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Help!!! Emergency!!

Im so sorry to hear of your loss. After reading the post earlier I was so hopeful that he might pull through. Its upsetting but hopefully you can learn from it and keep more in the future. Best of luck if you do get another, and remember to come back to this site to keep us updated and to ask any questions. :)
 
Thanks guys for all the messages of support really gratefull :)

I am going to a local reptile rescure centre tomorrow so might pick up a corn that needs a good home.
 
Hi Keva161,
I'm sorry to hear your little one didn't make it, don't beat yourself up about it as accidents happen.

Looking at your viv pic it looks like you've got glass sliding doors on the front of it?
If that's the case then can I suggest you fix a piece of card between the two panes of glass where they overlap.
I say this because 4 years ago I had my very first baby corn in a viv with glass sliding doors like that and whilst I was doing the ironing one afternoon I looked up to see my baby slithering between the two panes of glass making a bid for freedom!!!
I was amazed that he could fit through the tiny gap and lucky that I was there to catch him at it, otherwise I would not have believed he could have escaped that way.

Hope this helps you escape proof your viv and my condolences on the loss of your first corn.

Best wishes,
 
Susielea said:
Hi Keva161,
I'm sorry to hear your little one didn't make it, don't beat yourself up about it as accidents happen.

Looking at your viv pic it looks like you've got glass sliding doors on the front of it?
If that's the case then can I suggest you fix a piece of card between the two panes of glass where they overlap.
I say this because 4 years ago I had my very first baby corn in a viv with glass sliding doors like that and whilst I was doing the ironing one afternoon I looked up to see my baby slithering between the two panes of glass making a bid for freedom!!!
I was amazed that he could fit through the tiny gap and lucky that I was there to catch him at it, otherwise I would not have believed he could have escaped that way.

Hope this helps you escape proof your viv and my condolences on the loss of your first corn.

Best wishes,
Click to expand...

Yea it has. Thanks for the advice. How old was your snake at the time?

There is a gap there but its less then a few millimeters.

I did notice a few gaps on the top of the viv where the top clips on and have blocked up one major one with a bit of clear plastic.

Thats the only major holes I can see.
 
Keva161 said:
Yea it has. Thanks for the advice. How old was your snake at the time?

There is a gap there but its less then a few millimeters.

I did notice a few gaps on the top of the viv where the top clips on and have blocked up one major one with a bit of clear plastic.

Thats the only major holes I can see.
Click to expand...


It may be just a few millimeters when a snake isnt pushing on it. Sorry about your little guy, but please find out how it got out before you put another snake in there.
 
Hi again Keva161,

If I remember rightly I think he was about 4 to 5 months old when he realised he could escape this way!! And he probably would have been able to do it for another couple of months at least if I hadn't put the card between the doors.

I must admit he did seem pretty miffed at me when he found he couldn't get through the gap anymore, lol!

As one of the other posters suggested you can stuff bits of blue tack in all the tiny holes even if you think they are too small for you corn to get out of, as you have found out corns are one of the greatest escape artists in the world!!!

Best wishes,
 
Very sorry for your loss and it definitely can squeeze out. I'm betting my next pay check that it's how he got out in the first place. If they can stick their nose in there, they can sqeeze through. You'd be surprised at how small a space they can get out of.
 
Ooh I've just found that if you click on Keva161's pics they pop up larger!

Saying that I just looked at you tank set up again Keva and saw that you have an unguarded ceramic heat lamp in there!!! Please, please, please put a guard around that lamp as they get to extremely high temperatures when heating up! And you do not want your new corn when you get it to be able to get within touching distance of the ceramic, as it will get seriously burned!

I was at my local reptile shop a couple of years ago when another customer came in with their corn snake who they said was a bit poorly. They said they couldn't work out what was wrong with it and asked the owner of the shop to take a look. They thought it may have a skin infection?

When he lifted it out of the container they'd brought it in we were all quite shocked. The poor little thing was melted in places, it was so sad to see!
When asked what type of heating they were using, they replied a ceramic heat bulb.
Now I use ceramic and this had never happened with my corns, so we asked if their corn could have got inside the protective cage and they replied "What protective cage? We don't have one!!!"

Needless to say the poor thing had to be put out of it's misery.

