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What to do........opinions needed (please)

starsevol

starsevol

Cohabbing is cruelty...
Well, it's that time of year. That time when you feed for the last time, weigh them, let them empty their guts for 2 weeks and put them down for bru.
My adults will be eating their last meal next week and will go down the first week of December, to be brought up the first week of March.
I had originally planned to put down everyone, except my 2008s, 2009s, and Luna and Vidalia (2 lavenders that had gone on an extended hunger strike this year) and Maytag, my Florida King. I figured Maytag would be there to clean up anything the lavender ladies refused to eat.

Well, as of right now, Luna is definately staying up with me. She is eating again and there is a good chance she will be big enough to breed next season. She is a 2007, and ate fine for me until this spring but is back on track now.

Vidalia is another story. As I detailed in another thread, she appears to have some type of neurological problem, and has trouble crawling in a straight line. She corkscrews. She is pretty much back on track as far as eating. She had gone on a hunger strike from May to September.

So....I am not sure what to do. Do I keep her up and feed her since she had gone so long without eating....or put her down since I will not be breeding her and if she is downstairs I won't have to worry about her over the winter. (I always worry about power outages and things like that).

And Maytag....this is my first year with a Florida king. I imagine they brumate just like corns....Rick thinks I should put "that washing machine" snake into bru so I don't have to feed her....but I am torn about her.

Soooo, my question is...if you were me, what would you do about Vidalia and Maytag given the information I have given you?
 
I guess if it were me I'd keep Vidalia up over the winter. You only want to brumate a healthy snake. I'd observe her this winter, and if she is unchanged, not deteriorated further next winter, then maybe brumate her.

With Maytag, if you suspect you may have wasted mice, I'd keep her up. My big kings will eat anything, even jelly-bean sized pinks. And she could certainly go to a longer regular feeding schedule, say an adult mouse every two weeks, plus clean-up.
 
I've never bred snakes before or anything, but I'm with Nanci on this... I'd only brumate a healthy snake... Of course, I've got no experience in this AT ALL, Beth.
 
Thank you both :)

Part of the reason I was leaning towards putting Viddy downstairs was that it makes me sad to look at her.... but she is eating and doesn't seem at all fussed.
I will try to get a pic of her the next time I feed her and post it in that thread.
 
Bethany, I was in a rush to get something down on my last post... sorry - I had to deal with some "dorm girl drama" again... But I also wanted to add:

You did mention her corkscrewing... I think, even though it makes you sad to look at her, it would behoove you to keep an eye on her to see if the problem goes away, continues or escalates. As a fellow snake owner, I know that it would give me nightmares to put a snake away for brumation and not know how she/he was dealing with it. I would have more "relief" to see her/him eating and doing well, than wondering if I'd find a snake in more distress or worse after brumation.

I hope this helps... AND, I hope for the best for you in all this.

As for Maytag... I LOVE my Florida King and I would miss seeing Relena over the winter (since I'm not breeding her... at least for the foreseeable future). :) But, if you're looking at cost cutting regarding foodstuffs, then I would understand brumating her for that reason.
 
You'll get used to her, I think. It used to make me so sad to see Jasmine. Then I decided to treat her just like everyone else, and we're quite happy that way. So what if she rolls side to side when she swims instead of swimming in an S! At least she can swim!!
 
I'm holding her now. Part of her neck is flattened out and appears almost boneless. And there is a lump on one side. It almost looks as though she kinked up. Her front half corkscrews but her back half moves fine.

I wonder if my gimpy girl is kinked.....

She is alert and active and does not appear to be in distress at all....
 
I only brumate healthy adult animals. I would not brumate Vidalia for two reasons: One, she only just started eating again and I would be afraid that if I stopped she might not start up again. And B, you aren't certain she is 100% healthy. I think you would feel awful if she passed during brumation. She's now a pet corn snake so treat her like one.
Terri
 
Good replys :)

Nanci and Fred had pretty much settled it for me, but Terri sealed the deal!
 
