Snake died..very upset would like advice

Tonight we found our corn snake dead. This is going to be long because I'd really like to know if I did anything wrong. About a month ago we went to a Petco to get dog food. While we were there my kid's were really admiring the baby corn snakes. We talked in length to the young man in the reptile department who answered our questions about their basic care and what we would need. We discussed it as a family for a week then went back and purchased one. This was a month ago today. I want to describe our exact set up and care. My children are absolutely heart broken and before I go buy another one I'd like to know if this was a result of our care. First of all the snake as of today was 15 inches long. He was eating one to two frozen pinkies a week. We dethawed them in warm water first and he always took them right when placed in front of him. We always made sure he wasn't handled at least 48 hours after eating. The entire month we've had him I've never seen him come out. Every time we go to look for him he was always hiding. I'm not sure if that's normal or not. He was always curled up sleeping. We bought the tank that the people at Petco recommended. It is a 20 gallon long with an under tank heating pad under half of the tank. The temperature during the day is 82 degrees in the tank and 78 at night. I had read that a baby corn snake didn't need a tank that large however the person at Petco said that it wouldn't hurt him any to be in it. The tank has two hides, a large water dish, and a branch for him to climb on. We found him curled up dead on the warm side of the tank. At about the halfway point there is a large black spot (he's a snow colored snake so there is no black on him) The spot wasn't there last night or this morning. The bedding in the tank is the Repto-Bark (think that's what you call it.) Again we're all heart broken. The kids want another snake right away but I want to make sure if we did anything at all to cause our snake to die we fix it so this doesn't happen again. I just feel terrible. If we've done anything wrong or should be doing anything different please let me know. Thank you for any help.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I'm sure you must be feeling terrible, but it sounds like your set-up was pretty good. The only thing I would change would be to add more hiding places. A 20 gallon long tank is large for such a small snake, and extra hiding places would make it feel more secure. Of course that's not why the snake died, though.

It sounds like you were taking good care of him. Since you bought him at a pet store, my guess is that he was just sick from the time you got him. Reptiles don't show illness until they are very ill, and since your snake was hiding all the time you may never have noticed until it was too late.

My suggestion would be to buy another corn snake from a reputable breeder. A reputable breeder will give you a health guarantee on your new pet. Also, before you put another snake in the same habitat, make sure to disinfect everything very thoroughly! If it was a viral or bacterial infection that killed your first snake, you want to make sure that it's been killed before you put a new snake in there.

As for some reputable breeders, here are 3 websites:
Rich Zuchowski's: Serpenco
Kathy Love's:Corn-Utopia
Don Soderberg's: South Mountain Reptiles

PS: It is fairly normal for a hatchling corn to spend most of its time hiding, especially while adjusting to a new place. They mostly come out around dusk or dawn, and are also active during the night. Most will become somewhat less secretive as they get older.

Basically everything kenalotia said-Petco's are notorious for horrible conditions with a few exceptions

I'm sorry to hear about your loss though, it sounded like you gave him the best care possible.

I'd like to second the part about disinfecting the cage, with a bleach solution to be safe. Be sure to rinse very throughly afterwards so that no bleach remains

Good luck with your next corn if you decide to get another one.

to hear of your loss
the info given so far is spot on,
so as far as your care goes it seems it was out of your hands, dont let this put you off getting another corn because they can bring such enjoyment!

what substrate you used - and did you feed it in the cage - sometimes the substrate could get stuck to the mouse (especially if they are wet from thawing or something) and if the snake ingests it, it could be fatal. The dark spot you mention is suspicious. you can often see guts or stomach contents in snows so it could be normal but if you 'massage' the dark spot between to fingers it shouldnt be very hard, (it shoud break up as you rub it) if its really hard it could be some foriegn matter that it swallowed during feeding.

just a though

however, dont beat yourself up too bad

even snakes from purchased from the best could just have problems and not make it - i got a pair of ambers from rich and the female died after 2 months - nobody did anything wrong and it couldnt be predicted - it just didnt make it

follow the previous advice, sterilize the tank, and get yourself another baby - you might try a different supplier just to be safe but youll do fine

you have my sympathy

Amo it sounds like YOU did everything right, i too have lost one of my snakes, an adult male last year so i know how you feel, dont let it discourage you.



all the best...................STEVE

Just thought I'd add that I've read that the dark spot always appears after death - it's one of the internal organs, and I'm ashamed to say I can't remember which. Might be the gall bladder, and it leaks bile after death, which is the dark spot.

Unpleasant, but scientific. I'm certain that it is not to do with the cause of death.

On a lighter note - corns are fantastic, and a healthy one will become part of the family. Please don't let this put you off, go for another one!

Brig.

You have my sympathy. I read and re-read your post several times and the only thing, besides a few extra hides, I would change is the temps. Although good, I feel they could be just a bit higher for a hatchling. A 20 gal tank is a large area to heat, and I don't trust all thermometers to give an accurate temp in all areas of the tank, including the very large area of air inside. Alot of thermometers tell you the temp on the glass or bottom, not the surrounding air, which tends to be lower. When I set up my niece's tank, the warm side read 87 and under the hide on that side was 90. Cool side was 76 (room temp) and 78-80 under that hide. And although her hatchling snow did venture around the tank, mostly in the evening and night, he did spend alot of time under the warm hide, preferring the 90 F. I checked the air temp about 2 inches above the warm hide, and it was 76. The same everywhere else unless it was just above the bottom, or the actual top of the hides (top of warm hide was 84). I then decided to add a heat lamp (ceramic) and it seems to have done the trick. I put it more over the warm side, warmed the ambient air to the low 80's and upper 70's, and now the hatchling is exploring the branches and all areas of the tank, although he will digest his meals inside the warm hide and take haven there when it's close to shedding time.

If the dark spot were, say, a piece of bark, It could most definitely be the cause of death - however without seeing the snake in person, nobody can say for sure. Not even experts like Rich or anybody else.

Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate it. We're going to get another snake. We disinfected the tank and threw out the branch and hides and will just buy new ones. We're going to get batter thermometers tonight and spend the week checking the temperature throughout the cage just to make sure we're at good temps. The thermometer we were using before just stuck on the outside of the tank. I want to make sure the substrate is warm enough or not too warm. We founda local breeder and visited his house yesterday. He said our setup sounded fine but will come to visit once we are set up again just to make sure we're doing it right. We were using Repti-bark substrate but I also have a bag of the Jungle Floor that I was going to switch to. What do you all recommend using? I like the idea of the Jungle Floor because it seems more natural than the Repti-Bark. I'm open to suggestions and I do appreciate all of the encouragement.