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Dehydration?

K

kalecos

New member
Hello all! I am a new snake keeper as I'm finally sure that I'm moved out "for good"... and my mom is terrified of them.

So anyway, I'm the proud parent of a baby snow corn I have named Lacey. I got Lacey from a pet store about 3 weeks ago. Since I have had her, she has happily eaten 3 pinky mice, shed once, and gained about 1 gram.

However, there are 3 reasons I'm worried that she might be dehydrated.
  1. I've never seen her drink her water.
  2. The skin around her neck is a little bit concave, almost wrinkly.
  3. She hasn't gone to the bathroom, at least as far as I can tell after digging through her substrate.

Are any of these valid to think that she might be dehydrated? And if so, what can I do? I've showed her the water bowl quite a few times, but I guess "you can lead a snake to water but you can't make her drink."
 
Not too concerned with 1 & 3, but is there any way you can get clear, detailed photos of what you describe in #2?
 
kalecos said:
Hello all! I am a new snake keeper as I'm finally sure that I'm moved out "for good"... and my mom is terrified of them.

So anyway, I'm the proud parent of a baby snow corn I have named Lacey. I got Lacey from a pet store about 3 weeks ago. Since I have had her, she has happily eaten 3 pinky mice, shed once, and gained about 1 gram.

However, there are 3 reasons I'm worried that she might be dehydrated.
  1. I've never seen her drink her water.
  2. The skin around her neck is a little bit concave, almost wrinkly.
  3. She hasn't gone to the bathroom, at least as far as I can tell after digging through her substrate.

Are any of these valid to think that she might be dehydrated? And if so, what can I do? I've showed her the water bowl quite a few times, but I guess "you can lead a snake to water but you can't make her drink."
Click to expand...

Welcome !
It's funny that so often when I put a snakes head over their water bowl they drink like they've never seen water LOL

HerpsOfNM said:
Not too concerned with 1 & 3, but is there any way you can get clear, detailed photos of what you describe in #2?
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree a pic would help.
Usually when a new snake owner states that their snake has wrinkly skin and wonders if it is dehydration it turn out to be a partially stuck shed.
 
Guys, now I have a bigger problem, and I feel horrible! I was taking the pictures in the bathroom, and she darted towards the little drain hole in the sink. Luckily, I kept a hold on her tail... Unluckily, I didn't know what to do except keep up the traction. Now she's got a cut on her neck!

What an escape artist :(
http://i.imgur.com/l1Uvtyl.jpg
 
To be honest, I'm having a hard time seeing any wrinkly skin or the cut. As for the cut, as long as it's minor, it should clear up within a shed or two.
 
I guess I'm just a really nervous snake parent! When reading care sheets on Petco's website, dehydration just sounded like the worst thing. But I'll just keep trying to offer Lacey the best care. And I won't let her go down any more drain holes, lol. (It's not bleeding at all, so hopefully as you say, it will heal up after her next shed or two.)

Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, experience will just make me a better snake keeper!

:idea:
 
kalecos said:
I guess I'm just a really nervous snake parent! When reading care sheets on Petco's website, dehydration just sounded like the worst thing. But I'll just keep trying to offer Lacey the best care. And I won't let her go down any more drain holes, lol. (It's not bleeding at all, so hopefully as you say, it will heal up after her next shed or two.)

Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, experience will just make me a better snake keeper!

:idea:
Click to expand...

Hey Kalecos! How ya been? :p

Yeah dude, ya REALLY gotta be careful with your little sneaky one as, well, they are SNEAKY! They'll get away from you and into trouble like Helen Keller playing musical chairs dude!! Ya gotta be careful holding them when they're trying to dart and maybe even hold them over something safe in the beginning, like a large, empty tub or carton where you can retrieve them easily and until you're comfortable holding onto him. BTW, it's their JOB to be sneaky! If you have a screen with a hole that looks really tiny, THEY CAN SQUEEZE through it! Also, don't tape ANYTHING, ANYWHERE in your snake's viv, because, no matter WHERE it is, they'll FIND it!! Like a MIDGET at a URINAL, ya gotta KEEP on your TOES!! :eek:

As far as your concerns, I guess #2 is the reason he got cut there, huh? Nothing to do except wait it out. As far as #3 is concerned, especially if you're using aspen, a hatchling's poo can be pretty difficult to spot as it absorbs quickly into a substrate like aspen. If you wanna make sure your snake is going, use white paper towels in sheets and I guarantee you will discover your snake's next poo in about three assorted variations of colors. A digested pinkie in a hatchling with very tiny innards isn't going to produce a significantly solid doo doo. It's mostly liquid crap & urates. I don't think you NEED to see it but if you're concerned, a couple of sheets of paper towels instead of aspen will do the trick, unless you have lots of stuff in the viv which can absorb or camouflage liquid shit, like corky hides or dry bark logs and such. Just be certain to inspect anything in the cage your little sneaky one can go on or in. You SHOULD be able to tell where it is also by the smell. For a such a small amount of crud, snake poo surely STANKS!! It's more odorifous than if you were a blind man in a fish market!! :eek1: (Don't know if that came out right! That's probably gonna go over like a pregnant pole-vaulter!)

As far as #1 is concerned, when your little guy is in a semi-docile manner and NOT trying to dart away from you with his very LIFE, just hold him gently above the water and if possible, guide his head to just touch the surface (I usually observe the same success as Daddio when I do this!).

