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corn hasn't moved in 8 hours...normal or panic?

jennixnay

jennixnay

New member
Apologies in advance -- neurotic corn mama here :

So. Last night, we moved Clementine (newly adopted 2-year old female corn, rehomed from a neighbor who was downsizing his collection) into a new viv. She came to us in a 15-gallon tall & seemed cramped, so we took advantage of the recent PetCo 50% Zilla Critter Cages sale, bought a 20-gallon long, & set that up.

I set up her hides & water dish in the same places -- one hide on warm side, one on cool, water dish closer to the cool side. UTH heat pad, probe thermometer affixed to the glass directly over it. I put some fresh Aspen bedding on the bottom, & then added some of her existing bedding on top of that hoping it would smell somewhat familiar. Popped her in her new viv & we watched her get to work making new burrows in the Aspen. This was around 6pm.

I checked on her several times throughout the evening. At about 11pm, I saw that the temperature on the warm side had creeped up to 100 -- the dimmer/thermostat must have readjusted during the move & now needed more tweaking. I panicked, seeing part of her body was in the warm side hide, & opened the lid, picked her up, & tried to assess if she was too warm. She did her usual slither up my arm to my shoulder & around my neck under my hair (I have very long hair & she seems to like to glide through/hide in it). I fixed the heat situation, & put her back in the viv. This was around 11:30pm.

I then checked on her several times throughout the night (& to be sure warm side temp didn't wonk out again), & she hasn't moved from the burrow she made when I replaced her at 11:30pm last night (it's now 7:30 am). I can see her head through the glass (in a burrow, under about 2" of fluffy Aspen), but am panicky that she hasn't moved all night. Do you think the briefly raised temp on warm side could have hurt her? I have a layer of paper towel over the probe (to keep her from touching it), & then about 2-3" of Aspen, but I know they can burrow down.

:uhoh:
 
Sounds normal to me (any snake can be sedentary for a LONG time!), but I'd keep an eye on her for the next few days... she's probably fine, though. :)

P.S. You should see how lazy my pythons are! Sometimes they don't move all week, LOL.
 
I am squashing the instinct to dig her out of the burrow & make sure she's still breathing. I'm hoping she's just hiding/chilling b/c of the stress of new viv set-up & my picking her up last night to be sure she was OK.

I'll definitely hold off on feeding her for a few days though -- that makes sense, yes, to avoid a regurg?
 
Instead of digging her out, just blow some air (with your mouth) towards her hiding spot - that usually gets their attention, and will assure you she's still breathing. ;)

As for the feeding, I guess it wouldn't hurt to wait a few days... when was she last fed?
 
It's been 10 days -- we just got her Tuesday, & were going to try feeding her this weekend, but now I'm guess we'll see how she seems today & if she comes out of her burrow...:shrugs:
 
Well, you might feel better if you had more reliable temp control. This thermostat is cheap but reliable. More so than a ZooMed you'd buy at Petco/smart. You still have to dial it in a little in the beginning, trusting the reading on your (good quality) thermometer more than the dial on the thermostat, but once you have the temp you like, it adjusts itself to changes in the room temp. I know my room temps vary here, even in the winter, from 65 to 80 or even higher if we have a nice sunny day.

Then, once you're sure she hasn't cooked or frozen- if she is normally active in the evening, and you haven't seen her for a couple days, chances are she's blue (in shed). It doesn't hurt anything to check. If she's blue, which young adults do 4-6 times a year, then you would just leave her alone till she sheds. No, it won't hurt to just look at her every couple days if she is making you nervous. You can even just touch her with your finger without lifting the hide; you'll know in an instant that she is all right. Generally, though, blue snakes hide completely, not peeking out.

If you can see her head, she's most likely fine. When snakes die, they usually do it in a dramatic way- laying out in the open, contorted. Not neatly and life-like in a burrow. So- not dead. It won't hurt to just touch her, rather than digging her out, or do something that catches her attention, like blow near her, or wave your finger at her, to see if you get a head movement or tongue flick.

I think, after ten days, it is not going to do any harm at all to dig her out, if it will reassure you. I had a snake once, a Nelsons milksnake, that I didn't see for a year, unless I took her out myself. She was just very secretive. So then, after she was older and started coming out in the evenings, _that_ would startle me! I'd be like, Inez, what's wrong? Why aren't you in your hide???

Good luck with the first feeding- it's always such a relief, even with an adult, to have that first one over and done with! And if she _is_ blue, and you decide to feed her anyway, don't panic if she refuses. I wouldn't spend hours trying to convince her. _Especially_ when she is blue. It won't hurt a thing to miss a meal or two.
 
