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My cornsnake died..
..and I have no idea why.
Last time I checked him was on Wednesday. He was perfectly fine, active and zooming around like always.
He lived in my 12 slot shoebox rack which has flexwatt back heat set to 94 degrees on a johnson thermostat. There are 6 other snakes in the rack, all perfectly healthy.
He had newspaper bedding with crumpled up balls of newspaper to hide under and burrow in and a fresh bowl of water given in disposable water dishes.
I have had him for four months. He has shown no sign of being unhealthy in any way. He has been a bit of a picky eater from the start.. he was a very nervous baby (tail rattling and defensive posture were normal) The last two weeks in a row he didn't eat, but the week before that he did. I always offered him F/T pinkies. Nothing remotely too big for him or anything.
So, I opened his drawer today, and peeked under his hide. I saw him sitting halfway upside down (head and first third of body) I had a little panic attack.. it's obviously a bad sign.
So I picked him up and he was very weak feeling and quite limp. He moved feebly around, and couldn't seem to keep his balance.. so I'm thinking something neurological. I put him in a small container with a paper towel soaked in water. He drank a couple mouthfuls, and moved around a little. If put on his back, he couldn't right himself very well. Every minute or so he'd have a little convulsion.. his head would go around upside down and he'd spaz.. his mouth opened up a few times. It was very strange.
He got weaker and weaker as the minutes went by, and now he's dead. I am stumped and sad.. I love my little Helaku.
My ONLY guess is that he couldn't figure out how to get to the water in his bowl to drink. About three weeks ago I switched to disposable water dishes for added cleanliness. The problem is they are clear. I don't know how long a snake can go without water.. but it doesn't make sense that he was perfectly fine three days ago, and today he's dead. Also the other snakes with the same water bowls (also baby colubrids) are fine.
Just in case, I put all the water bowls inside another waterbowl with a paper towel set in the bottom and up the sides of the dry one to act as a visual barrier so if that was the problem it can't harm any of my other babies.
I'm sorry this is so long.. I just want to know if anyone has any insight into this.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I'm very sorry for your loss, losing a snake is never easy.
I would have a necropsy done ... since you have other snakes in the same rack, you really want to rule out anything that could be contagious. Refrigerate the dead snake until you can get it to a vet.
It's doubtful that it had anything to do with the water bowls ... snakes can actually smell water and have poor eye sight anyway.
-adam
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I feel very bad for you and your lodt one. I had one die also sept a ball python and it was a tradgic(sp) moment. If you can get a neocropsie(sp) done then you might be able to find out why it died as long as you put it in the refridge or freezer. I hope it turns out good like maybe another snake btu then in the end its still very sad.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
sorry to hear and wish i could help but i have never owned a corn snake.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
So sorry to read of your loss April. Like Adam said, I would think a necropsy is in order just to rule out anything that could travel through your collection. I know I'd be shocked, sad and worried to suddenly lose a previously healthy snake.
~~Jo~~
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I was thinking of a necropsy.. do you have any idea of cost range?
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Re: My cornsnake died..
my neocropsy was free. I think it was because they prescribed medicine for his ri and it didnt help t just got worse and he died of an ri but just check
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Quote:
Originally Posted by amg20102006
as long as you put it in the refridge or freezer.
The refrigerator is the best solution if you want to keep it as fresh as possible. :D No freezer!
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Oh my vet said the refridgerator or freezer and it was already in the freezer as i wasnt planning on having a neocropsy done just keeping it but he did mention the refridge is fresher and better results.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I'd ask Becky but I'm really sure she always says that freezing does something at the cellular level that can muck up test results but best check about that. I've never had my vet do a snake necropsy but I'm sure somebody here has so hopefully they will chime in with some estimates of what it cost them.
Again, condolences on the loss of the little snake April, anything we can do just ask.
