10+ year old female corn snake

[red65vettetx]

My Marine's corn snake which the vet said was a male is actually a female. Took her to the vet because she was not acting normal. The vet did x-rays and she has 20-30 un-fertilized eggs in her. Vet gave her an Oxytocin and B12 injection and told me to put her in bathtub of warm water and hopefully that would cause contractions and she would pass the eggs. Been 2 days and nothing. She has never been to the vet other that when we bought him/her and the vet said he was a male. She has always been healthy other than now. I know surgery is an option but I am relatively sure that is going to be more expensive than the $267 I have already spent. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[AliCat37]

Have you provided her with a lay box? Basically a dark tub with moist moss and/or vermiculite? I would also cut her normal feeding schedule in half so she is unlikely to do this again in the future. There used to be a great how-to video on YouTube about removing eggs from an egg bound snake, but it was taken down a while back.

 

[red65vettetx]

Thanks for your response. Her habitat right now has reptile bark. 30 in. wide 18 in. deep 30 in. high. Could I use it with the moss/vermiculite or should I use a plastic tub with vented lid that is totally dark. To be clear, cut her once a week 1 large adult frozen/thawed mouse to once every other week 1 large adult mouse. At this point she has not eaten in about a month and that is why I took her to the vet. She is very large for a female the vet said. She did the probe thing and still thought she was a male. Not until the x-ray did she determine the sex. She is about 65 inches long and her girth is 2 inches at maximum diameter.

 

[AliCat37]

I would put a separate tub inside her enclosure with moss and vermiculite so she can make a "nest". There is no need to feed her once a week if you don't plan on breeding her, I would cut her down to a small adult mouse every other week.

 

[red65vettetx]

Again, Thank you for your help!!

 

[Nanci]

Describe strange. Just restless? Was there an egg obviously stuck?

Plenty of virgin females form eggs, and some go ahead and lay them, and some reabsorb them. I wouldn't take any interventional action until there was an obvious problem, like a stuck egg. I'd provide a lay box and leave her alone.

Oxytocin has a poor record of being effective in "helping" snakes lay.

 

[red65vettetx]

Restless is definitely the correct term. Usually she is under her half round log. She recently has been out constantly roaming her habitat. Will not eat. I am going to get a container with moss/vermiculite and put in her cage. I saw the x-ray and she has numerous (20-25) what the vet says are eggs in her. I suppose that is not normal. The vet never said "there is the stuck egg" so I cannot say. I put her in the bathtub with warm water for about 15 minutes. The vet said that would help with contractions. And yes, I did read that Oxytocin (after the vet had given her the injection) works fairly well on warm blooded animals but not reptiles.

 

[Nanci]

It's "normal" for virgin female reptiles to produce eggs. Same with birds. Restlessness before laying is _very_ normal as well.

It's likely she will repeat this next spring. One way to discourage her might be to offer her smaller mice at longer intervals leading up to this time of the year, maybe for a couple months, so her body is tricked into thinking she doesn't have the resources to spare for laying a clutch.

And it's okay for her not to eat now. I wouldn't worry about it until she lays or reabsorbs. All food does at this point ic give the eggs even less space to move. She will be fine for at least a month with no food.

 

[red65vettetx]

I put a lay container in her habitat with sphagnum moss and she seems to have taken quite well to it. What about her light, is it ok to leave it on as I normally would?

 

[Nanci]

Yes. The moss is damp, right? Now the most important thing is to just leave her alone and not check constantly. And remember that she may be in and out of the box, and may lay eggs off and on, not all in a group. Over the course of days.

 

[red65vettetx]

The moss is moist out of the bag...I'll keep a spray water bottle to make sure it stays that way. The light will probably dry it out a little. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[smigon]

The moss is moist out of the bag...I'll keep a spray water bottle to make sure it stays that way. The light will probably dry it out a little. Thank you very much for your help.

Are you using the light as a heat source? In general, this is not a good practice anyway, corns do better with UTHs.

I am going to defer this to Nanci or other experts on switching to a UTH from a heat lamp at this point in her condition, but after all goes well and she lays (fingers crossed!) I would definitely switch to a UTH.

Keep us updated.

 

[red65vettetx]

I am using an heat pad under her habitat...the light is for basking. I am leaving her alone as much as possible at this point.

 

[smigon]

I am using an heat pad under her habitat...the light is for basking. I am leaving her alone as much as possible at this point.

Ah, good, but you don't need the light, corns don't bask! Some snakes do, corns aren't one of them.

Best of luck with the laying, my Scarlett just laid 8 eggs in the last 2 days, she lost 50g which was almost 1/3 of her body weight. She is only 2 1/2, so I never expected it either. Hope all goes well!

 

[Nanci]

I'm not a fan of lights. Cornsnakes don't need them, and UV light hurts/damages some snakes' eyes. It's an unnecessary fire risk. Expensive, have to replace frequently. Dry out the environment.

But if the snake has always had the light, leaving the light while encouraging her o lay isn't going to hurt anything.