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not good not good not good

G

Green Bean

Reptile Chick
OMG! I am so freaking out here!

My fiance came to me and asked if I put Phantom, my cornsnake in the glass tank. I told him no, so the only thing that could have happen was that he got out of his new home. I just gave both my corns new tubs and I noticed the lids were slightly warped. I didn't put any thought into it after that.

Well I go to where the snakes are and I find Phantom sitting under a spare glass aquarium I had (the thing is on rubber feet so there is a half inch gap). So I pick him up and ask what does he think he's doing out. As I pick him up I notice he's covered in bites and the lower 6 inches of his body is limp.

I put him in his cage, which has newspaper as substraite and take out his wooden hide so he doesn't get anymore debre in his wounds.

The only thing I can think is that he got into the rats cage, which is right next to the snakes cages. And the three of 'em ganged up on Phantom.

So I called my vet and got an appointment for 2:45 today. I had to go thru a list of vets that I pulled from the phone book because my old vets office *just* closed down. And I hadn't gotten around to calling for a new vet.

I noticed when he was moving, the way he slithered his upper body follows but the lower 6 inches just drags along. The body seems misshapen at the one point and I can't tell if it's nerve damage or they broke his back...

...either way i am in a panic. I can't tell if he's in pain...he doesn't rear up or strike...

Please keep us in your thoughts that he pulls thru. I can't begin to imagine what the vet is going to say.
 
Oh the poor thing!! I'm so sorry, I hope he pulls through ok! Its a good thing you made an appointment with the vet - Let us know how it turns out!
My thoughts are with you both!
 
poor lil guy. hope he pulls through it. and good luck with the vets!!
my thoughts will be with you and your lil snakey!!!

good luck!!!! lee
 
Oh poor guy! I'm so sorry this happened.
I hope he pulls through and is ok.

Please try not to be mad at the rats.
I'm sure they were just trying to defend themselves.
 
Back from the vet. He wants the swelling to go down to see if that will help Phantom move his lower 1/4th. He gave me some Baytrill to give him and wants me to feed him as normal to see if he can produce a BM. So for now we just wait.

I got home to fix Phantom's cage. I then gave up on doing that the lid wont' close. So I put him back in his old bin. I then when to check on Uno to switch her into her old bin and guess what, she's escaped.

Today is *not* a good snake day for me. I have to leave for work in 5 minutes to.

*sigh*

Keep the good thoughts rolling my way. I need 'em
 
Oh poor Phantom! I hope his swelling goes down and he can take and keep a meal down. :(

Like Nanci said, it might not be a bad idea to move the rats to another room...and until you find your little escapee, maybe put something in the gap of the door to the new 'rat room', such as a towel, so that she'll have less chance of getting into that room.

There are several threads about lost snakes and methods to find them; you might want to look those up. I recall something about a two litre soda bottle with the top cut off and inverted, and food placed in the back of the empty bottle. The bottle is then placed on the floor in the room where the snake is suspected to be, and said snakey crawls into the bottle in search of food but cannot get back out. Just a thought.

Good luck with both your snakies!
 
I hope everything turns out ok, but having two snakes escape in such a short time indicates that you need to re-evaluate your snake-keeping methods. The absolute most important thing we can do to protect our snakes' welfare is to prevent them from escaping. Perfect temps, $40 hides, wonderful herp vets, etc. don't mean a thing if you don't know where the snake is. I'll bet that escape is the #1 cause of premature death in captive corns. :(

I don't write this to make you feel bad, but to get a message out there. We jump on cohabitators, power-feeders, and those using unregulated heat sources, but we give a free pass and loads of sympathy to those who allow their snakes to escape. I've never understood this. :shrugs:
 
Roy Munson said:
...I hope everything turns out ok, but having two snakes escape in such a short time indicates that you need to re-evaluate your snake-keeping methods...
Click to expand...

Yes yes I do. I know for now I'll be reconsidering using tubs. Though that's not the issues the tubs didn't do it, it was completely my fault and because of that I have one MIA and one whose future is up in the air...

Roy Munson said:
...I don't write this to make you feel bad, but to get a message out there. We jump on cohabitators, power-feeders, and those using unregulated heat sources...
Click to expand...

I understand compeletly. Hopefully this can be turned around and someone out there will get the message. I most certainly have.
 
Some mixed news today...

I found Uno in the hall closet. She looks well. I gave her some water and she drank and drank and drank.

Phantom on the other hand didn't eat his rat pink. The vet told me to feed as normal and he didn't eat. So I am going to wait till after I give all of the baytrill to feed him again. (Baytrill is 2cc every 48 hours and I have 4 shots to give.)
 
Well I'm very happy that you found Uno - but I don't think that its shocking that Phantom didn't eat - it would have been wonderful if he did, but he's been through so much! The fact that he's alive is great! I hope he eats for you soon and that he slowly gets better!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Roy Munson said:
I hope everything turns out ok, but having two snakes escape in such a short time indicates that you need to re-evaluate your snake-keeping methods. The absolute most important thing we can do to protect our snakes' welfare is to prevent them from escaping. Perfect temps, $40 hides, wonderful herp vets, etc. don't mean a thing if you don't know where the snake is. I'll bet that escape is the #1 cause of premature death in captive corns. :(

I don't write this to make you feel bad, but to get a message out there. We jump on cohabitators, power-feeders, and those using unregulated heat sources, but we give a free pass and loads of sympathy to those who allow their snakes to escape. I've never understood this. :shrugs:
Click to expand...
I couldn't have said it any better. :bowdown:
Jay :cool:
 
Glad you found Uno. I don't know if I could have existed knowing the 1st snake I ever hatched out was MIA.:grin01:

Now secure those lids!
 
dwyn127 said:
Glad you found Uno. I don't know if I could have existed knowing the 1st snake I ever hatched out was MIA.:grin01:
Click to expand...

Oh man, I know!

dwyn127 said:
Now secure those lids!
Click to expand...

Check. Lids are secured and have been tripled checked along with books sitting on top of 'em.
 
Just as a little fyi....

If you're talking about tubs then I'd assume you're meaning sterilites or rubbermaids. Those lids never close perfectly and they only close on each end---not the sides. When using tubs it's imperative to either have a rack system that doesn't allow the lid to be pushed up, or you need to use those little black plastic and metal clips that are used to keep papers together.

I have at least 4 of them on every tub that I own. Couldn't keep snakes in tubs without em.
 
We use the Iris tubs almost exclusivly..

The 6qt tubs snap on both ends while a clippy holds the lid down in the centre.. I had one corn escape when we didn't use the clippies, and I honeslty regret it.. Such a awesome diffused female, with very clean sides and bright red, at a month or so of age.. Probably the most diffused blood I will ever have.. :realhot: :realhot: :realhot:

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
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