Dark spot on my albino cornsnake. Vet?
 

Hey there! I have a light colored cornsnake and I noticed that she has a dark spot on her body. Should I be concerned and take her to a vet?

I wish I could get a picture but it's underneath her belly and its hard to get a good shot. It's not part of her markings and seems to be inside of her.

I'd rather just be safe than sorry on this, but she's moving around fine and has eaten with no issues... so I'm not sure if I'm just being too worried for my own good.

Another question is that, how do I make my snake less scared of me? I feel like with every time I pick her up she gets more frightened and less likely to show up in the cage. I only have been picking her up 2-3 times a week.

Thanks so much!:o

Is your snake an albino?
It could be some sort of internal bruising or perhaps you are just seeing the dark shading of the internal organs if albino. It's going to be pretty much impossible for people to guess without photos. You may want to take to the vet then just to be sure. Or perhaps you have a local reptile society that you can take her to and have someone else see in person? Hopefully she is okay!

If she's just a baby, being flighty is normal as in the wild most things would want to eat a baby snake. Continue with gentle handling sessions. Is the tank/cage somewhere you can see often? I've found that just being near the cage for a while, and letting the snake see you can be helpful. Try simply laying your hand in the cage without going to the corn when it's out exploring, they can be very curious and instead of fleeing, may start to come over and check you out. Don't pick up, just let her investigate you. Small things like that can help build up trust over time.

Good luck!!

Turns out her strange behavior was because she was shedding. I absolutely could not tell by her appearance that she was ready to shed, but I should have guessed by the way that she was acting! No wonder she didn't want to be picked up and handled.:o

She ate today with no issues and is looking great after her shed. She is an albino and chances are it's just her internal organs. I talked to someone about it and based on the placement of the dark spot, it's most likely her heart. :D

As for her handling, I keep her next to my desk. When she wasn't in pre-shed, she'd like to stare at me from the safety of the hide boxes in her tank.


Thanks so much for the advice though! I'll start doing the hand in tank sessions in the future. Turns out I was just overly worried, but it's nice to have some confirmation that I'm doing alright! Now that I understand her pre-shed behavior, it'll be a lot easier.

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