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baby corn snake very lethargic

P

Phoenixmom

New member
Hi. I'm new to the forum and a new corn snake owner. I just got my corn snake, the pet store tells me it's about 5 mo old, on Sat. 7/28. It seemed fine throughout the weekend, but just this evening when I picked it up it seemed a bit different. Upon observation I noticed it is very lethargic - tired & weak acting. It barely lifts its head and only barely moves when touched. The pet store said they last fed it on last wednesday 7/25 and they normally only feed them 1x a week (altho I've read that you should feed babies 2-3x a week). I've tried to feed it yesterday & today but it doesn't seem interested at all. Does anyone know why its behavior changed so much or have any suggestions on what to do?? (don't know the sex yet)
 
I would suggest - you should leave your snake alone for a week. That means handling and feeding. Just make sure it has a hot spot, a hide, and some water. I only fed my snakes once a week but once it got bigger I would just give them two mice instead of one. It's probably not moving because it's scared. Just my opinion.
 
Please give us details of your setup including:

-temperature on cool side
-temperature on warm side
-what kind of thermometer are you using?
-humidity levels
-what kind of humidity guage are you using?
-how much are you handling the snake.
-what kind of heating system you are using.
-what substrate you are using
-does it have a hide on both the cool and warm side. If so, what are they made out of?
-is he on a window ledge?
-are you using any lighting
-what room is he in? What's the activity levels around your snake that may contribute to stress.
-what is your pre-handling washing regimen?

etc.

We need details to better serve you. We also need to know if you understand proper husbandry protocol before assessing anything.

Please resond soon! Your snake doesn't sound well.
Check your temperatures first. He could just be too hot.
 
Yes to everything Tracy said, but also a picture would help and what morph/color, could it be blue. They don't usually get lethargic with being blue but can be very quiet. Descibe coloring, eyes, wheezy...? susan
 
Thanks for your input!!

Thank you all so much for your input and help! Unfortunately my baby cornsnake (Phoenix) didn't make it past that night . We took him back to the petstore and they gave us a refund, at which time we found out that one of the others from the same bunch is also sick and they are sending it out to the vet.
I plan to get a new one. I want to check and recheck my viv set-up and maybe make a few changes beforehand though. Although the petstore said it most likely wasn't anything we did wrong. Thinking back, there were signs the should've raised red signs: his coloring was way lighter than ther other 4; he was noticeably more friendly than the others when we first looked at them and when we went back to get him; I don't believe he ever went into his water bowl the whole time we had him. Something wasn't right from the very beginning.
As for my viv, I will try to take and send over pics. The temps were 85degrees during the day and 75 at night on the warm side, and the humidity was between 55-60 (altho a couple of times it did go over 60). We hadn't hooked up the undertank heater yet as the light seemed to be doing good for the heating. His hde box was onthe warm side and the ater on the cool side. The tank is only 5.5 gallons, which I've read is fine for a baby. The substrate was aspen. I had a container of anti-bacterial wash right next to the tank, which I used before & after each handling.
I tried going directly by the book on everything. However, prior to him getting sick, I hadn't looked up or heard anything on stress or anything like that. I think if I did something wrong, it may have been not giving him enough time to get used to his new home before handling him. His viv is in my bedroom, which I go in & out off throughout the day, but it wasn't overly loud with music or tv or alot of action.
Oh yeah, the petstore only had it under "Color-morph cornsnake" and the lady said he was albino. He was a light orange-ish mixed with white-ish. Not stripes, but like diamonds going down his back. He was the cutest out of all of the ones I've seen so far. And he had the best emperment, altho that may have been because he wasn't well. But he didn't appear sneaky, nervous & as snakey as all the others. He was active until the last day, but not the way the others were.
I'll keep you posted on my new one, when I get it. If you have any suggestions for me before I make the purchase, please let me know!
Thanks again!!
 
I would suggest finding a local breeder and getting your next one from a breeder so that you have more details on the animal and can have a bit more stability with its health status.

Good luck
 
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you have better luck with your next one- these things do happen, and we learn from our mistakes.

The only suggestions I would have other than the ones you pointed out yourself (holding it too early and inspecting health before purchase) would be minor ones about the caging. You might want to put hides on both the warm and cool sides of the cage, or simply get a log that stretches over both. That way he doesn't have to feel exposed if he wants to get cooler. Also, a 5.5 gallon I think is fine for a little bit, but a little bit larger one will last him longer without making him feel like his cage is TOO big. Other than that though, I don't think anything you could have done in that short time could have made him that sick- most of the things you did were pretty minor. Don't worry yourself too much over what you could have done- just learn from your mistakes. Again, best of luck. ^_^
 
Well the things you mentioned about the snake being lighter in color and you not seeing it drink at all don't necessarily indicate much.
A lot of owners never see their snakes drink they are very secretive, and lighter coloring just could have been that particular snake they're all different just like people.
I am very sorry to hear of your loss though and of course it sounds like through no fault of your own.
But some times for the next snake, let the snake settle in first, you said you got him 7/28 and you already tried to feed him two days in a row and you said you've got antibacterial that you've used for handling. When you get your next one let it settle in for an entire week before hanging around the new baby, this means no feeding attemps and no handling.
Good luck getting your new snake.
 
It sounds like the snake wasn't healthy when you purchased it. Not all pet stores know how to keep snakes and if they said they "fed" it on the 25th, they may have simply put crickets in the cage for a day, not even knowing if it ate or not...and corn snakes don't eat crickets anyway. At least you got a refund (not all pet shops will do that), but as it has already been suggested, you should probably get your next snake from a breeder.
 
Local Breeders

Thanks again for your input. I think I will look into a breeder. Does anyone happen to know of any breeders in NJ?
 
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