as snakes go. She's not a striker. She's not lost appetite ever. And her problem shedding was a codependency. She preferred using our hands as her shed tools during her "time of the month" we call it. She has all the right tools in her snake manor but would just smack her face on the glass every now and then like that would somehow do the trick... we thought it might be a short bus issue... but realized by chance she was just extra and preferred a handy. Now she has learned to use the things around her to shed but I guess the tip is still a challenge.

Can you post a picture of it?

I will see if i can talk her into a photo... she just ate last night after i removed the shed so didnt want to mess with her ona full stomach.

Oh yeah, definitely give her a full 48 hours before messing with her.

Got one in the tank then she wanted to climb so wound up in my hand anyways.

Close up behind glass

Resolution might be choppy.

Not behind the glass

Hmm, yeah definitely looks pinched, but not black yet. For now all I think you can do is keep an eye on it and assist with sheds as needed. If she does lose it, it should be okay.

Thank you for your time. First snake and was a gift for my daughter. Never thought I'd be a snake person but I love her to pieces and I'm upset for not paying attention to her tail. Hate that I learned the hard way here. She's so beautiful and perfect and I just can't imagine her without her little tippy tail.

I'd guess from the looks of it that tip is dead. The very end is definitely gone from what I can see in the photo. Not really a big deal functionally. At this point it is more cosmetic than anything else. I'd definitely be more vigilant with all sheds from now on. This kind of thing can happen repeatedly if you aren't careful and then it's a really big issue. If it truly is dead, it will fall off on it's own. Just keep it clean and if you want put some Silvadin Cream or Neosporin on the area. Snakes are tough creatures. I've seen many snakes in the wild with large portions of their tails gone and they do just fine. Garter snakes, being diurnal, regularly lose tail tips to birds trying to eat them.

Terri

Thank you everyone for your kind advise. Being a caring snake owner this kind of thing is quite alarming. As far as an update. We now how a tip less corn snake. She is still beautiful and you can barely even notice it gone. She shows now difference in her demeanor. She has still never struck at at any one of us and still has a good appetite. She enjoys being handled and still likes to curl up the tip of her tail around our fingers even though there's not much tip to curl. I don't know why I was worried about it being a traumatic experience for her... she's most unphased.

Glad to hear it!