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Water dunking and head rubbing-- strange behavior?

thelivingoddity

thelivingoddity

New member
I am a paranoid snake mom, it's true... Sorry in advance if I am being hyper-paranoid, I just really love my little guy!

My 3 year old Corn shed three weeks ago, yet he is still putting his head under the water in his water dish and rubbing it all over the bottom of the dish. He is also rubbing himself along the rougher branches and surfaces in his viv... So snakes just do this kind of thing sometimes or should I be worried about his behavior?

Thanks everyone for all your help!
 
Have to checked to make sure he doesn't have any shed stuck on him? Like retained eyecaps? If he is all clean then I wouldn't worry.
 
I don't think he would have mites, the previous owner said he'd never had mites before and he's an only snake, I have no other reptiles-- plus I clean his tank weekly, then do a big cleaning monthly...

How can you tell if there's some shed on him, especially retained eye caps? I thought that might be it because of his tendency to adjust his jaw (with no bubbles or mucus or anything) so I looked at his head and it doesn't look like there's any shed anywhere, but would I be able to see it easily?

Thanks again for your suggestions guys!
 
The best way to tell if there is retained shed is to check over the previous shed. Always check for the eye caps and the tip of the tail. You should be able to see the retained shed though, it would be obvious as it flakes away/causes pale patches.

Even though he is an only snake and has been does not eliminate the possibility of mites. I would check him over thoroughly, does he have any raised scales? Mites are visible to the naked eye, you would see them crawling on him.

Is he sitting with his head raised at all? When you hold or listen to him is he wheezing, popping, or gurgling?
 
Seamus has no raised scales and no visible mites.

He has been sitting with his head raised, especially when I'm near his viv he comes out of his hide and sits with his head raised near his water dish and stares at me. He hasn't made any gurgling or popping noises, but once in a while (maybe once a week) I've heard a sort of release of air/sneeze type of thing.

I''m really worried about him I want to take him to a vet... I just wish I wasn't at the mercy of my parents. They hate taking ANYTHING to the vet. They refused to take our three dogs to get vaccinated so I ended up spending $700 to do it because I can't stand not taking the utmost proper care of any animal, and they still owe me about $400 from that (they said they'd pay me back) so hopefully I can convince them with that.

On the good side of things, Seamus is eating very enthusiastically and has been very active, alert and interested in everything so hopefully anything that might be going on I've caught fairly early.
 
Today I took Seamus out and examined him very thoroughly. No mites, no stuck sheds, no raised scales or anything abnormal... And when I went to listen to his breathing, he volunteered to put his face in my ear lol. His breathing is totally silent-- except when something frustrates him.

Does anyone else's corn make a little huffy "fffuuuffft!" noise when they are frustrated by something? He did it once today when he went into my sweater and found it irritating that, although he could see through the knit, he could not go through the knit. He has also done it when I have tried to put him back into his viv and he apparently wanted to stay out and explore.
 
Yes all my snakes make that sound. I call it a hiss. A snake sneeze sounds like a squeaky toy. My corn got betting up her nose once because I startled her and she sneezed 3 times in a row. It was cute.
 
Aww! That's so cute! I've never heard any squeaks from my guy... It's cute too because he doesn't "hiss" AT me, or in an aggressive sense-- it's always some goofy frustration that just makes him so much cuter!
 
oh the subject of noises...not trying to hijack this forum, but my adult lars will sometimes make a deep grunt noise, usually only when hes being held. and when he does it he doesnt seem aggitated or anything. its a noise that you can feel comes from deep in his lungs. but hes done this since ive had him, and never has he showed any signs of a URI at all. what do you all think this could be...or why do you think he does this sometimes?
 
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