hi, i had 9 corn snake eggs, 2 died, 6 look perfectly healthy but 1 of them seems to be in a very sorry state. he had trouble getting out of his shell so i helped him, he seemed stuck to the shell and compared to the other shells his one was extremely dry. after i carefully helped him out, his skin seemed really dry and almost like he has shedding stuck all over him, i gave him a small luke warm bath and put him with his brothers and sisters in his new home. the two most worrying things i noticed are under his skin he looks as if he is bleeding internally, obviously i'm not a vet but that's the only way i can describe it, and also, he appears to have broken something, which looks like his spine, just before his tail starts. his movement is awkward and his neck seems unusually skinny. he doesn't seem to be able to control his movement very well and he can't wrap his tail round my finger like the others do. what can i do to help him? do you think there's any chance of survival?
2006-09-08 22:17:27 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Reptiles
"peachy", if you cannot answer a question sensibly then don't bother, sarcasm does not sit well with me, especially when it's a living thing concerned.
2006-09-08 22:46:36 · update #1
thank you all for your advice, it was all very helpful and kind of you to try to help, but unfortunately he died yesterday afternoon. it was very sad but expected, although i think you always kind of hope they'll make it. he's better off where he is now, now he's at rest.
2006-09-10 22:22:06 · update #2
It is almost always fatal to help a corn snake out of an egg in any way shape or form. Natural selection takes it's course and some babies are simply not strong enough to make it out of the egg. Those will not be strong/healthy enough to survive even if you help them out, and often, inadvertedly in trying to help animals we end up damaging them.
It sounds like he will die soon and that would probably be the best way. You may want to consider a vet to put him out of his suffering which should be fairly inexpensive as he's very small.
Corn snakes sometimes do have "kinks" in their lower back and tail and these babies almost never seem to survive into adult hood. It is usually caused in my experience from the eggs being incubated in too dry a habitat.
I spray my eggs with 2 squirts of water every single day during the incubation and make sure the moss they are incubated in is always damp to the touch. If the egg is not wet, it does not stretch properly as the corn snake grows and this can cause a cramped space which can damage the growing snake. Although these snakes often grow to hatching within the egg they cannot usually function in full society.
So saying - all is not lost, I have seen one or two corns grow to adult hood with kinks - but they should not be used as breeders and may always have some stunted growth.
The best thing to do if you think he is not in constant pain and don't want to put him down, is keep him seperate from the others, in a small, damp container, but with plenty of warmth, and wait and see if he manages to eat.
He may well be unable to eat in which case he could live up to 6 weeks or more without feeding, slowly wasting away in which case you might want to consider a humane visit to the vet - but I would give it a week - 10 days and see if he sheds.
From my experience, let the snake die in the egg if he isnt hatching, don't bring him out - it's the natural way, and it's for the best. Make sure the eggs and the hatchlings are kept moist with a squirt of water (but not soaking them or their substrate after hatching) so the eggs can grow and now they can shed properly.
Everyone who breeds corn snakes usually loses a number of the first few sets of eggs and just put it down to experience... I wish you the best of luck with this little fella, there is always a *chance* of survival but it's probably not high, wish I could be more optimistic for you.
2006-09-09 02:24:56 · answer #1 · answered by welshsnakelady 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Im not vet but as you say, he.she is in a poorly condition, i think the best thing you can do is wait and hope. keep it warmer than the others as if he is ill then he may need to have more heat as he wont be able to move into the heat of the Lamp, or heat mat.
If he is still dry i would keep misting him with some warm water.
maybe try to syringe some water into his mouth, unless you have seen him drinking.
Maybe he was a bit slow on developing and thats why he cant grip and is skinny, but it may have been some trauma or birth defect. its unfortunate, but it does happen as you know with all living animals.
most of all, i would take him to the vet, but if thats not possible im sure with your love and attention he will pull through.
keep me posted on this, im interested to hear how he goes, i had two corn snakes a few years back, untill i moved in with my partner and he said
"No way am i sharing my house with anything that slithers!"
2006-09-09 00:12:33 · answer #2 · answered by Shelley27 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
like any animal or reptile sickness or symptoms,go to the your exotic snake vetenerian, wherever you live and for future sickness make sure u already have one, if u dont know look in the yellow pages or go to yahoo and type your state the type in exotic snake veternerian, or if u dont listen to me other wise ur snake might die and he has a chance of surving, there no need to waste a snake thats already hatched, even if he had problems hatching,someone told me about similar conditons, there snake had, so they went to the veternerian, and they helped save the snake, they did something can remember but u gotta go to the veternarian
2006-09-10 06:24:31 · answer #3 · answered by GetYaPopcorn 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have found this site .... hope it helps...
Martinsreptiles.co.uk
Corn snakes make an excellent first snake because of their manageable size and they have an unusually mild manner. ... CORN SNAKE CARE. By (Martin Spicer) Corn snakes make an ... to hatch, the baby (neonate) snake will slit open the ... If not, then seek help from me, or a good ...
www.martinsreptiles.co.uk/cornsnakecare
2006-09-08 22:32:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The snake is very ill and probably will die soon.
2006-09-08 22:26:59 · answer #5 · answered by Teacher 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
good luck
2006-09-08 22:19:08 · answer #6 · answered by peachy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