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VERY concerned about our corn snake...

C

Concerned Mom

New member
My sixteen-year-old son has a 9-year-old corn snake named Slither. We've had Slither since he (we assumed he was a "he") was a wee baby, about 2 months old. In all this time, he has eaten fairly well, shed his skin fairly well, and had normal poops. Everything seemed fine.

We haven't taken him out of his aquarium for two weeks now. Tonight, I sent my son into his room to take his snake out, and he said, "Come here, you have to see this."

I went into the room to see Slither laying beside a skin shedding and a pile of orange-coloured round balls. I had never seen anything like this before in Slither's aquarium! We took the snake out of his aquarium, then I picked up the bunch of balls and looked closer. They are rock hard and they are all stuck together. Some of them are still round like grapes. Some of them look dehydrated like raisins. But they are all the same sort of orange colour, and they are rock hard.

What the heck is this? Is the snake okay? Are these eggs? Do we have a girl snake instead of a boy snake? Should I be concerned? Should we take slither to the vet?
 
No, I don't have a picture.

But is this common for a snake to lay batches of infertile eggs? How often does this happen? Why is this the first time it's happened in nine years? Is it healthy? Is the snake okay?
 
Sounds like eggs to me, I found little brownish things a little bigger then a pea in my females viv. I thought it was poo but then realized it was like a string of pearls only brown. susan
 
Hi Concerned Mom, it does sound like you have a female snake there and that she laid a clutch of infertile eggs in the last 2 weeks, while you weren't watching!
I've been told that this does occur occaisionally even when a female doesn't have any contact with a male.

If I were you I would treat her like a breeding female who has just layed eggs.
Give her a slightly smaller feed than usual for the next few feeds and give those feeds every 5 to 6 days. Make sure she has fresh water at all times and maybe even offer her the water dish if she seems reluctant to drink. Laying eggs, fertile or not, can be a strain on the female. Remember what it felt like giving birth to your son! LOL
If the shed in the tank is her pre-lay shed, then she will have another shed in the next week to 10 days, so she may not want to feed till after that. But I would try her anyway with a small mouse or rat weaner.
Also read through some of the threads in this section as there is loads of other things you can do to get your baby back up to par after laying those eggs.

Good luck and best wishes although I'm sure she will be fine,
 
Scroll down on message page see manage attachments, you may have to reduce the size ofthe photo.
 
Here is what we found in the cage...

These things are huge! Slither is just a tiny snake, really, so it's odd to see that she could have passed something this large. (Also strange to call Slither "her" or "she" when we've been referring to the snake as a male for the past nine years!)
 

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Those are eggs, she would lay them like a string of pearls not in one big lump. At nine years old she should not be small, though. How big is she, which in no way affects her health if she has been fine for nine years. Just curious. susan
 
Yep them there is eggs! Infertile ones though.
When you say slither is tiny have you weighed her and measured her length? If so, what is her weight and length?
I would say she should have topped the 3ft, 300gram rule by the age of 9yrs.
 
Slither is about 3-4 feet long, and she is about an inch in diameter (give or take) in her thickest spot. She has a shiny coat and is very docile, very calm when we hold her ... although, she is quite energetic tonight. She's crawling all over me as I write this. lol. (I'm so relieved to know she's going to be okay, but I'm also having a hard time calling her "she" rather than "he." Too funny.)

Thanks so much for your replies and your help. I'm so glad to know she'll be okay!
 
Ok, Since corns only average 4-5 ft she isn't small well maybe compared to a retic, lol. She probably feels so mutch better getting those eggs out. Corns can double clutch, even if they haven't been with a male. Signs of egg laying are increased activity on females part usually about 7-16 days after shed. I glad she is OK, susan
 
There is no normal time for this to happen. But next time it happens, if it does, you will know what it is. :)
 
Rich in KY said:
There is no normal time for this to happen. But next time it happens, if it does, you will know what it is. :)
Click to expand...
Gosh Rich just agreeing with you tonight. When captive snakes are brumated, we force a breeding cylcle. In nature it is spring. Given no one is really sure when a corn ovulates all we can do is put her with a male corn after shed in spring and wait for the signs. You can usually tell they are gravid because they have a kind of look or different shape. When they get ready to lay they become very restless, a lay box might make her feel more comfortable but the eggs will never be fertile unless you put her with a male. The interesting thing about corn snakes is they retain sperm until they ovulate and can produce a fertile clutch two or three times a summer with just one mating.
 
If it happens again it will usually be in late spring or early summer. If she double clutches that will probably be 8 to 12 weeks later, but there's no hard and fast rule to this.

As susang said signs to watch out for are, Slither looking more plump than usual, especially along the rear two thirds of her body at this time, and increased activity shortly after a shed.

If you spot these signs and think there is a possibility that she is going to lay again, then make up a moist nesting box and put it in her viv, as this will reduce the stress for her when she is looking for a suitable place to lay those eggs.
 
Concerned Mom said:
Slither is about 3-4 feet long, and she is about an inch in diameter (give or take) in her thickest spot. She has a shiny coat and is very docile, very calm when we hold her ... although, she is quite energetic tonight. She's crawling all over me as I write this. lol. (I'm so relieved to know she's going to be okay, but I'm also having a hard time calling her "she" rather than "he." Too funny.)

Thanks so much for your replies and your help. I'm so glad to know she'll be okay!
Click to expand...

a shiny coat, i just found that really funny, lol :grin01:
 
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