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Dry snake

N

Nyxipoo

New member
Hi there!

I have a 6 month-old cornsnake. She had a shed shortly after I got her but it was incomplete and I had to run her through paper towels and help her until it was all off. It's really cold here and the heat's been on but I've been trying to keep her cage humid. She seems to be cracking in spots down her back and I think there might be an infection on her head. There's a milky, white spot right over the top and it's not dry skin.

Is there anything I can try to help her?
 
Just bought a humidity gauge today. The type that mounts on the side of the cage. She has two pools of water that generally evaporate in two or so days and seem to be at a warm temperature. I also covered one half of the lid with cellophane to keep a bit more moisture in without totally flooding her with uncirculated air. Also just got a squirt bottle together for misting purposes.

I previously had her on that felt substrate, but I was worried that it might be putting her too close to the under-cage heating element and I just switched to aspen. There are two thermometer gauges on each side of the cage. The hot side usually registers about 70 and the cool side usually registers about 50.

She also has two little hides, one on the cool side and one on the warm side.

She's now taken to not wanting to eat and it's been about 5 days since her last pinkie. I was eyeing emergency feeding methods at the pet store today.
 
Oh yeah. She seems to be moving normally, but very skittish and stressed. I take her out for a little bit just to check on her and she goes wild and wants to hide so I try not to keep her out too long. And I think there may be one "exotic pet" vet in the area.
 
You might want to get a digital thermometer/hygrometer first, so you can accurately measure your temperatures, especially if the heatmat's unregulated
 
Your temps seem a little low.

The glass immediately over your UTH should read about 85*F, and your cool side should be right around 70*F. This could certainly account for the lack of appetite, though I know nothing about the dry skin issue.
 
I actually just finished helping her through a nasty shed with a wet towel about an hour ago. She looks much better now, though it appears that the weird cycle of drying out and shedding partially may have damaged the scales over her eyes. Things had become so tight that she had a little of her digestive tract poking out of her vent as I pulled the dry skin down her body.

I just checked on her again and her vent is fine and her body temperature and texture feel much more healthy. The temp is up to 80 on the warm side and between 70-75 on the cool. Her tank humidity is at 55% and I actually watched her throw herself at her water bowl and drink, which I had not seen her do before. I'm going to give her just a little more time to destress before I go picking her up to put her in the feeding tank for a try.

I bought some Nature's Reptile Mist just to make sure I can keep her from dropping right back into problems. She seemed active, playful and only a little agitated when I picked her up for her dose.

Here's hoping it was just a bad combo of factors and that I've remedied them.
 
Wow.. sounds like something nasty.. I'm taking notes in case this ever happens to my baby.

Nyxipoo said:
She's now taken to not wanting to eat and it's been about 5 days since her last pinkie. I was eyeing emergency feeding methods at the pet store today.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much after 5 days, but I'm sure that was only because of the shed. Let us know if she goes back to eating properly again.
 
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