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Lethargic Please Help!

T

Trowa380

New member
I made a serious error in pet sitting judgment, went away for two weeks and came back to my 7 month old snakes with no water, tanks at about 90 degrees and they had not been fed since before I left.

Needless to say they were not in the best condition when I came home. They are both completely lethargic, like cooked spaghetti, tail tips won't grip or move and they barely move their heads or scent the air. I put them on damp paper towels with a low water dish and let the tank cool to 70 degrees.

My vet was closed by the time I got home, if they last the night I'm going to take them to the vet in the morning. Does anyone have any help they can offer me to tide them over, or how better to help them recover?
 
Oh damn I'm so sorry :( I've never experienced this problem but I'm sure someone will chime in soon. Hope they will be ok!
 
I'd advise getting the temp on the warm side floor back to the safe mid-80s, as too cool can cause lethargy and you need to know what is/isn't a problem. Lots of hides and ground cover on both warm and cool sides as well.

Not being able to thermoregulate in 90 degrees could have caused neurological damage, but you need to return optimum conditions to begin with, so you can figure out what any residual damage might be.

Healthy 7 month olds could comfortably go without food for two weeks without showing ill-effects. The lack of feeding shouldn't have caused an issue.
 
Hold them next to the water and see if they drink, then lots of hides and a chance to cool down a bit .... A friend of mine experienced something similar with his corn and it turned out okay. Hope yours pull through!

-- Kaifyre
 
and a chance to cool down a bit
Click to expand...
Bear in mind that they're cold-blooded and so don't retain heat in the same way as a mammal. As soon as you take them away from a heat source, they cool down immediately. You don't want to cause the opposite problem by keeping them too cool.

They don't now need to "cool down" - they're already cool. They need to have access to both cool and warm areas of the correct temperature with lots of hides so that they can move to the position which is best for them.
 
*facepalm*
*correction: .... and a chance for the tank to cool down a bit.
Got a little ahead of myself! ; )

--Kaifyre
 
Thank you everyone for your well wishes and advice.

They both made it through the night. The temp is back up to normal. The female is looking better, striking out at me, which isn’t normal but I just moved her hide closer to the water dish that she was camped out by and left her alone.

The other one isn’t doing as well; he’s still lethargic and non-responsive, save for when I touch him to make sure he wasn’t dead. He’s almost pruney looking, and didn’t move from where I set him the night before.
 
He’s almost pruney looking
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A healthy Corn wouldn't reach that point through starvation in only two weeks.

Sounds more like dehydration or a stuck shed, which would follow from being kept without water. I'd set up a humid hide and give him a bit of a sauna to see if that helps.
 
I would put him in a container with a very damp washcloth. They can absorb water through the cloaca. But you don't want to drown him if he is too weak to move.
 
Thank you for your help again! They are both doing much better.

Yes it did seem to be a stuck shed. I saw a skin when I got back but it was all wrapped around a plastic plant and in pieces, I couldn't see if it was the whole thing. I put him on another wet papter towel, and his skin is peeling in pieces now.
 
It is so good to hear that they are doing better! I read your post, but being new to keeping corns myself, didn't have any advice to give. All of the experienced people on this forum are a great resource! Keep us posted on their progress
 
That's new for me Nanci, that they can absorb water through the cloaca. Thanks for learnign me somethign new :)

Good to hear the snakelets are ok so far!
 
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