• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

1st time snake owner with a little problem...

M

Mr.RottenTreats

Mr.RottenTreats
I bought my 1st cornsnake a few months back and he shed for the 1st time two weeks ago. Well today 11/10/09 I noticed his eyes were getting cloudy again and he hasn't been acting like himself. So I was wondering if he's getting sick or what. Not to mention his cage seems to attract alot of sugar aunts.
Please someone help!
Thanks.
 
You definitely need to disinfect the enclosure, first of all. No bug of any sort should ever be in there. Snakes are very sensitive to disease/infection. Use 1 part bleach/9 parts water to clean. Also give him a bath before putting him back in once it's clean.

As for what's up with his cloudy eyes, I'll let someone else help you with that. If he's very young he could be going into shed again, though. If you're considering a vet visit, unless you're rich, I would at least wait a few days to make sure it isn't just pre-shed.
 
Did you notice any change with his eyes the first time he shed? When they are going into shed their eyes turn slightly cloudy with a blue tint. I am sure someone somewhere around here has pics of it.

now as to your ant problem......
A good thorough cleaning may help. Insecticides may not be a good idea. Hopefully some of the experts have more experience or advice than me.
Just remember when cleaning "its the number of times you rinse, not the volume of water you use".
 
Depends how old he is. Ordinarily, one or two sheds a month in a hatchling wouldn't worry me, but it would in an adult. Would usually indicate something wrong either with their health or their environment.

It's possible that the ants are irritating his skin in some way - our UK ones secrete formic acid when threatened. Ideally you need to get rid of them completely and see what happens. There could well be another reason for increased shed frequency, but I'm not sure what else to advise until you've eliminated the ants as a factor. However, as James says, standard insecticides are very dangerous for Corns. Hopefully somebody with experience of this (or a similar) problem will be along to advise shortly.
 
Marike I'm in Canada and vet visit for exotics is approx $60-$80 just for the exam and more for any treatments, medications etc. As far as I have read around here, the USA, where Stars is from is a little cheaper than us.
 
He's probably just getting ready to shed again. But you need to get rid of the ants. Ants can easily kill a baby snake. One thing you can do is completely clean his enclosure, so there is nothing to attract the ants, then put a layer of Vaseline around the entire viv, so they can't cross it and get in. Then I'd put out ant bait (those little traps) around, too.
 
@Asbit:
Thanks for the information. Over here it is different, depending on the region you live in. With our vet, you pay 10 Euro (about 15 USD) for the visit and a checkup, 10 Euro for a normal poo-check on parasites and about 30 Euro (about 45 USD) for a cryptosporidium test.
 
@ Marike
Unfortunately most Canadian vets will not do a Crypto or Poo check with out the vet visit charge added on.
 
Is it possible the snake is going into shed cycle again because it's being nipped by the ants? So the snake is trying to repair the irritation/damage from the ants?
 
Asbit said:
@ Marike
Unfortunately most Canadian vets will not do a Crypto or Poo check with out the vet visit charge added on.
Click to expand...

I haven't found that where I live. I can arrange to have either a fecal float or fecal smeer done without having to have the snake examined. Costs $20.00 for a fecal float and $25.00 for a fecal smear. Most veteranrians have an inhouse lab to do these procedures.
 
Is it possible the snake is going into shed cycle again because it's being nipped by the ants? So the snake is trying to repair the irritation/damage from the ants?
Click to expand...
That was my first thought, although more related to formic acid they might be secreting.
 
No worries about the blue eyes. Frank used to occasionally shed at a 2 week interval when he was younger. The ants are a problem though.
 
Thanks everyone who responded to my post

I found the problem with my snake, the log we bought for his cage seemed to be attracting the sugar aunts. my husband broke open the log and turns out they were nesting in there. Long story short no more ants. YAY!:)
 
That's good news. Keep an eye on the snake to make sure that resolves the problem. If you have another shed in two weeks, we'll try to come up with some more ideas.
 
Bake the hell out of anything you want to put in there in future! ;) so glad you got rid of them, that must've been a nightmare. Fingers crossed for a good shed.
 
I'm with the others in saying great news on finding the source of the sugar ants! Good luck with the next shed and WE WANT PICS!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top