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Our young corn snake has stopped eating and is losing a lot of weight

Not eating at this time of year is pretty normal for an adult male... but they don't lose weight like that.

Even a fecal sample will not necessarily show up with crypto. The *definitive* way is to send in a biopsy of the stomach wall, which is why most cases of crypto are confirmed after death.
 
Ravenessa said:
I have no info... Just sending well wishes <3
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Thanks. We brought her back to the vet yesterday and they were able to perform an enema and got quite a bit of poop out and they were able to test it. We are waiting for the results today. Also, they put a tube down her throat and put some food in her. We are seeing if she can keep it down and hoping it will kick start her feeding response again. She has continued to lose weight though.
 
Good luck, I have fingers crossed for you.

Thinking positively and assuming she is negative for Crypto, I would start her on a regurge protocol and get some Nutribac from Kathy Love (it's a vitamin supplement). Bump those UTH temps up to 87° on the thermostat so the top of the substrate stays around 85°, although ambient temps are not too worrisome. If it is a little chilly in the room (below 60°) I would cover the viv with a towel or put a small heater in the room. Do NOT put the lamp back, she is obviously dehydrated at this point and the light, besides all the other unnecessary negative things about it will dehydrate her even more.

I would put several bowls of lukewarm water in the viv with her, one at each end and one in the middle, for hydration and if she wants to soak or drink.

Once she is done with the regurge protocol, start her feedings again, what was your usual feeding schedule and size prey you fed?
 
When I first got my Snow she had open sores and it was a battle to keep her hydrated. She was also very weak. What I did for her was daily lukewarm baths and twice a day I would pick her up and hold her near her water bowl. She would drink and drink and drink. Poor thing had it rough but she ended up making a full recovery and is now a healthy active girl.

I hope you have the same luck with your little one
 
smigon said:
Good luck, I have fingers crossed for you.

Thinking positively and assuming she is negative for Crypto, I would start her on a regurge protocol and get some Nutribac from Kathy Love (it's a vitamin supplement). Bump those UTH temps up to 87° on the thermostat so the top of the substrate stays around 85°, although ambient temps are not too worrisome. If it is a little chilly in the room (below 60°) I would cover the viv with a towel or put a small heater in the room. Do NOT put the lamp back, she is obviously dehydrated at this point and the light, besides all the other unnecessary negative things about it will dehydrate her even more.

I would put several bowls of lukewarm water in the viv with her, one at each end and one in the middle, for hydration and if she wants to soak or drink.

Once she is done with the regurge protocol, start her feedings again, what was your usual feeding schedule and size prey you fed?
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I put her in the large water bowl every day and she crawls right out without drinking anything usually. I do see her drink from it occasionally though. Without the light, the temps drop far too low. The under tank heater just isn't enough to get it that warm. How else do you guys heat your tanks if not with a light?
 
Shiari said:
What is the temperature of the *glass* directly over the under tank heater?
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Not sure but I imagine the substrate insulates a lot of the heat away from the animal. The lamp and the UTH are Zoo Med that I bought when we got the snake from Petco. There isn't any adjustment on the UTH. It's on or off.
 
The thing is, corn snakes can *burrow*. If the top of the substrate is 85, the glass and mid-substrate might very well be 100 or higher which is not good for your snake.

Since she IS sick, I'd get rid of any substrate you have and go down to paper towels. Make sure the glass is at 85.
 
Not to give conflicting info, but the glass can be much, much hotter than 85. I keep corns with hot spots set at 100 to 105, and have never had a burn. The substrate will insulate quite effectively, the top reaches the low/mid 80's in my enclosures. The concern here seems to be the enclosure not being hot *enough* without the lamp. Too hot of a hot spot isn't a risk as long as it isn't hot enough to be a fire risk and the snake can get away from it. And if by chance your pad is a Fluker's brand, they only reach 100, so can be safely run without a thermostat in most any corn application. Just food for thought.
 
Praetorian27 said:
Not sure but I imagine the substrate insulates a lot of the heat away from the animal. The lamp and the UTH are Zoo Med that I bought when we got the snake from Petco. There isn't any adjustment on the UTH. It's on or off.
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Do you have a digital thermometer attached to the floor of the viv directly above the middle of the UTH? This is what you need, I am guessing you have a stick-on thermometer on the side of the viv. The ambient temp doesn't matter too much unless it is extreme. The snake can burrow as deep as they want to find a happy temp for themselves which is why you have a warm and cool side. You just need to make sure the temp on the warm side is stable (I set my thermostats at 87° and they are happy) and warm enough not to cause regurges.

