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Weird Spot Amoung Other Things

DeprivedSnakeLover

DeprivedSnakeLover

Lover Of The Bloods!
Ok well I got this boy about 1 day ago and I didnt notice a few things about him until recently... Few things: first his tail, the last bit is white around the edges but, there is a little pattern visible. Second his underbelly has a weird black spot on it. You can see it clearly in the photos. His ventricle scales (under-side?) are see through. Is this normal? What I mean is that I can see some veins and spots. Lastly he seems a little skinny. Is he?
Thanks
Mike

btw- sorry about the pics first time posting them in along time!

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/album.php?albumid=523
 
The skin around the tail is stuck shed just get a wet washcloth and let him run through it, the spot may be an organ but not sure.
 
The see through ventral scales are completely normal, and especially visible in Corn Snakes with patternless bellies. That's why you see the "black spot" which is either feces or organs, both of which are also completely normal, and nothing to cause worry over.
The white around the tip of the tail is most likely remnants of a stuck shed, so I would give him a soak to remove it. It's relatively common for babies to have a stuck shed on the tip of the tail, but it must be removed through soaking, as it can remain stuck and cause infection, and possibly cause the tip of the tail to fall off. Either give him a soaking in 1/2" of warm water, or provide a moist hide with moist sphagnum moss in a container with a hole in the lid large enough to enter and exit. This should loosen the stuck shed enough to remove, or it should just fall of on it's own.
As for being thin, I think he/she looks fine. How often are you feeding? and what size items? I wouldn't worry though, your snake looks very pretty, and very healthy to me.
 
Thank you for the fast reply. i havent fed him yet because i was told to wait a week. i will be feeding him large pinks. is that alright?
 
DeprivedSnakeLover said:
Thank you for the fast reply. i havent fed him yet because i was told to wait a week. i will be feeding him large pinks. is that alright?
Click to expand...
Okay, I didn't realize he was new. It is best to wait a little bit to feed, so your doing good. Feeding him large pinkies would be fine depending on the size, but I'm sure he's large enough. There are many sources on here to find appropriate feeding regiments, but the Munson plan seems to be the consensus best pick (search "Munson Plan"). The rule is feeding pinkies no more than 1.5x the width of the snake at the largest point in the midsection, so use your best judgment.
 
It takes time and patience on your part when their really stuck and no they don't enjoy it:) Use the wet wash cloth and repeatidly let him squirm through using pressure when it gets to the stuck part. Otherwise eventually it will die, turn black, and fall off:(
 
What I do is this... I use my heat pad with a cover, the ones that people use for a soar back, which has three adjustable temps. I put it on low, and put a container with damp paper towels inside on the top, of course providing air holes, and then add the snake who may having difficulty shedding. I leave them in there, while I monitor them and make sure it doesn't get too warm, and after about ten to fifteen minutes the shed is loose enough to lightly peel right off. If you don't have a pad like that, as I'm sure you most likely don't, you could probably use some other type of heat pad, adding layers of towel on top to regulate how much heat gets through, and then repeat what I mentioned. If you don't have a heat pad, then you could just place the snake in a container with moist paper towel, air holes, etc... place him in the warm spot of his cage for around ten minutes, and by then the skin should be loose. Of course keep a good eye on him to make sure he isn't too hot, but this technique has worked well for me.

Hope any of his helps!
 
DeprivedSnakeLover said:
Thank you for the fast reply. i havent fed him yet because i was told to wait a week. i will be feeding him large pinks. is that alright?
Click to expand...

From the pictures, it looks like he may be past the pinkie stage, but guessing from a picture is a bit tough!

To determine food sizes, I recommend the what I call the finger method. Figure out which one of your fingers (or part of a finger) is about the same diameter as the snake, and get feeders that are about the same diameter or a bit bigger. You don't want to go more than 1-1/2 times the diameter; we prefer to stay just a bit bigger. I like the finger method because my fingers are always with me!
 
Tavi just had a really bad shed, just a little of the underside of her face came off & the rest was on there real tight. It wasn't coming up at the edges at all, so was a little hard to tell she even still had it. Anyway, I soaked her in the bath, let her go through a washcloth then used a wet hide with a few damp washcloths & it still didn't come off. (I was doing this through two days with breaks in between messing around with it so she wouldn't get too stressed) I was starting to get pretty concerned about it when I decided to put some organic virgin coconut oil on her, so did that & the next day the whole thing came off in one piece, even the eye caps which I'd been really worried about. It was wonderful to wake up that morning, look in in the tank & see that lovely complete shed!!!
 
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