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Lost poop

A

Apollo

New member
Diglett has been with me for 4 feedings. After his first pinky on 9/20 he pooped on 9/22 (found on the outside of his water dish)then I fed 1 pinky on 9/25 and he pooped on 9/27(found inside of a hide smushed against it). Then I fed 1pink on 9/30 found no poop, but assumed it was burried in the bedding, fed again 1pink on 10/6 and have yet to see a poop (although it's only the afternoon of 10/8).

My enclosure: 85-86 hot side 75-77 cold side. Humidity hovers around 50%. He is in a 20gal long tank with 2-4 inches of aspen bedding (it's deeper on 1 end...not on purpose), and 4 hides (hot, cold, and 2 middle). He spends most of his time in the 2 middle hides, or burrowed in the aspen on the hot or cold sides. He is small, maybe 3-4 months old. I haven't weighed him yet, but I bought a scale yesterday so next handling I'll weigh him and keep weight records like I do with feeding.

Is it probable that the last 2 poops are burried in the aspen somewhere or is it more likely that he hasn't gone? I'm still new to being a snake mommy so I'm just not sure what the proper protocol is for missing poop.
 
Also, we have had a few cold days lately and I've noticed the nights I have to turn the heat on his humidity drops to around 40%. Is that something I need to address or do I just need to offer a humid hide when he goes blue? What do you guys up north do during the winter to maintain enough humidity?
 
I wouldn't worry about the poop. Baby corns barely poop out anything, you're lucky you found the first two. Probably most of it was absorbed in the bedding. You find a whitish powder at the bottom of the enclosure the next time you do a full cleaning. The powder is dried urates.

40% is fine on humidity, but feel free to put in a humid hide, it won't hurt anything.
 
I live in the desert and I don't even pay attention to the humidity, honestly. Offering a humid hide when he goes blue should be more than enough. I don't even usually offer my snakes that and they always shed just fine.

As for the poop, he may have gone and you just haven't found it. Their poop is so tiny, so it's easy to miss. And if he hasn't gone yet, I wouldn't be worried. They don't always poop every feeding. Sometimes they save it up for a while. Your temps and setup sound good, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Next time you handle him, you may notice a bulge right before his tail. If you do, make sure to have some paper towel handy! ;)
 
And if you don't have paper towel handy, let me assure you snake poop washes out of fabric and carpet very well, especially if you get it rinsed out right away. I know.

:uhoh:
 
Apollo said:
Also, we have had a few cold days lately and I've noticed the nights I have to turn the heat on his humidity drops to around 40%. Is that something I need to address or do I just need to offer a humid hide when he goes blue? What do you guys up north do during the winter to maintain enough humidity?
Click to expand...

Here in Maine I use a cool mist humidifier to add moisture to the air in my reptile room. This is only necessary when the house is closed up for the cold months. Outside the average relative humidity is in the low 70's but inside the house with the central heat running it can get as low as 5%. Unacceptable for reptiles even desert species.
I recall another thread where keepers, even in dryer states like Arizona, stated that with corn snakes (I keep other species too) it is not necessary to add humidity. If your house has a constant exchange of air with the outside then it probably isn't. Arizona BTW averages 37% to 53% daily relative humidity. I couldn't quite get my point across that relative humidity outside doesn't matter when it comes to proper husbandry of reptiles inside.
An interesting fun fact that back in the day when all ball python's were wild types and imported it was thought that they required a low humidity environment in captivity because of their native environment. They would have horrible sheds most of the time. Well it was finally realized that even though they came from a somewhat low humidity area (sub-saharan Africa) that the microclimate in the burrows and termite mounds where they hide is quite high in humidity compared to outside.
So anyways, it is important to monitor the humidity levels in the your snake enclosure especially in the colder months. :)
 
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