• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

my baby snow Slick died....I am heartbroken....

V

ViciousSid

New member
I know you will all want a little background so here it is.....I purchased a baby snow hatchling from a local petco here in ny on jan 5 . had my viv set up prior: 10 gallon 2 hides 1 on warm side, 1 on cool side, aspen bedding, cool side was 74 f warm side was 87 f ,with a humidity level of about 35-40 %. he fed on a pinky on jan 7 because the petco "expert" told me he was due to be fed, i gave him 2 days to settle . fed well again on the 12th of january, and the 17th then again on the 22nd.during this time I did not handle the snake much at all . he was a little guy and pretty skiddish and didnt want him upset ,he was fiesty and would strike. Went to feed again on the 27th put him in his little container ,covered it and checked back again in an hour ,the pinkie was still there ,figured he was building an appetite, checked again in an hour same thing,and again. didnt think much of it so after a few hours i threw the pinky out and put him back in his viv,with the thought of trying again in a few days.same scenario on the 2nd of feb and the 7th......around the 9th i noticed his eyes get cloudy and the top of his head had a dullness to it , i figured he was ready to shed and that would explain the loss of appetite when I came home last night the first thing I did was check on him,and I was horrrorfied to seee him slowly moving in the tank with his mouth half open, kinda like a dog almost panting, by the time I could get the cover of he had stopped moving and was gone, I am crushed and cannot figure out what I did if anything wrong .........the worst part is my son ...who is seven and picked slick out and named him was right there during this and is very upset as am I .we became very attached to slick if that is possible, in that short of time. I just wish I knew what happened..............
 
I am sorry for your loss :awcrap:

Some of the lil guys are not destined to make it. I don't think it was anything you did.
 
I probably made the mistake of buying at petco and not from a reputable dealer, anyone know any in the nyc, westchester county new york area?
 
Awww *hugs*

I'm sorry for your and your son's loss. As sad as it is, this might serve as a good "one of those sad facts of life" lessons for him. That way Slick wouldn't have died in vain.

I would definitly avoid Petco in the future. Just on principle.
 
we are going to have a little burial in the yard tomorrow then we will buy another in a month or two, and I will avoid petco will look for a good breeder in the meantime.....thanks for the hugs ...I cant believe I am this crushed over him, my son yes but I was tearing up too.......
 
Any pet can find it's way quickly into one's heart and immediately become like family to them. I am so sorry to hear of your loss...I wish you much luck in the future and hope you find a good dealer...There is a post on Craigslist in NJ of a lady selling baby cornsnakes for 15 dollars...one is an anery that I am completely in love with..but my boyfriend keeps telling me no..I don't know how reliable this person is but it's something for you to check out when your ready..
 
I'm really sorry and would not recommend petco, but I have had three Petco hatchlings. Two made it one is Oz the big male in my Woohoo thread and the other is a Normal who will be breeding as soon as she sheds. The one of mine that died well lets just say Petco didn't give great advice.
I'm so sorry for your loss and hope you can get another snake soon. susang
 
my first corn, i got from pet supplies plus. he never ate. was really skiddish and died the same way. i was confused. they replaced him cuz he died like 8 days after i got him.. the one they replaced him with was great!! but i have bought two more since from breeders at a show.. they are alot cheaper than the pet stores. i just think he was probably sick when you got him. kinda like my first one.

sorry
 
I totally understand how you feel and I can relate. My very first corn snake, (Wylie), died as well, of unknown causes. I had him less than 2 weeks but I still cried when I discovered he was dead. Even after talking with the breeder I got him from, we determined it was nothing I did wrong, so I guess sometimes some hatchlings really aren't destined to live into adulthood. So my sympathies, I truly know how you feel. Good luck with the next one. I'm still so petrified that I might lose snake #2, (Flash), as if I wasn't worried enough, losing Wylie has practically made me a nervous wreck with this one.
 
I am so sorry for your loss.
It sounds like he was doing great and you had everything set up you needed.


There are several great breeders out there...we had our 2 new babies sent via an out of state breeder...went great.