Beth for what it is worth, I would not brumate either. The unhealthy corn needs to be watched and I find it fun to have at least one healthy big snake during the winter to enjoy!
 
actually, after holding her I felt alot better. She appears to be kinked halfway down her neck and has some curious bone formation. If I did not know better I would swear she was in an accident of some sort and suffered broken ribs. But she is rarely handled, and by rarely I mean maybe once or twice a year aside from cleaning and feeding.
I had noticed early on that her top half appeared flat, but I had thought it was her crazy pattern that made her look that way.
She does not seem at all upset about her condition, so why should I be?
I won't lie, I would have liked to have bred her. But it's not like I don't have females to breed! (at last count I think the number was 15) and besides, the lav/hypo/blood combo has been done to death anyway! (and I do have a nice classic het lav,blood,hypo girl to go with Voldemort)
 
Well, here is the latest update on my bad girls.
Vidalia is eating like a champ. She is still corkscrewy and moves strange, but seems happy and eats everytime as long as you leave the food in with her. I just for the life of me can't figure out how she went from normal to gimpy in just a few months, but she seems no worse since I posted this and eats just fine.

Luna ate 3 days before I started this thread, and had been eating just fine for weeks..but has refused every meal since. She weighs 198 grams, and I am leaning toward putting her into bru with everyone else.

And Maytag, my wonderful darling enormous Florida King will be keeping me company too, if I need a big snake to surf the net with..... :)
 
I have a male with the same problem as Vidalia, although no mystery how he got like it - I caught him (adult Corn) trying to squeeze between the sliding glass doors of his viv (3mm wide, max) during breeding season. The front third of his body is just a mess of squished ribs and kinks. However, it doesn't bother him at all and once the vet had stopped me hyperventilating, he told me that Corns survive this type of crush injury very nicely and that I was more worried about it than the Corn ever would be.

Several years down the line and he's never yet missed a feed. "Corkscrewy" is a great word to describe the stomach-churning contortions he can pull, but it really doesn't affect his behaviour at all and he's remained very even-tempered and nosey. Mind you, he's now in a top-opening viv!

I really feel for you that you don't know how your lass got that way - not least because it introduces enough doubt to put her aside as a breeder. I would have been in the dark myself if I hadn't walked in on Pumpkin at exactly the right moment. But do be assured that there's every chance your lass will lead a perfectly normal and comfortable life. I'm glad that she's well on the way to this.
 
bitsy said:
I have a male with the same problem as Vidalia, although no mystery how he got like it - I caught him (adult Corn) trying to squeeze between the sliding glass doors of his viv (3mm wide, max) during breeding season. The front third of his body is just a mess of squished ribs and kinks. However, it doesn't bother him at all and once the vet had stopped me hyperventilating, he told me that Corns survive this type of crush injury very nicely and that I was more worried about it than the Corn ever would be.

Several years down the line and he's never yet missed a feed. "Corkscrewy" is a great word to describe the stomach-churning contortions he can pull, but it really doesn't affect his behaviour at all and he's remained very even-tempered and nosey. Mind you, he's now in a top-opening viv!

I really feel for you that you don't know how your lass got that way - not least because it introduces enough doubt to put her aside as a breeder. I would have been in the dark myself if I hadn't walked in on Pumpkin at exactly the right moment. But do be assured that there's every chance your lass will lead a perfectly normal and comfortable life. I'm glad that she's well on the way to this.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that I might have tried closing her viv with her leaping out of it and snagged her with the lid...I vaguely remember that happening to her earlier in the spring....but I checked on her repeated after that and she seemed just fine. Then went on her hunger strike about a month later....I don't disturb my snakes a whole lot anyway, but when they aren't eating I only make sure they are watered, cleaned, and offered food once a week. I don't mess with them at all. Maybe I just missed this.....
 
Sounds like Maytag may get some nice snacks this winter, batting cleanup for those who are awake! I admit, if I was breeding, I would want to keep someone up for the winter to surf the net with me! Humphrey & Icabod are good company that way.
 
Thank you so much!
Maytag is an enormous hornet- colored girly with a mean looking face and a puppy dog attitude. I miss all my friends in the basement, even though I enjoy the break from feeding and cleaning,,,but I need some company and Maytag is a perfect "lap snake".
 
I don't think Vidalia has been injured. I think she's suffering from a congenital defect. I know it's ancient history, but I always thought I detected something funky in her lower-neck region. (I think I even clued you into that possibility.) I've seen too much anectodal evidence concerning lavs to dismiss the possibility that there are problems with the lines (if not with the lav mutation itself).

Happy Thanksgiving, my friend!
 
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