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Possible Problem??????

Chris_Thacker

New member
Ok, I bought a corn snake from a pet store about a week ago. I could tell that they must have just fed him do to the lump in his body when I got him. Now today (3-5-2010) he regurgitated up what was left of the pinky they fed him. Should I be alarm, should I try to feed him now since he didn't eat all the mouse they gave him?
 
A regurge after a week is quite unusual and worrying, a normal corn kept under good conditions should have digested it by now. Could you detail exactly how you keep the snake? What heating and temperature measuring and regulation do you use? How much have you handled the snake?
Most importantly, don't feed the snake for 10 days, in order for its digestive system to heal, feeding too soon could result in a cycle of regurging which can kill hatchlings quite quickly.
 
I had a regurge too, no handling until the "sick" snake is eating propperly. That is my thing, I will not handle this snake until she is eating propperly again. I waited a week from finding the regurge (it was feed day a week after the last feed day, it was hidden well and my sinuses stuffed or I would have noticed sooner) so she actually did not eat for 14 days roughly. Then I gave her a pinky head. It has been almost a week and so far so good. She has her temps at 87 instead of 85 just in case on the warm side and 80 instead of 78 on the cool. I gave her an extra toilet paper tube blocked at one end as a hide so she has 3 hides now to reduce stress. I hope yours gets better and mine too. If you need to talk you can pm me since we are both handling regurges at the same time.
 
I use a under tank heater that I stuck to the side of the tank along with a basking light on the same end. The cool end is bout 72.5 to 73 degree and the warm side is between 84 and 88 degree. At night, the cool side drops to 70 degree and the warm side drops to 78 to 80 degree.
 
So your conditions sound good, maybe they'd fed too big a meal. Wait another week, then try either a day-old red 1g pink or 1/2 a 2g pink and see what happens.
(Just to check, what are you measuring the temperatures with though, is it a stick-on dial or a digital thermometer with probes?)
 
I have another corn I keep in the same tank and have had longer. He is eating fine, he will only eat a pre-killed pinkie once it has been placed on the bottom of the cage. He won't even touch it it I hold it in front of his face with tongs.
 
You should have put the under tank heater UNDER the tank, not the side. The basking lamp is probably unnecessary too. Definitely wait at least ten days to let it heal. Are you using a probe on the bottom of the tank?
 
I have another corn I keep in the same tank and have had longer. He is eating fine, he will only eat a pre-killed pinkie once it has been placed on the bottom of the cage. He won't even touch it it I hold it in front of his face with tongs.

I assume you're housing them together, which you SHOULD NOT do, especially with a newly obtained corn. Separate them! That easily contributes to problems.
 
I have another corn I keep in the same tank and have had longer. He is eating fine, he will only eat a pre-killed pinkie once it has been placed on the bottom of the cage. He won't even touch it it I hold it in front of his face with tongs.
Oh dear. You've put the new corn in with your first one?:sidestep:
 
Yes. If they are laying together they are probably competing for the best hide. And, if the first one you have is bigger than the new one, cannibalism may (but rarely) occur.

I can't think of any reason why HEALTHY, SIMILARLY SIZED CORNS can't be housed together in a large tank with plenty of hides and such, but you just got the new one, and it's not healthy as it's not eating (and new pets should always be quarantined for a few weeks before being added to the others).

So, get the new corn in a cage by itself with the proper heating, hides, ect and try the regurge protocol (someone more experienced should tell you about that, but I think there's a sticky about it).
 
I can think of lots of reasons why corn snakes should never be housed together. It can cause feeding problems, which may or may not be why your snake is having an issue, but your first step to solve the problem should definitely be to separate the snakes. Then follow the regurge protocol: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28342

Here is a link to the Basic Husbandry thread:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28341


Quoted from that thread:

Q: Can I house two snakes together in the same cage?
A: No! This is the eternal debate here on cornsnakes.com, and there is normally a post about this every week or two. There are literally hundreds of threads about this, and linked are a few of them. If you need an explination why, do a search. The top of the list is cannibalism, disease/parasite transmission, refusal to eat, and a variety of other things.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26675

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27177

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23636

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23436
 
Is that a real problem? They lay together all the time.

Yes, it is a HUGE problem!
Snakes are solitary animals by nature. They do not like other snakes. If they are laying together, they are NOT friends, they are competing for resources. Housing them together causes stress, and stress can kill.

Imagine that someone locked you in a house with someone you can't stand, and made you live with that person 24/7. No way out, ever.
That is how your snakes feel.
 
In fact as others said co habbing is not a good idea and can be very very serious, in fact can mean the life or death of your little snakes esp. because your snakes are little and unestablished. Here are a few issues:
-your snakes are different sizes(possible cannibalism)
-your new snake has not be quarantined(separate rooms), nor has the other one(generally quarantine should be at least 3 mths), this allows for you to carefully watch the snakes and determine if they are healthy or not, without quarantine one sick/dead snake becomes multiple sick/dead snakes
-they are solitary, it stresses them to be together, stress weakens their immune systems, making them susceptible to illness/disease
-stress can cause non-feeding and regurging
-opposite sexes in the same viv can lead to premature pregnancies in females who are not physically ready, which leads to egg binding and possibly death

These are just a few of the reasons it is advised not to have more than one corn snake in a viv.

I suggest you immediatley get another set up for the new snake. Put it in another room, do not feed or handle that snake for at least 10 days so that it can build up stomach acids again.

As well I would suggest going to Kathy Love's website http://www.corn-utopia.com/Corn%20Utopia%20on%20the%20Web/-%20TOOLS%20PRODUCTS%20herp%20Cornutopia%20corn%20snakes%20cornsnakes.htm and order NutriBac and put some on the pinkies of the next four feedings for both of your snakes. It is a probiotic and will help to balance the natural bacteria in the gut of your snakes. She suggests that with every new snake you acquire, you give them NutriBac as you do not know how stressful the last living conditions were or how unbalanced the gut load is. I use it with each of mine and esp. with anyone who regurges and it seems to do wonders for their digestion and appetite.

When you do feed next time only feed half of the pink and wait 7 days, if your snake keeps that one down. Then likely it was stress and your snake should be ok to move back to a whole pink on the next feed, be sure to cut the skin of the pink as it helps the stomach acid get into the pink and digest it quickly.

Finally as already mentioned, you need to check temps with a digital thermometer or an infrared temp gun, the stick on strips and dials are famous for being as much as 10-15 degres out either way. So really your temps could be as low as the 60's and as high as over 100!! This will also cause regurges. As well when you set up the new tank put the UTH under the tank not on the side, corns need belly heat to digest. Make sure you are checking the temp, right on top of the UTH as snakes burrow and will get to the heat.

Hope this helps.
 
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