Our baby corn suddenly died...

[Sarahcinnamum]

My husband and I bought our 11 year old a baby corn snake on October 26th. During our research we saw numerous time to not buy one from a pet store how ever after weeks of posting want ads we never found a local breeder. So we bought our little guy from PetCo. I'm thinking now it was a mistake. Aside from being smaller than all the other babies at the store. Our baby seemed very healthy. We monitored his tank very well, humidity and temperature. He was active and ate 3 x's (pinkies) he enjoyed being held by my husband, daughter and I every day. He seemed very docile and gentle. Yesterday my daughter had him out a few mins but she put him back in his tank. He seemed fine at that time. Last night I noticed a ridge forming at the top of his back from his mid back to his tail. It was nothing i'd seen on him before. I also noticed he looked lethargic. After some research and knowing he was going into shed mode I thought perhaps that was what was going on. I misted his coconut ground refilled his water to raise his humidity. He was still very still but slightly moving, we went to bed and this morning I woke to find him dead. It looks as if he didn't digest his last pinkie properly, which was given last Sunday on his feeding day. My family is horrified. We have all fallen in love with this little guy and I need to know what could have happened. Any help??

 

[starsevol]

I am so sorry you lost your little hours one. Handling is not really reccommended if the baby does not have at least 48 hours to digest after feeding, but you probably knew that already.
You really don't need a LOCAL breeder.....even though it is really too cold to ship in most areas, I highly reccommend most breeders on here. I have bought many snakes on here sight unseen and have never been disappointed.

 

[Sarahcinnamum]

Oh yes, We did not handle him for a full two days after he ate. When we last handled him yesterday he seemed fine. His body was normal looking and he was alert. It seems as though he was possibly constipated. Is this something that happens often with corn snakes?

 

[diamondlil]

Sorry for your loss. The truth is, even babies that start off feeding and growing well can die unexpectedly, even for experienced owners. Personally, with any corn still on pinkies, I minimalise handling. There's very little energy in a single pink and I want as much as possible to go into growing the babies out of that fragile stage. I also feed often at that stage, about every 5 days, so they get a kick-start in growth until they are on peach fuzzies.
Constipation isn't common at all in baby corns. You don't often see their poop because it's like a tiny bird poop that turns into dust in their substrate. If you saw a dark or green spot in your baby's tummy after it passed, that's the gall bladder contents leaking internally after death. If you fed your baby in his tank, on the coconut substrate, he could have swallowed some and become blocked. If you fed in a bare container, constipation in a healthy hatchling isn't likely.
From your description of a sudden ridge in his back, it could have possibly been dehydration. Some corns take longer to find their water dishes, especially if they are in a large tank, which is why you'll often see tiny lunch-box type set ups with low water dishes in that look far too small, but actualy can mean a better start for a small snake.
Overall though, your snake could just have been never meant to make it. Corns lay large clutches of eggs throughout their lives and only need a few to survive. Some of the babies we raise have hidden problems that would mean they appear to thrive and then just suddenly pass.