Your UTH sounds like it is too small for the size tank you have. And it needs to have a digital thermostat to set the temperature, without the thermostat it will go as hot as it can, and in your case it sounds like it is too small or malfunctioning. Return the lamp and UTH and exchange it for a thermostat and a larger UTH.
 
smigon said:
Do you have a digital thermometer attached to the floor of the viv directly above the middle of the UTH? This is what you need, I am guessing you have a stick-on thermometer on the side of the viv. The ambient temp doesn't matter too much unless it is extreme. The snake can burrow as deep as they want to find a happy temp for themselves which is why you have a warm and cool side. You just need to make sure the temp on the warm side is stable (I set my thermostats at 87° and they are happy) and warm enough not to cause regurges.

Your UTH sounds like it is too small for the size tank you have. And it needs to have a digital thermostat to set the temperature, without the thermostat it will go as hot as it can, and in your case it sounds like it is too small or malfunctioning. Return the lamp and UTH and exchange it for a thermostat and a larger UTH.
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I have a 20 gallon tank and the Zoo Med RH-4 UTH which states it is for 10-20 gallon tanks. The next one larger is for 30-40 gallon tanks which seems like it would be much too big. I do have stick on thermometers...they read 70 degrees on the cool side and 80-85 on the warm side. My snake never burrows in the substrate, she just stays topside in her hides. Do you put the corded probe right on the glass under the substrate? Seems like that would give a false high reading.
 
I have the same type of UTH and a digital probe centered in the middle of the UTH on the glass. Before I got my thermostat it would read up to 112 degrees. Yikes, I got the thermostats and now they are doing great. I bought them on Amazon.
This is the thermostat I have http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this is the digital thermometer. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck to you.
 
crzymom2grl2by said:
I have the same type of UTH and a digital probe centered in the middle of the UTH on the glass. Before I got my thermostat it would read up to 112 degrees. Yikes, I got the thermostats and now they are doing great. I bought them on Amazon.
This is the thermostat I have http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this is the digital thermometer. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck to you.
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112 degrees on the glass under the substrate...what was your temp at the top of the substrate where the snake would be?
 
I also had digital thermometer probes attached to the bottom of the tank where the UTH is located. It showed much lower temps than the glass was at. I noticed that I could not keep my hand for more than a few seconds on the glass, and the probe was showing 25-26 celsius and for a few days I based my thermostat on it. Wrong! Elsa constantly seeked the other end of the viv. My husband has an InfraRed temp sensor (soemthing like this: http://www.amazon.com/KINTREX-IRT04...7649328&sr=1-36&keywords=infrared+thermometer) that is quite accurate and you can instantly measure temp in any spot. I used it to set my thermostat and now the glass gets to max 32 celsius and minimum 28 deg celsius (sorry, I'm used to Celsius). Now the cold end of the viv is at 21 degrees and the warm one is at 25 with the warm spot in her warm hide at 30. Hubby said that he will build for me a multi-spot sensor digital thermometer - but for the moment, the IR is the best way to go. I can easily check temps in her hides, at the surface of the subtrate, bottom glass temp ... really cool little gadget.
 
Praetorian27 said:
Do you put the corded probe right on the glass under the substrate? Seems like that would give a false high reading.
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Yes. The thermostat probe should go right next to it. This way if one fails you will be alerted.

My thermostats are set at 87° and the top of the substrate is about 85° on the top side. You can take the gauges off the wall, they won't help with much. I would rely on the UTH, and if it is not heating high enough go to the bigger size. With the thermostat it will only get as hot as you set it.

You only need a small amount of substrate, enough to cover the bottom and it will be "fluffy" and allow the heat to rise above the substrate.
 
Thanks for all of your help guys. Today, I found Brownie dead in her tank. When I picked her up a large amount of yellowish mucus like fluid drained out of her mouth. My 8 year old daughter gets off the bus at 3 pm and I have to tell her. This is going to be hard.
 
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