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Dead Cornsnake

S

sjane

New member
My Husband has a female cornsnake that he's had for the last four years and we've never had any problems and then 4 months ago I brought him a male snake of a simular age from a reputable breeder. We had no problems for the first 2 months and they got on well together and were both feeding well then the male stopped eating but I wasn't too concerned because he seemed perfectly well apart from that so i continued to try to get him to eat but he wouldn't and then I got up this morning and he was dead just laying on the bottom of the tank.Does anyone have any ides as to why this would have happened as i'm now concerned about the female and I know my Husband would be devastated if he lost her.Oh and is it normal for cornsnakes to spend all day laying in their water bowl?
 
So sorry to hear about your loss, but this is the number one reason put out by herps for not housing snakes together! Unless you know why the male died, it's possible that you've introduced a disease into your viv that you've exposed your female to. New snakes should be quarantined for at least 3-6 months before introducing them into your collection. I would try to get a necropsy to find out if the male had something contagious. It is not usual for a corn to lay in the water unless it's getting ready to shed, or it has mites.
 
70 degrees at night 80 - 90 degrees in day
regularly misted once a day
regular wood chippings that are safe not the poisonous one
tank 1.5 meter x 0.8 m x 0.9 m
anything else you need to know?????
 
I would check the temps. again to be sure they are what you say they are.
Snakes will lay in the water bowl when they get to hot!
Or as Megf has said it may have mites, check for little black creatures particularly around the eyes, and inbetween the scales.
 
she has now stopped laying in her water bowl and i have cleaned the tank out completely just in case but she won't feed, she last fed a week ago and normally feeds once a week unless she's shedding which she did 2 days ago is there anything else I should check the tempreture is correct. Back to the mites I think the male had one on him when I found him dead but I have checked her and she seems ok but as I said I have ccleaned the tank out and bathed her. Any help would be appreciated as Husband is away with the Army and I would rather not tell him I lost both of them.
 
Did you say she's not feeding now? If she's not, I would get her to a qualified herp vet immediately.
 
She could be gravid since she was in with a male...

That could cause her to go off food. I would not worry about her not feeding unless you notice her starting to lose weight or if it continues for a while.

Keep checking regularly for mites, though, and if she shows any other symptoms then definitely get her to a qualified reptile vet.

Also...some corns DO like to soak in their water bowls. I have several that do it, and their cages are not too hot.
 
The only reason I would be concerned, Corncrazy, is that the other snake the female was with went off his feed, and then died. Since there is the possibility of disease, I would treat appetite loss with more concern than normally warranted. Maybe go to the vet sjane, and have her checked out to make sure she is in good health. If she is pregnant, than celebrate!
 
How long was the male off feed? He may have been off feed due to breeding season. I'm simply saying that just because the female doesn't eat once, it shouldn't be a major concern.

I would monitor her, and if she continues to not feed, then take her to the vet. There really isn't anything the vet could tell you if the snake isn't showing any other symptoms (believe me...I work for a vet and I'm telling you what I've heard many times). The vet is going to tell you to take her home and monitor her. If she is gravid and isn't showing, then it would be hard for them to confirm that as well. An x-ray can be taken if she is far enough along for the eggs to show up on the radiograph, however. It would look like this:
MVC-227F.JPG



You could, however, take in a fecal and have it run. You'd at least know about intestinal parasites
 
I think I have checked her thoroughly for mites and she doesn't appear to have any is there anything I could do to treat or prevent in future. The female seems ok apart from the fact that she not eating and I have even overcome my fear to handle har just so I can check her every day but she has gone back to laying in her water bowl again.Is there any signs that I could look for if she is gravid.This is the first feed she has refused in a year and she did the same thing last year and the only reason i worried was because of the male dying.When should I try to feed her again?I did think of a possible cause off death don't know what you think but my teenage son is in a habit of spraying on liberal amounts of deodorant in the area in which the snakes are kept could it have contaminated the water because they use seperate water bowls and his was in the the corner nearest my son's bedroom (hense I have now put a stop to this preening ritual just in case ).I have gone through everything else I could think of and for what seemed like a perfectly healthy snake to suddenly die I can't understand it.Unfortunately the breeder is away at the moment but he assured me that they were ok to put together and I've had no problems with other reptiles I have purchased from him in the past and the snake was in quarranteen before I purchased him as it's a precuation the breeder likes to take.
The only problem with the vet side of things is that I live in germany and would be hard pushed to find a vet that deals with reptiles the vets I've used in the past just deal with general veternary problems. So more advice would be great many thanks
 
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