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Spaced out?

Khaos

Khaos

New member
Hey everyone, I'm new to snakes. My bf and I got a snow corn for our friends. They estimated her at about 2 yrs old.
I've noticed that whenever she is not hiding she will hold her head about 2-4 inches off the ground and just sit there... She won't move or flick her tongue or anything. I don't kno if she is just looking at something, or if she is crazy!
I can't find anything that she would be looking at tho......
Everything else seems great with her, she eats aggresively, one med. mouse once a week. She pooped today, drinks lots... Temps and humidity are perfect.

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi nice to meet a fellow Canadian and only 1 province away!!

So not to scare you, but hopefully others will chime in and give their opinions as well as i am fairly new, but have had 2 snakes with similar behavior to what you describe....and the problem was RI...respiratory infection.

The first snake we dealt with RI in was a garter and we had no clue about RI, how to spot it or what could cause it. Due to this, we finally clued in to late and she was not able to be saved.

The other snake was one I bought from a "small time breeder" and it came ill with RI, so I immediately sent it back and luckily got a full refund.

Some of the first signs are less active, less flicking of the Jacobson organ(tongue), head propping or holding up. The snake does this as it is harder to breathe with the infection. It is easier for them to be less physical (less work breathing) and holding the head up also makes it easier for them to breathe.

In the first stages of the infection, they will still eat just fine, and of course be able to poop fine as well, as the infection goes on the eating will become harder. Things you need to look at are:
1. what are her exact temps, warm side, cool side?
2. what type of substrate are you using, some substrates can cause RI's
3. hold her near your ear in a perfectly quiet room, can you hear a funny, clicking type noise or a wheezing?
4.watch for the snake taking large deep breaths
5.watch for the snake to be gasping when breathing(breathing with the mouth opening)
6.watch for the snakes appetite to start to decrease

What can you do?
1.increase temps on warm side to 90F or 32C, this will increase the snakes metabolism and help it to fight the infection
2.get the snake to a vet, esp if there are any of the other signs, listed above, the earlier and RI gets treated the better the results, less chance of death or damage to lungs
3.make sure you are not using a substrate that is dusty, the very best substrate to use for corns is Aspen
4.humidity is generally kept about 30-40%
5.try not to stress your snake the more stress the harder for the snake to fight infection
6.I do not know how good of friends they are but if there are other symptoms, or if you are worried they sold you a sick snake I would suggest returning it and asking for your money back

The sick snake from the "small time breeder" that I got the sick snake from was from Fort McMurray AB, if by any chance you got your snake from someone from Fort McMurray AB and are concerned you may have bought the sick snake I had feel free to PM me and I will let you know where I got it from and returned to.

I hope this may have helped and if I missed anything jump in guys, I am fairly new and have only experienced RI or RI symptoms with snakes twice.

Tisha
 
Asbit gave you some pretty good advise, there, try to get her into a quiet room and listen to her breathing. Our little anery Smokey likes to scare me some times and hold his head up like that every once in a while before coming out to cruise. He'll sit there and hold perfectly still for about 20 minutes, then retreat into a hide then come out and cruise for a couple hours. The big difference is he is uber active and flicks his tongue alot. Good luck increase those temps on the hot side to be safe and if in doubt go to a vet. :)
 
Agreed. Normal behavior. I sit, immobile, with my head raised, staring into space all the time. And I think I'm OK.
I think you're snake is OK, too.

( If you hear hoofbeats, think horses before zebras before unicorns. )
 
Like I said in the middle of the night last night, I only have 2 experiences with that type of behaviour and once for sure it was RI and turned severe and the other time it seemed to be so I sent the snake back.

Glad to see other more experience hobbyists are also chiming in here,to give their opinions.:idea:
 
Thanks guys! I'll definately listen for wheezing tonight when I get home.
When she sits there its usually right after she comes out of a hide then she'll cruise for a bit then go back to sleep
My temps are 72-75F on the cold side and 82-87F on the warm side.
I think it might be because the substrate that I used when I first set her tank up was quite moist and brought the humidity to about 85-90% but I kept it ventalated and in a few days it dropped to about 55%. So maybe thats a possible reason?
I really hope thats just how she is, caz she sure looks cute! I pretend she's watchin tv with me!
But if I hear any wheezing or any other trouble with her breathing I'll be sure to get her to the vet ASAP!
Thanks so much for your help everyone, I'll keep you posted!
 
I've always assumed the snake saw movement and assumed it was a predator, so it becomes absolutely motionless in hopes the predator doesn't see it.
 
It makes me giggle when they do it from under the substrate, so just the head is showing. I call it the "up periscope" position and I think they are just checking things out, before committing to coming all the way out :)
 

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That pic is EXACTLY what she does!
I feel much better now, right now she is cruisin around flickin her tongue.
I checked for wheezing and couldn't hear anything
 
Sue, and Khaos, LOL......most of my snakes are in the bathroom (I have a very large bathroom).
And every time I go to the bathroom.......I have anywhere from 5 to 8 of those heads poking up, looking over hides, curious and amazed at my every bathroom adventure. It is always the same 5 or 8 snakes. Little Peeping Toms.
 
Susie great pic, I love it, and I can see why you call it " up periscope". Khaos, good to hear no wheezing and that the pic looks like what your snake does. Good luck with her.

Tisha
 
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