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Is my snake okay??

T

Tessla

New member
Hello,
I'm a new member as of today and I was wondering if anyone could help
me out with problems I'm having with my new baby corn snake it's about 1 month in a half. he's been acting very strange lately for about a week or so
he's been very jumpy and I think he's sheeding but I'm not sure I've never had a snake before or seen how they are really his skin looks like its pinching
together and around is head a little skin is comming off I'm just kinda scarde
he might be sick or something.
 
When I first got him the pet store, said he might not eat at first because he wasn't use to the place and it was normal. but suprisingly I comforted him and always held him so he had no problem, he eats really good and every thing
he's been hiding a lot more lately I'm not sure what's going I'm pretty sure he was going to bite me today I was scared to hold him so I put him back.
 
Well, it does sound like he is shedding. I'm not sure what you mean by "pinched" skin, but everything else, the iritability and hidding a lot, suggesting shedding.

If the shed is already coming off at the head but hasn't continued to be pealed back along his body and off, then you may want to rais the humidity to 50 or even 60%. It is not good if the snake can not peal the shed of in one piece, although it is nothhing serious, unless I'm not understanding the condition. You can raise humidity by simply misting the cage. Always make sure humidity is high during shedding, or make a moist hide for your snake so he can go hide in a place with a lot of moisture.

To make a moist hide take a tupperware maybe as much as twice the size of your snake when he's curled up and fill it with damp, crumpled papertowels. Cut a entrance hole in the container and you have your snake a moist hide.

One other thing for shedding, is make sure he has something rough to rub against so that he can rub of the skin.

Hope that helps!! Good luck.

Oh, and if you have a digital camera, I or another person on here can walk you through loading pictures, if you feel loading some is necessary to make sure the snake is healthy.
 
One more thing, does he look like his colors are dull, not as shinny and bright as normal? That is a definite sign of shedding as well.
 
Can anyone help me????

I'm a new user since today and I'm having some problems with my corn snake
I don't know anything about snakes I got it for valentines day as a gift.
when I first got him they said he might have problems being in a new enviroment but he didn't cause I held him an he got use to me really quick.
know he has been acting strange he was really jumpy today when I tryed to hold him I thought he was going to bite me so I put him back and I am not
really sure if he is sheding but his skin looks like its pinching together or wrinkly like. I'd apprechate if some one who knows what it could be to please give me some advice.
 
Tessla said:
I'm a new user since today and I'm having some problems with my corn snake
I don't know anything about snakes I got it for valentines day as a gift.
when I first got him they said he might have problems being in a new enviroment but he didn't cause I held him an he got use to me really quick.
know he has been acting strange he was really jumpy today when I tryed to hold him I thought he was going to bite me so I put him back and I am not
really sure if he is sheding but his skin looks like its pinching together or wrinkly like. I'd apprechate if some one who knows what it could be to please give me some advice.
Click to expand...

You have already been given advice, what more do you want? You simply repeated the question again. :shrugs:

The snake is either shedding, or severely dehydrated. You do have water dish in with the snake, correct?
 
no he has water everyday because it drys up quick from the heat lamp Ihave a light
and its a uvb,uva and its a hymidifier too I'm not sure if he needs two lights cause one is a regular black heat lamp and the other is the uva,uvb do you think he needs both??
 
Joejr14 said:
You have already been given advice, what more do you want? You simply repeated the question again. :shrugs:

The snake is either shedding, or severely dehydrated. You do have water dish in with the snake, correct?
Click to expand...
Yes, he always has water I would like to ask u a lil more questions.
 
Really, it depends on the tempatures. There is no need for both, and most people don't use any, they just use one UTH/heat pad on the warm side of the cage, and make sure the ambient temp of the room the snake is in is not too cool. As long as you have one hot spot of about 87-90 for the snake to warm up in, then the rest of the tank can be as low as 73 or so and the snake will do fine. If the ambient temp in your room is lower than 73 then you might want a heat lamp to make sure the tempature in the tank does not get too cold, but besides that there is no need for a heat lamp.

The only other reason to have lights is to show the snakes true colors. Some people like to use those fishtank style lights in vivariums so that the snakes colors atand out more.
 
The sign of pinched skin can be a sign of a very dry shed that is sticking to the new skin. You said there were bits of skin coming loose, so I would safely assume this is the case. What you need to do is to soak your snake so that it's skin can become rehydrated so it can safely shed.

A wet hide is helpful, but sometimes snakes, especially in this bad of condition won't be quick enough if the shed needs to come off ASAP.

Find a small container, like a used butter container and poke some small holes in the lid and then put some water in there, just enough so that snake can soak like a half an inch. Then put the snake in and put the lid on tight and let him soak for 30+ minutes. I would also put the container back in the tank with the lid back on just in case he is able to get out of the container but turn off the heat lamp so he doesn't cook in there as well. Then after that, you can turn him loose and see if he was able to shed the skin off after like a 12 hour period. If not, soaking him again the next day should prove helpful.

My biggest concern is that you stated the water dries up due to the heat lamp. This to me is not a good scenario. For one, you don't want to have your water heat up because this can create a bacterial problem, but if yours is evaporating that quickly, then imagine how much it is drying out your snake (which is probably why it's having a bad shed). Make sure your snake has enough room in it's tank for a warm spot and a cool spot, this is very important! If your tank is too small for the heat lamp, try getting a small UTH (Under Tank Heater) instead.

Good luck and keep us informed of your snakes progress! :)
 
tbtusk said:
One more thing, does he look like his colors are dull, not as shinny and bright as normal? That is a definite sign of shedding as well.
Click to expand...
Yes,
his skin is kind of dull If you don't mind I'd like to ask some more ? I your still online
cause I really need some good advice.
 
Pkay, keep asking anything! We're willing to help and it's better to learn everything and take good care of your snake, than to not ask. I guess everyone's up late huh!

And these posts usually stick around for quite a few days, if not weeks accumulating responses, so need to worry about weather anyone's on line or not.
 
As I said, none are needed. I mean, wouldn't like to keep them in the dark all day!, but the light from the rest of your house is fine for that. Many people thing that certain rays/lights (uvb I believe is one, though don't quote me on that!!) help with the health of a snake, although they are not needed, and a snake will do perfectly well without any extra lighting.
 
Ok,
well his temp in his tank right now is 79.8 degrees and humidity is 27 percent is that fine he is under his tree right now. And I am kind of scared of the way he was acting today he was hyper moving around too much as if he didnt want to be held I thought he was going to bite me.
 
Tessla said:
Ok,
well his temp in his tank right now is 79.8 degrees and humidity is 27 percent is that fine he is under his tree right now. And I am kind of scared of the way he was acting today he was hyper moving around too much as if he didnt want to be held I thought he was going to bite me.
Click to expand...


How big do Corn snakes get??
 
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