~~Jo~~
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I've always heard to refrigerate vs freeze too.. I got my mom's permission to put poor helaku in there (in a ziplock in a paper bag in the meat drawer)
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Ack! I just realized I forgot to post, how sorry I am to hear about your poor snake. Sheesh. It was in my head, just didn't make it to the fingers. :rolleyes: I really hate when I hear things like that. It's just so upseting to think your snake is perfectly fine one day, and then gone the next. I hope you can get some answers from a necropsy. At least it might give you some peace of mind. :hug:
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Yes I really hope the vet can tell me what happened.. Dr Barton is a fantastic snake vet. I have every confidence that he will find it, if it can be found.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I hope the vet visit will shed some light and provide some comfort.:(
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Re: My cornsnake died..
sorry to hear about your loss april. :( definitely get the necropsy done and keep in the refridgerator (not the freezer) as others have mentioned. i have heard prices on necropsies that were all over the place--one vet in my area quoted me $100 for one on a juvie leopard gecko. the vet i ended up taking him to (since he could do it that same day) only charged me the cost of an office visit, which was $27. whatever the cost, it is well worth it to know what happened just in case it is anything that could spread to your other snakes.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I'm going to call the vet first thing on monday. I'm so worried about my other snakes now.. I hate not knowing what's wrong.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Really sorry to hear about that :( I have no insights to offer cause I do not know anything about corns. However, I think doing a necropsy is a good start and could point you towards a course of action if required.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
oh that's awful :(
sending loving vibes to you.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I'm so sorry... I hope you get some answers soon...
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I've only just got back from a mini-vacation - but am so sad to hear your news :( It does sound like a neurological thing, so hopefully all the rest of your snakes will be OK. Do keep us updated to what the vet says - I have heard from being on the pogona forum that lizards can get this type of thing too.
Sue
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I'm so sorry. Losing any of our critters is like losing a little piece of ourselves. I wish there were something I could do to help.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
oh im so so sorry i hate when something like that happens because i know for me it seems like mine are like one of my kids.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Yeah.. they're my scalekids.
I appreciate the kind words. I'll keep you updated with what the vet says.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Well I took the poor snake into the vet today to talk to him about a necropsy. He told me that after three days (even in the fridge) that the chance that he'd be able to find anything was less than 20%. The basic necropsy is listed at $70 and he said I could easily spend $350+ sending out tissue samples to the pathologist. He told me that honestly it's probably not practical when they'd most likely not find anything. I told him that I quarantine new arrivals for three months and that each snake has it's own enclosure, so he told me that the chances that he got something from another snake are slim.
He said that more often the morph cornsnakes are weaker genetically because they are usually somewhat inbred and that could have caused the problem.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I am very sorry to hear about your cornsnake. I never know what to tell people other than I am very sorry for your loss. Those of us who are deeply attached to their animals, as are most of the people on this forum, I am sure, know what you are feeling right now.:(
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelby
He said that more often the morph cornsnakes are weaker genetically because they are usually somewhat inbred and that could have caused the problem.
I don't have much experience with corn in my personal collection, but at work we regularly sell babies of assorted color morphs. I'd probably say that out of every 10 or so we buy, at least 2 end up having issues. Of these that have problems, 9 out of 10 are either snow, albino, okatee, etc etc...very rarely do the normal phase corns have problems.....something's got to be up with the morphs.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
Wow that's interesting... problems like what I described? What are your sources for the morphs?
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I had something similar happen two weeks ago...I lost my best breeder high gold male BP. It was very strange as well, as i was breeding him, he was fine one day, and three days later, both him and the female were drowned in their comparably small water bowl. My boyfriend noticed the female was still alive-barely. I consulted an expert snake friend of mine, and he said not to rule out a deadly and contagious virus-paramixo. He said neurological problems are a side effect of this virus. have you recently added any new snakes to your collection? The virus, he said,does have a dormancy period. My female is doing better, but i still am trying to find out exactly what went wrong. my other snakes seem to be fine, but quarantine is always the best policy when acquring anything new. A loss is always a sad tragedy, no matter what the circumstances. if you can afford it, your best bet would be to get that necropsy done-you don't want to jeopardize any of your other snakes.
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Re: My cornsnake died..
I did get two new snakes, but I quarantine everything. Unfortunately I don't have another room to quarantine in, so they're all in the same room, but established animals are taken care of first and after handling any quarantines I wash my hands thoroughly and don't handle any established animals for at least 24 hours.
I can't do the necropsy now.. I don't have the snake anymore. But like I said, the vet said after being dead for three days, the chances of finding anything were slim.
Do you have any more info on this virus? I have never heard of it before. What is the dormancy period?
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