(we lost our 4 year old corn that was our now 8 year olds snale this fall. We had a burial too...my dad made a little wooden cross for the marker under the tree. Unfortunately it is frozen in the MN ground and it makes our son sad everytime he looks in the backyuard...)

Give each other hugs as needed...the only hting you can do.
 
Awwww... that sucks, especially for you child. It's hard to explain to little ones that not every creature born is destined to prosper.

Best of luck in the future and heartfelt condolences.
 
Honestly the first thing that I thought when I read this is that Petco has no business selling reptiles. It makes me sad thinking of all the heartbroken kids out there who fell in love with their pet and did everything right, only to have the creature die on them.

It sounds to me as though you did nothing wrong. I know it really doesnt make the loss hurt less, but I hope its a comfort knowing it was not your fault.

Please try to be patient. In just a couple of months the breeders on here will have gazillions of healthy, properly sexed eating machines in colors that will astound you!

And 10 years from now THAT snake will still be a part of the family! :)
 
I'm sorry to hear about your loss; it's always difficult dealing with an animal's death. It sounds like you were doing what you were supposed to do, so please don't beat yourself up about it.

As others have said, not all hatchlings were meant to make it into adulthood - not in nature, and not in captivity. That being said, it sure seems that PetCo has a disproportionate number of these snakes that don't make it. If a private breeder lost as many hatchlings at PetCo seems to, that would make me think it was more an issue of husbandry than flawed genetics.

Kathy
 
Hi there, please accept my condolences.
This may sound cold or unfeeling but I need to give some advice here.
Throw away the substrate, wash the viv and all ornaments, hides etc with a strong bleach solution and if possible leave in direct sunlight to dry. Leave for a few days and wash everything again in straight water, once again leave in direct sunlight to dry.
You don't know what caused your baby to pass on and I for one can't see anything that you did wrong. This is to prevent a re-occurence in your next acquisition.

Ciao
 
Im really sorry that happened you.. i work in a PetCo on Staten Island in the grooming dept. and i cant believe that happened.. Dont blame the store itself blame the people taking care of the animals..because i have personally handled many of he corns in my store and they are all real friendly and very well taken care of and so far none of them that have been sold have had any problems and i even bought my first corn, bobby, from my store and hes doing very well. I know these large companies have a bad rep so i feel kinda stupid announcing i work there i just wish you had gone to a better store...all our animals are checked by a vet every couple of weeks and they all have a clean bill of health and usually thats mandatory within any branch of a large corporation, i would personally look further into it because if you took care of it the right way i shouldnt have died like that so my guess is that the store isnt keeping up with what its supposed to, i wouldnt let them get away with it =/.

sorry about your baby =(
 
rolandslf said:
Hi there, please accept my condolences.
This may sound cold or unfeeling but I need to give some advice here.
Throw away the substrate, wash the viv and all ornaments, hides etc with a strong bleach solution and if possible leave in direct sunlight to dry. Leave for a few days and wash everything again in straight water, once again leave in direct sunlight to dry.
You don't know what caused your baby to pass on and I for one can't see anything that you did wrong. This is to prevent a re-occurence in your next acquisition.

Ciao
Click to expand...

Good suggestion. i did that with our enclosure from when our male died from 'unknown causes'. I also used ammonia once the bleach was rinsed out THOROUGHLY because if coccidia was the cause, bleach does not kill coccidia, only ammonia or steam high heat. Then of course rinsed again several times.
 
I am so so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you took amazing care of him. He was lucky to live out his last days on earth being treated well, in a wonderful enclosure, and the best of all, being loved. Animals and people are stars in our atmosphere. Some shine brightly for most of our lives, some twinkle in the distance, and some shoot through our night sky, however briefly: brilliant, breathtaking, and unforgettable.
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words and support,and thank you cka for the link to the reptile expo , the white plains one on april 20th is 5 min from my house and looks really good .I think by april 20th I'll be ready to buy another corn . again thank you all will update when we get our new buddy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top