I haven't told you this to scare you but to make you aware of the dangers of an unguarded ceramic, and if I'm wrong and there is a guard on yours then I apologise, and if I'm right and there is not one on there at least you have time to get one before purchasing a new baby as you may not have been aware that you needed one.

I hope I have been of some help again and best wishes to you,
 
Ditto with Susie on the light, I've seen some horable burns from those lights. Also agree a small snake, not even a hatchling can get out the smallest hole. I watched my 6 month old crawl out a hole about .25"x.25". I would never have thought it possible i i had seen it.
I am very sorry or the loss of your snake. susang
 
Glad you noticed the lamp Susie. I was so busy looking at the cage doors that I didn't even notice it. Under tank heaters are far more safe than the lamps. Most guards I've seen have mesh so large that a baby snake could easily enter the guard. Either put the lamp on the outside on the screen top, or go to the safer under tank heater with thermostat which poses are far smaller chance of injury or fire.
 
Thanks Meg, I probably noticed the ceramic because it's what I use myself and the protective cages I use over here in the UK have holes no bigger than a couple of millimeters, in fact you could just about get a biro tip in the hole!
They are a bit expensive but really worth it if you want to use ceramic heating!

For a first time keeper though I would be inclined to go with the UTH method of heating as it's way simpler and less expensive if that's a factor.

Best wishes,
 
I am willing to go with just about anything when it comes to keeping snakes.
Small cages, huge, need hiding spots, no need for them... I really have heard it all.

But I think there are 3 pretty basic rules that should always be followed:
1- water must be made available at all times.
2- Thermometer is a must, not a suggestion
and

3- if at all possible, place the heating source outside of the tank. If you can't, then make sure your snake cannot come in direct contact with it.


I use heat cables which are all placed underneath the tanks, and only one side of each... so the snake can move out and about without touching the cable itself.
 
Just in case anyone is under any illusion about how small a space a Corn (thinks it) can squash into, I caught Pumpkin like this - crappy photo, but I was having fits about how the heck I could extract him.

He's a normal-sized adult and the gap he's jammed himself in, between the glass door and that wooden lip, is about 3 millimmetres wide!

That explained the broken ribs/crush injuries he'd suffered for the previous couple of years. I'd not seen him do this before, but he was swiftly transferred to an old top-opening viv and hasn't had any more "mystery" damage since.

No other snakes that I've kept in this (or similar) vivs has ever tried this trick, but there's always one loose cannon waiting to give you a heart-attack.
 

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Too true! As soon as he realised I'd spotted him, he wriggled out by himself and carried on about his business as though nothing was wrong.

I wish I knew what was going on in those scaley little heads sometimes...
 
Susielea said:
Ooh I've just found that if you click on Keva161's pics they pop up larger!

Saying that I just looked at you tank set up again Keva and saw that you have an unguarded ceramic heat lamp in there!!! Please, please, please put a guard around that lamp as they get to extremely high temperatures when heating up! And you do not want your new corn when you get it to be able to get within touching distance of the ceramic, as it will get seriously burned!

I was at my local reptile shop a couple of years ago when another customer came in with their corn snake who they said was a bit poorly. They said they couldn't work out what was wrong with it and asked the owner of the shop to take a look. They thought it may have a skin infection?

When he lifted it out of the container they'd brought it in we were all quite shocked. The poor little thing was melted in places, it was so sad to see!
When asked what type of heating they were using, they replied a ceramic heat bulb.
Now I use ceramic and this had never happened with my corns, so we asked if their corn could have got inside the protective cage and they replied "What protective cage? We don't have one!!!"

Needless to say the poor thing had to be put out of it's misery.

I haven't told you this to scare you but to make you aware of the dangers of an unguarded ceramic, and if I'm wrong and there is a guard on yours then I apologise, and if I'm right and there is not one on there at least you have time to get one before purchasing a new baby as you may not have been aware that you needed one.

I hope I have been of some help again and best wishes to you,
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Susie but am already ahead of you and am going to buy one this weekend. Was a bit cofused why the shop sold me one as they had heat mats. They even sold me UV lighting and reflecters that I dont need.

Anyway, I picked up a new corn yesterday from the reptile rescue center in Swindon (A bloke named Andy runs it and hes got hundreds of reptiles ... the bearded dragons are awesome!)

This one lookss exactly like my other one except its a bit skinnier.
 
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