Oddly enough, this is my first...

[wvaherp]

I took in a corn snake rescue on Sunday. As the title says, oddly enough this is the first one I've kept. I've been in this hobby for almost 13 years now, but I've never been all that interested in corns.

She (by my best guess based on a couple tries at palpitating) came from a relative of a friend who is afraid of snakes and I wish she would have contacted us about her months ago instead of trying to keep her.

This poor little girl is very emaciated, but very alert and seems to have a good temperament (much better than our 2 cali kings...). The last inch of her tail also had what looked like 2 layers of stuck shed, which I promptly took care of after her initial, very mild, chlorhexidine soak. She's settling into quarantine nicely and has already taken a meal for me with no issues. Once I get another meal or two in her I'll be treating for internal parasites, just to be safe.

So long as her temperament stays the same, I think I'm going to have her be "my daughter's" first snake. She's only 3 so obviously she won't really be caring for her yet, but she absolutely loves my largest boa. The only issue there is that girl has broken the 6' mark, so she's getting a little too large for my daughter to handle/hold, even with my assistance. I figure a "well behaved" corn is a good place to start for her and will be something she can handle more or less on her own (with supervision, of course) and grow into taking care of herself.

Anyway, I believe she's just a standard amel, but she is pretty and seems quite gentle.

I'll update this thread with her progress as she regains weight and I work with her more.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[wvaherp]

Oh, and I forgot to add that her name is Slinky (chosen by the previous owner).

Sent via the android pony express

 

[elena]

Looks like she will be quite good looking when she regains some weight. Corns are a resilient species that I have often seen bounce back from poor care. I hope your daughter enjoys her very much.

 

[wvaherp]

Looks like she will be quite good looking when she regains some weight. Corns are a resilient species that I have often seen bounce back from poor care. I hope your daughter enjoys her very much.

In my experience, most popularly kept snake species are (at least to a point), but you never know. I'm just hoping she does bounce back well since my daughter is already calling Slinky "her new friend." Lol. I haven't even told her my plans yet.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Looking forward to updates on that pretty snake. It is good that she's found a caring home.

Curious, because I've not heard of this: what is purpose of the chlorhexidine soak? Is that a common practice among corn snake folks?

 

[elena]

Chlorhexidine is a topical antiseptic that can be diluted and used in a soak for any kind of snake. I have used it for snakes with injuries before, and it really seems to help. It basically just cleans the wound/skin.

 

[wvaherp]

It's a mild veterinary disinfectant. It's used by several zoos for the same purpose I do, but it's more commonly used in higher concentration as a "safe" disinfectant for most animals. Some facilities use it in mild concentration in bins/buckets to soak their snakes while cleaning cages. Its said to not only be safe to drink at the concentrations they use, but reusable between multiple animals unless soiled. I've used it like that for a good while now with no ill effects. I'm not going to post the concentration I use just because I dont want to be liable for anyone's mistakes if they don't do things right (I'd recommend betadine for most people). I get my chlorhexidine by the gallon and it lasts me quite a while, but that also means I have to pay closer attention to concentrations when prepping a "bath".

In Slinky's case, she got a fresh bath and it was not reused for anything else as that would violate her quarantine.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Thanks Elena and Chase -- I learned something new.

 

[wvaherp]

Also, the practice of reusing it between animals at all has inherent risks, so one should never do it without understanding that. Period.

Basically, do such things at not only your own risk, but your animals' as well, no matter what antiseptics or disinfectants are involved.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[elena]

It also should not be used on animals with possible fungal infections, as it can worsen them. My vet told me that.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Cute little amel, I agree, she'll look great once regains some weight.

 

[wvaherp]

It also should not be used on animals with possible fungal infections, as it can worsen them. My vet told me that.

I wasn't aware of that. Though I'm of the belief that anything fungal needs to be strictly quarantined and referred to a vet immediately. Especially these days.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[wvaherp]

Cute little amel, I agree, she'll look great once regains some weight.

Indeed. I'm kinda excited to bring her back to full health.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Basically, do such things at not only your own risk, but your animals' as well, no matter what antiseptics or disinfectants are involved.

Understood. It was simply the idea of a routine disinfectant soak that is new to me. I'd certainly research the dilution rates, etc before engaging in any new routine.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[wvaherp]

Understood. It was simply the idea of a routine disinfectant soak that is new to me. I'd certainly research the dilution rates, etc before engaging in any new routine.



Thanks for all the info!

No problem! I don't use it all the time, myself. It's more of an occasional thing. Like if I miss a cleaning or someone decides to try and "paint"... Other than that I might do it every 4-6 weeks.

Sent via the android pony express

 

[wvaherp]

Well this little girl is eating like a horse and putting on weight. Her temperament is just about perfect. She is always looking for a meal but "shuts off" quicker than any of my boas when she knows there's nothing.

She shed for me a while back, and the tail tip got stuck on the damaged section where she had the previous stuck shed, but I caught it quickly and gave her a nice soak and it came right off with no resistance. That area of her tail did bleed a tiny bit afterward, but it looked like it scabbed up cleanly and was no worse than before.

In the mean time I kept a close eye on her and called a couple local vets just in case I had to bring her in to have it removed, but she continued to do fine with nothing but careful hygiene.

Fast forward a couple weeks, and I check on her like usual, only to find it fell off on its own. I'm pretty sure her body did a better job than the vet could have since you can barely tell she lost about 3/8".

She's one big step closer to me being ready to break the news to my daughter that Slinky is her snake.

Sent via the android pony express