I hope your sneaky one recovers OK from his little wound. Don't beat yourself up dude. It happens! Life isn't all rainbows & bunny farts! Just be careful in the future.

Keep us posted as to his progress!
 
The only dry skin I see is on your fingertips LOL:p
The snake does not look dehydrated in the first pic and the second is to blurry to see the cut.


( Axis1, your killing me !!!!:roflmao::rofl::crying: )
 
daddio207 said:
The only dry skin I see is on your fingertips LOL:p
The snake does not look dehydrated in the first pic and the second is to blurry to see the cut.


( Axis1, your killing me !!!!:roflmao::rofl::crying: )
Click to expand...

Glad I'm makin' somebody smile! Or cry!!

How ya been there Daddio?!!! :crazy02:
 
I have never seen my false water cobra drink. I've had him two years - I have to just assume he does it when I'm not looking :p Point being, that you've never seen her drink is almost certainly not an indication that she doesn't drink, she probably just doesn't do it while you happen to be watching.

I personally am not seeing anything wrong with the skin around her neck; she looks to be in fine health :)

Keep an eye on her toileting though; baby corn snakes have very tiny poops that are easy to overlook if they're being kept on a particular substrate (as opposed to kitchen roll), so you could just be missing it. On the other hand, if you're sure she's not going, you could try giving her a bath - they always seem to go if you ;plonk them in water, for whatever reason.
 
Giga said:
I have never seen my false water cobra drink. I've had him two years - I have to just assume he does it when I'm not looking :p Point being, that you've never seen her drink is almost certainly not an indication that she doesn't drink, she probably just doesn't do it while you happen to be watching.

I personally am not seeing anything wrong with the skin around her neck; she looks to be in fine health :)

Keep an eye on her toileting though; baby corn snakes have very tiny poops that are easy to overlook if they're being kept on a particular substrate (as opposed to kitchen roll), so you could just be missing it. On the other hand, if you're sure she's not going, you could try giving her a bath - they always seem to go if you ;plonk them in water, for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the informative post Giga! (I hope the intended recipient read it as he's not as outspoken as we are!!). :eek1:

BTW, what is "kitchen roll?"

Sounds interesting, sorta like the western version of egg roll or something. Then again, why would that have anything to do with substrate? Inquiring minds wanna know!!
 
axis1 said:
Thanx for the informative post Giga! (I hope the intended recipient read it as he's not as outspoken as we are!!). :eek1:

BTW, what is "kitchen roll?"

Sounds interesting, sorta like the western version of egg roll or something. Then again, why would that have anything to do with substrate? Inquiring minds wanna know!!
Click to expand...

Uhh...

Plain%20Kitchen%20Roll.jpg


?

Like loo roll but bigger :p

And I meant 'particulate substrate', in my earlier post, rather than particular; basically I meant anything like aspen that is made up of lots of different bits and not just a sheet like the kitchen roll up there :)
 
Giga said:
Uhh...

?

Like loo roll but bigger :p

And I meant 'particulate substrate', in my earlier post, rather than particular; basically I meant anything like aspen that is made up of lots of different bits and not just a sheet like the kitchen roll up there :)
Click to expand...

Oh, I get it!! Kitchen roll = Paper towels

And I suppose "loo roll" means toilet paper? (Or as we call it in Brooklyn, "terlet paper!")

All ya hadda do was say that that's the way you say it across the pond! :p

But now I gotcha!!! Cheerio!!! :nyah:
 
If you look back to post #8, I said the same thing you were saying with the "kitchen roll." So I guess that despite being on opposite sides of the ocean, great minds DO think alike, huh?

Thanx, btw, for the clarification. Never too old to learn something new and especially when it comes to being what is considered as Culturally Competent, which is another catchphrase for just being open-minded & tolerant.

Cheers!! :crazy01:
 
Aaahh, well I figured there must just be an American name for it and it wouldn't be that you guys just straight up didn't have paper towels/kitchen roll, but since being informed you don't have electric kettles (at least not commonly), I'm not taking anything for granted! XD
 
You are right, Giga, electric kettles are not common. However we have an endless variety of coffee makers. My favorite is the Keurig because it is totally effortless, lol. It will dispense hot water for tea as well.

There are a lot of minor differences between what I call the Britsh and American languages, but most of us either understand in context or know how to use the Google to figure it out, lol. And to be clear, most of us do keep our paper towels in the kitchen!
 
Are electric kettles not common in America? I've always had one around. I don't use it to make tea (occasionally just for a single cup), but I use it for a variety of other purposes. It's the easiest way to boil water.
 
DollysMom said:
You are right, Giga, electric kettles are not common. However we have an endless variety of coffee makers. My favorite is the Keurig because it is totally effortless, lol. It will dispense hot water for tea as well.

There are a lot of minor differences between what I call the Britsh and American languages, but most of us either understand in context or know how to use the Google to figure it out, lol. And to be clear, most of us do keep our paper towels in the kitchen!
Click to expand...

OK but what is a "loo roll?" It IS terlet paper, right? (Spelled "toilet" pronounced "terlet")
 
axis1 said:
OK but what is a "loo roll?" It IS terlet paper, right? (Spelled "toilet" pronounced "terlet")
Click to expand...

I hear at least one name for it over the pond is bog roll.

As long as corn snakes are corn snakes I think we will all survive, lol.
 
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