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Is my Amel about to shed... should I feed her?

S

Sylphide

New member
Hi guys!

I really need help with something I view as a dilemma...

I got my baby corn on Saturday (by the looks of it she's probably a month, month and a bit old)... first night she was active - as soon as she saw me go away she checked out every nook of her new home (twice!) to make sure there is definitely no way to escape.

Then... Sunday she was kind of quiet - curled up all day. Monday as well. Yesterday we played a tiny bit (partially because I need to see her move to be sure she's ok) but she was kind of slow in the process... I think her colors are getting duller (at least that's the case as of my inspection of her a few minutes ago), but her eyes are not milky/blue (I know amelanistic corns don't necessarily get blue eyes, but they should change color in some way...) so I don't know if she's pre-shed or not.

And yes, I know that if the colors are dulling it probably means she's getting ready to shed, but I don't want to rule out the possibility that I am just not evaluating her accurately enough...

I know I'll find out soon enough wheather she's shedding or not, but my question is this:
when should I feed her?

I got her from a pet store (I know, I know... but I had a bad experience with a DOA of a beautiful snake, and in light of hot temperatures I didn't want to risk having another one die, etc. etc...) and I don't know if they fed her prior to her coming to them (I know they got her Tuesday... so a week ago)...
and the question now is - do I give her a pinky now, or do I wait? Will it disturb her pre-shed? I read that you're not supposed to feed them prior to shedding due to risk of regurgitation... but if I don't want to wait too long...

In short... HELP!

Thanks so much for any and all advice!
 
Hello and Welcome! It does sound like he may be getting ready to shed...but it never hurts to try and feed him. I would go ahead and put him in a separate container with the pinky and see if he eats.

Good luck!
 
Thank you! I got her a pinky, took a bit of chasing and hide lifting to get Chusi (that's the name of the baby corn) into a feeding deli dish. Was kind of angry at me for bother her... but unless I'm mistaken (hope not... really, really hope not...) I saw some interest from under the paper towel as dinner was lowered in front of it...

I'm leaving her alone until tomorrow morning.

Thank you for your advice! (And thank you for welcoming me to the board! :) )

~Sylph
 
Nope... no interest in mouse after all... she does look duller, but what worries me is she doesn't seem to be moving smoothly/naturally... she seems to coil backwards (does that even make sense?) and her head seems wobbly...

I can't figure out what could be wrong other than that she's getting ready to shed... the viv has enough hides, temp is high 70's to high 80's on either side and she has paper towels (so can't be breathing problem...) and enough water...

Could this just be due to shedding or could there be a larger problem...?

Thanks for any and all help!
 
Well you just got the snake too, I'm sure she's scared and is in a brand new environment, everything her little snakey brain comphrehended has changed. If she's coiling backwards when you approach her she's feeling threatened.
Also because when they're shedding their vision is greatly impaired. So combine all of those things together and you've got a snake that naturally should be very leery of you right now.
 
Thank you for your response!

My only real worry (I'm fine with the baby hiding and not being too welcoming to my fingers) is that when she coils back if her head is not on the group it wobbles a bit, and her movement in general is clumsy and not as smooth as a few days before... to the degree that I can only explain this by her possibly being blind due to shedding, disoriented and uncomfortable in her skin, but her eyes haven't really changed color (from what I can tell...)

She was recoiling from the start of our relationship but was more fluid and ran about the cage when I wasn't there (I spied from around the corner). But now she looks like something's definitely changed... I have never had a corn before, so I don't know if this is typical of shed behavior.. or stress+ shed behavior.

I am leaving her alone for a couple of days... I think if she doesn't physically change in color in the shed direction (she is duller, but not as dull as pre=shed amel pictures I saw on here...) I think might have to take her to the vet... I just want the poor baby to be back to her normal - 3 days ago self. :(
 
Hi guys,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to... needed some time to "recover".

I think she might have ingested something poisonous at the store... I only had her 3-4 days, and from day one she was a bit too mellow for a hatchling (granted I have little experience with snakes, but so far every hatchling I EVER tried to handle did everything in its power to not be picked up... in that little "ahhh help!! This human is going to eat me!!" kinda way)

She was very disoriented and uncoordinated that last day... and the wobbly head only added to it... in retrospect I am kicking myself for not taking her to the vet emergency room on the morning she showed real signs of concern. Though it might've been too late by then.

