My cornsnake died..

[JLC_in_Tucson]

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.

[diamond1]

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.

[Shelby]

Yeah.. they're my scalekids.

I appreciate the kind words. I'll keep you updated with what the vet says.

[Shelby]

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.

[ErikH]

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.

[elevatethis]

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.

[Shelby]

Wow that's interesting... problems like what I described? What are your sources for the morphs?

[4theSNAKElady]

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.

[Shelby]

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?