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Emaciated Corn Snake, Help?

B

Borkinator

New member
I'm not sure where to get help other then here so here goes...I bought a 2 year old corn off of CL (bad idea) she is currently in a 20 gallon long with her warm side currently being around 80-87f and the cool side a couple of degrees cooler (I've been having a hard time getting the right temps). When I first got her she weighed in at 175g and 43in. I'm going to be honest here, this is my 2nd snake (and first corn) so I'm trying my best here. Initially I waited a couple of days for her to settle and get hydrated and her first meal she regurged, I waited 10 days and in between that time she had a hard shed, then fed her a piece of a rat pup (part of the head and one leg) and she did fine on that. And just yesterday fed her a similar size piece, waiting to see what happens. I have a litter of rats due in two weeks so once they're here I plan to use the pinkies for her meals. Any advice please? Thank you. Here are some pictures of her...very skinny :/
 

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I think you're doing the right thing. You can increase her meal size little by little until she's up to something like a 18-20g mouse. I wouldn't jump up really fast though, since she had the one regurge. I'd feed her at 5-7 days, dropping that back to 7-10 when she's up to weanlings. Also- it's possible she has a parasite problem and hasn't been starved, or both. I'd run a fecal on her when you get a chance.
 
Sounds like a good idea. The past owner said she fed her every 2 weeks on a "small" mouse. I was thinking to get that test done but I'm not sure how much they'll be, do you have any idea?
 
The fecal exams are running $15 each in my area, but a vet won't usually do a fecal until you present a patient, another $55. The vet in my old city used to do as many as I wanted for $7 each. But times have changed. A small mouse every 2 weeks doesn't seem like much, but a 43 inch 2 year old was growing on something. She's really thin though, as you mentioned. You may want to consider buying NutriBac df as a dietary supplement. It is an appetite stimulator and replenishes microflora. I use other supplements, but I'll save that discussion for another day.
 
That's not too bad. I'll try to schedule an appointment with my current vet who handles exotics. And thanks, I'll look into the supplement as well, that might help her a ton :) even though whenever I feed her she's very...trigger happy? I can't think of the correct wording, but the replenishing part is good.
 
You definitely want to feed very very small meals until she starts gaining some weight back. Feeding too large a meal can overtax their system and do them immense harm, even kill them. Slow but steady gain is definitely the order here.
 
Didn't know it could kill them. Hm.. how many grams should I start off at and time frame to move up? I know Nanci said 18-20g.
 
Nanci said to increase little by little. You're going to have to judge by the overall condition but it'll probably be something like 5 meals of rat pinks, then mouse fuzzies, then mouse hoppers, then weanlings, and then finally adults. We're talking many months before getting to adults probably.
 
To add on to what others have said, I would give her mice. She needs nutrition, rat pinkies are not going to have what she needs, because they are not as developed.
You can feed a more developed mouse that is the size of a rat pinky/fuzzy. That is just my opinion, and what I would do in this case.

It probably wouldn't hurt to dust with NutriBAC or powdered reptile vitamins periodically while she's in this condition. The NutriBAC is beneficial for her after a regurge anyways.

You can set up a humid hide for her, with a Rubbermaid container that has a hole cut in it for her, put damp sphagnum moss or damp paper towels in it, that could help with her shedding problem.
 
Sounds like a good idea, Mystic. I got the new hide done, well see if that helps and also will be getting some mice soon. I have some calcium / d3 powder on hand, you think that'll work? And after every 3rd feeding or? And thank you for the info.
 
She may need a little calcium supplement, but the NutriBAC helps replace the beneficial bacteria in their digestive system (which is lost when they regurge).
The vitamin supplement can help boost their nutrition a little.

The one I have right now is Herptivite w/ beta carotene.
The bottle has lasted me a long time. I really only use it on snakes that need a little boost, like in your case, or a female that is not recovering from egg laying as quickly.

I sometimes also use it with babies that have been refusing food for a little while, I will add a little every now and then after they have started eating. Not for long, just to give it a little boost.
 
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