I got another baby from Petco (Dresden -that's where I got the late corn from). They assured me it's the same snake I returned to them prior to the one who died (oh yeah, I'm on my 3rd snake from them) who had mites, but I don't think so... My side reason was form buying this one emerged after I talked to the people there - here are memorable quites "they can survive anything, it's like having a plant -just give water and a mouse occasionally" or "I don't know when it last ate or shed. I have one I bought from this store myself. It hasn't eaten yet in three weeks. But it's nothing to worry about - they can go a YEAR without food" (side note - yes, large anacondas and pythons could, sometimes, after a VERY large meal go a year... but they're what they are - not a baby corn snake). I seriously didn't know what drugs to test that guy for so I decided I'm buying all the corn snakes they have in the store (they only had one left, thank god, cause in reality I am not ready for a kindergarten of baby snakes).

The one I took home is well so far after a week and a half of being my roommate - tiny and scared but eating well (and I mean WELL, last night I had a mouse taken from my fingers which was shocking since my fingers and me was the one thing this snake kid was trying to avoid at all costs) and it already has a favorite hide spot and we even had a first drinking experience where the baby drank while still in my hands. That was the cutest thing!

I think it might have a couple of mites though... so I'm waiting till digestion is complete to check for them more thoroughly.

Thanks for all your comments and advice though, everyone. I really appreciate it and it's nice to know there is somewhere to turn with these questions. :)
 
Sorry for the loss of your lil snake. Good luck with your new one. It is good to hear he has a healthy appetite. If your new snake does have mites, be sure to search on here. There are several good examples of how to treat them.
 
I'm sorry for your loss, and I wish you luck with the new snake. As far as mites go, check for little black dots at the bottom of your snake's water bowl. The snake will usually soak to releive itself from the itching. Also, why do you suspect the new snake has mites?
 
Rich - Thank you. I think it's a healthy little baby, so as long as the mites don't give us problem we should be ok.
Danielle - I think I am just slightly paranoid about mites now. I saw some darking dots on the bottom of the snake's jaw, and after I've wiped that area with some reptile relief (on a q-tip - something my snake-child did not appreciate at all) they went away. My friend suggested that it mightly just been dirt - as in a pit of poo that I hadn't yet found/cleaned off that got there. But then I saw a black dot in my baby's eye and that was the second tip-off. There is nothing under scales thus far. But since we just had a meal Saturday night, and that's when I noticed the dot, I haven't yet had a chance to examine the poor critter better.
I hope it's nothing but if not I'll try some remedies and then take the little thing to the vet if my attempts fail. I worry about mites in eyes because I definitely can't get myself to try and remove them or spray the animal there... though I was thinking of just doing a q-tip swab of the area.. but we'll see.

Thanks for your comments guys!
 
Sorry to hear about the problems you have had. Hopefully the one you have now will turn out to be just fine.

I would recommend not buying snakes from Petco or any other petstore anymore...but I am sure you already know this.
 
I hope you know that if you think there's mites, you also need to treat the cage and change all the bedding. The reptile relief stuff can be used to clean the cage. Also throw out the old bedding and get it out of the house, replace it and treat the snake for mites again at the same time. If you are seeing them on the snake they are all over where he lives as well. Mites are extremely hard to get rid of.
 
Dave -

I know... I know... but the first first snake I bought this season was from a breeder, and unfortunately it was lost for over 8 hours by UPS resulting in the death of the poor thing... so I just wanted to avoid THAT from happening. And look how that turned out... :-(

I fully knew, from the beginning, that petco was a very poor choice. But what can you do...

Jen - That's for the advice. I've already had a pet with mites problems and proceeded by soaking the viv in bleach, then using reptile relief all over. And same with everything inside the viv. I use paper towels for now, so yeah...

My only worry is that there might be some mites in the house that can crawl back in... and also I'm worried about treating the eyes of the poor little slitherin'.

My best hope is that I'm wrong and it was a spek of dust or something like that that I saw. I haven't yet seen the snake emerge from her hide (I'm giving ample time and stress-free environment for digestion). Tomorrow I'll check and hopefully there'll be nothing wrong.

Would you guys suggest treating at home or taking the pet to the vet?

Thanks!
 
Well, we're treated. She definitely had a massive mite or tick or somethin' on her that I removed on Monday, and then we did the whole nine years of viv treatment and snake treatment. I don't think she appreciated it... but then again, she doesn't realize that it's necessary evil.

Thanks for all your advice guys! I'm going to hope mites don't come back (but will probably repeat treatment in a few weeks). Now if only I could get her to stop hiding from me... but at least she no longer runs away when I reach to get her -- though she does give me the look of "Oh c'mon now. THAT again?"

I think next year I'll be getting another one. From a breeder this time. Under proper weather conditions. :crazy02:
 
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