I know there have been a few times I was afraid mine was dead, I just dug one finger down into the substrate and touched him and he would twich or move a little. Thats what I would do. No need to dig her/him out just enough to touch em and see if she/he moves.
 
Thx for the advice, all. I think I will investigate a thermostat instead of the dimmer to avoid this happening again.

I reached into the tank & gently stroked the part of her tail that was visible, & it twitched slightly -- & then she poked her head up & out of the substrate a couple of hours ago so I think she's fine -- maybe she was just exhausted from the move yesterday! Will see if she perks up & seems ok to eat today, or if we should wait a day or two.

Thank you, seriously, for indulging my early morning panic attack...
 
I was the same way when I got mine a couple months ago. He hardly moved. Something too I built hides that I can see inside from the side, and he loves his hides so I can look in and see him and I can often tell that he has repositioned himself.


This is my current set up. The branches are atm lower then they are in this picture and all touch the ground but are spread out so you can still see in very easy.

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as you can see from the sides you can look inside and actually see where the snake would be, he seems to love em and I can see him when ever I want. There are little doors on the front side for him to use to get in and out. The coffee container was the humid hide I made for him, he was in blue when I took these pictures.
 
O and btw that is NOT a heat lamp, that has a regular florescent bulb in there and only comes on from 9am to 5pm. It puts out no heat.
 
Great set-up! What size tank is that?

I do want to get her some branches for climbing -- right now she has two log hides (one warm, one cold) & I put in an extra inch of substrate, so she seems really happy with the deeper Aspen for burrowing in & out. I need to make her a humid hide before her next shed (she last shed just a wk or two before we got her, this past Tuesday. Or should she always have a humid hide? :confused:
 
I only put mine in when hes going to go into blue, he soaks once in a while in his water dish so I dont think he needs it. I have heard that some will stay in thier humid hides and end up with scale rot, or so I have heard so I dont risk it.

The tank is a 29 gallon fish tank that im using atm. The only thing is he doesnt really climb to much so its taller than needed. He likes to "weeve" through the fake fir branch though. I am slowly building a 6 chamber viv out of an old book shelf, it has the same floor dimentions as the fish tank im using now does. But im not in a big hurry so its something im doing slowly over time.
 
jennixnay said:
Great set-up! What size tank is that?

I do want to get her some branches for climbing -- right now she has two log hides (one warm, one cold) & I put in an extra inch of substrate, so she seems really happy with the deeper Aspen for burrowing in & out. I need to make her a humid hide before her next shed (she last shed just a wk or two before we got her, this past Tuesday. Or should she always have a humid hide? :confused:
Click to expand...

They only need a humid hide when they are going to shed.

I wouldn't leave it in all the time, or you could get nasty stuff growing in there, plus your snake could get scale rot.

About moving: sometimes my corn snakes seem to not move for a week! They can be rather boring at times if you are waiting on them to move.
 
I only put the shedding hide in there when I notice that they're blue. Another problem of too much humidity is an upper respiratory infection. So many things to learn & remember for the new mama, but I'm sure that before ya know it you'll feel more confident & relaxed in your new role. :dancer:
;) I so get the overanxious mother...I worry constantly about at least one of my babies. When I got my first baby Slither, I was worried no matter what she did. She was my very first snake & I didn't know very much. I too had to dig her out all the time & frequently still have to hunt for her. She seems to prefer me to look for her. Even when I got Squiggle, he was so different than Slither so I worried. He is pretty much always visable. My mom complains that Slither is NEVER out. I've tried to explain to her that she does come out. It's just usually long after she's left for the evening. lol
And now that I have Sparkle, I'm obsessive about what she does. I've only had her for a week & haven't seen her except for when I first put her in there & when I took her out to feed her...she promptly disappeared when I opened her tub & walked away. Again, I have no idea where she's at. :rolleyes: Part of me is wondering if she managed to find the warm spot in the tank. I'm torn between looking for her & leaving her be. Sometimes it takes every ounce of strength to just leave them be.
So ya see, you're not alone. :) Hey, at least ya don't have to worry about her shedding for a little while.
 
Thanks all, for indulging me! After about a day or so, she was active again, busy making new burrows. I took her out briefly when I changed her water last night, & she was back to slithering up my arm to weave in & out of my hair.

Mousie defrosting in the fridge for her first meal (with us) later tonight -- hopefully that will go well!
 
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