Hi, my son wanted snakes for pets. So after lots of searching for the best snake for him, I bought him a corn snake at a local pet shop. It was very young, about 12" long, and was friendly, ate good, but somehow escaped from it's pen and we never saw it again. So after looking for it for over 2 months I bought him 5 more young corns as pets. 2 pairs and an odd female. We were intending to breed them. Well after they settled in, and started to eat all seemed well. About 1 month after getting them the first male died. We fed all 5 and they all ate their pinkies right away. 2 days later the male was dead. I talked to the local pet store and decided that maybe my temps were not right for digestion. So I invested more money in heating, and all that goes along with that. We were then keeping the last male seperate and the 3 females together. I know that they can eat each other, but all was well. Well, the 2nd male died in the same way the first did. Showed no signs of any problems, ate good, digested, etc. Then one day looked bad, 1 hour later he was dead. When I say no signs I mean no signs. My son handled them and they are all active, eating and digesting good. Well that left us with 3 females and we were happy that they were doing good. Between breeding our own pinkies and getting extras at a local pet shop we were feeding live pinkies to them 1x per week. They eat well and all have shed 1x since we got them. Well today I found one of the females dead. My son was away for a few days and I was keeping an eye on them. Feeding day is Friday so they got fed last Friday. All 3 ate good. Even as late as last night all 3 were out as normal exploring their cage. Well, I have no idea what we are doing wrong. Why do they keep dying? I'm considering selling the remaining 2 just so we don't kill them. Every one is strong, active, eats, drinks, explores, etc. The cage has a warm end about 85 degrees and a cool end about 75 degrees. They always spend most of the time at cooler end. Except at night when I turn on the nightime light, then they are all over the cage. Like I said last night all were doing this. Then this morning one was dead. Please someone help.
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Corn snakes keep dying
- Thread starter bundybass
- Start date
Tula_Montage
It's Jager time!
Not a single one of us on this forum will be able to tell you how or why your snakes keep dying. To find out the facts you NEED to take any other dead snakes you find to a vet for a post mortem. This is EXTREMELY important when it comes to reptiles as you never know what the cause of death is if they seem completely normal in every other aspect. It could be that they have some sort of reptile disease that you need to get diagnosed through a post mortem. Or it could be they have birth defects. Or it could be any number of reasons. But like I said, only a vet is going to be able to tell you though autopsy and organ pathology. And from the sounds of things you need to get this sorted asap.
ratsncorns
Bird Nerd
How are you measuring cage temps?
Ok I'm heating the 20gal tank with a light at the warm end. I experimented with different wattage bulbs until I found one that kept the cage at 85-86 degrees at warm end. The cool end stays at mid 70s. At night I warm the warm end with a nighttime bulb. I measure all temps with 2 digital therms. One at each end. The probes go into the tank. At the warm end the probe is under the hiding place. Same at cool end. Figured had to know the temp under the hide or else it would be wrong. Like I said, the one that just dyed looked great. Last night all 3 were climbing around like always. I check them each day. With 2 others dying, I'm definitely a worrier now. So I know as of yesterday, all 3 were active, they had just fed on Saturday. So we always let them rest for at least 3 days after feeding until we handle them. So today was handling day. As soon as I woke up this morning I found the dead one.
vetusvates
Gamaliel's Principle
Overhead bulb.....Not so good.
UTH (under tank heater).....Better.
Like Elle said, I still can't tell you why any died.
I can tell you this, the snakes that end up at retail pet shops are surplus or problem snakes.
"Failure to thrive" is often used for human infants and other animals to describe a phenomenon.
UTH (under tank heater).....Better.
Like Elle said, I still can't tell you why any died.
I can tell you this, the snakes that end up at retail pet shops are surplus or problem snakes.
"Failure to thrive" is often used for human infants and other animals to describe a phenomenon.
bekers71
What addiction?!
Did you buy all these snakes from the same place?
You really do need to separate the remaining snakes. It's not just a worry of them eating each other or not. It also has to do with many other things such as if one is sick it can pass it to the others. Housing babies together can cause undue stress which could be some of the problem. But like Tula said, you will never know for certain why they are dieing unless you take one of the dead ones to the vet. If you bought these snakes at the same place, sounds to me like you got sick snakes. JMO
You really do need to separate the remaining snakes. It's not just a worry of them eating each other or not. It also has to do with many other things such as if one is sick it can pass it to the others. Housing babies together can cause undue stress which could be some of the problem. But like Tula said, you will never know for certain why they are dieing unless you take one of the dead ones to the vet. If you bought these snakes at the same place, sounds to me like you got sick snakes. JMO
carol
Down with the sickness
What substrate are you using? I'd separate the remaining two since you have two tanks and put them on papertowels. A hatchling's regurge can be easy to miss in shavings. Give them a weeks rest from handling. What do you use to clean the water bowl? Do you use any aerosols near them? I'd also recommend getting a necropsy on the dead snake, remember to put it in the fridge in the meantime and not in the freezer. Good Luck!
COerriccaRN
New member
Hmmm...weird. But listen to everyone else, and def. seperate the remaining two females.
Idk what to tell you about the snakes dying...I got mine from a petstore and she is still going strong. Also, how do you know the gender of the snakes???
Also a good idea, sperate the two females AND put them in different containers that the other snakes died in. If they where sick, "germs" could still be in the viv.
Idk what to tell you about the snakes dying...I got mine from a petstore and she is still going strong. Also, how do you know the gender of the snakes???
Also a good idea, sperate the two females AND put them in different containers that the other snakes died in. If they where sick, "germs" could still be in the viv.
COerriccaRN
New member
A few other questions...
What did you clean the tank with?
What room are they kept in?
What kind of bulb exactly are you using? Some UV lights can be very dangerous if you have the wrong type.
A possible cause of death could be Cryptosporidiosis(Crypt). Its a type of parasite that lives in the corns digestive tract. It can cause vomiting, sever swelling, and bloating or weight loss. Did you notice any of these symptoms in your snake? Crypt is HIGHLY infectous and can spread easily, so its imperative you move your other snakes out of the VIV that the others died in. Also, Crypt is very fast acting and would explain why you didn't notice.
As of now there is no cure for Crypt, so just keep a close eye on your other two females and remove them from the original VIV ASAP!!
Another COD could be Pneumonia...did you notice frequent hissing or labored breathing? Frequenting gaping of the mouth? Saliva anywhere on your snakes face?
Although Pneumonia is a slower killer than Crypt, to the new hobbyist it could be hard to notice.
What did you clean the tank with?
What room are they kept in?
What kind of bulb exactly are you using? Some UV lights can be very dangerous if you have the wrong type.
A possible cause of death could be Cryptosporidiosis(Crypt). Its a type of parasite that lives in the corns digestive tract. It can cause vomiting, sever swelling, and bloating or weight loss. Did you notice any of these symptoms in your snake? Crypt is HIGHLY infectous and can spread easily, so its imperative you move your other snakes out of the VIV that the others died in. Also, Crypt is very fast acting and would explain why you didn't notice.
As of now there is no cure for Crypt, so just keep a close eye on your other two females and remove them from the original VIV ASAP!!
Another COD could be Pneumonia...did you notice frequent hissing or labored breathing? Frequenting gaping of the mouth? Saliva anywhere on your snakes face?
Although Pneumonia is a slower killer than Crypt, to the new hobbyist it could be hard to notice.