pics of my dead corn... ideas? - Page 5

Gungirl · 10-23-11, 07:10 AM

No matter the cause of the death next time you are feeding these small guys try and keep the prey size smaller. I even cut pinks in half for my corn when he was 6grams in weight. The place I was getting my pinkies from where selling me VERY large pinks. So just keep a close eye on the size of them compared to the snake. Its very easy to cut a frozen pink in half to help out our scaled friends. You can also always feed it both halfs, better safe than sorry.

I as I said before..... I am so sorry for you and your sons experience.

infernalis · 10-23-11, 07:17 AM

My sincere condolences, Must have been difficult for the little guy to have to see this.

What I have found is that many pet stores that sell three pinkies in a pouch (Gourmet rodent) is the size varies from pink to pink. (Unsorted)

I order mine from a company that sells them like this.

XS = Extra small (Newborn runts)
S = Small
M = Medium
L = Large

I always order a few hundred XS for my baby snakes.

alessia55 · 10-23-11, 07:23 AM

I used to buy from Petco the Gourmet Rodent Wayne is talking about. The pinkies were always pretty much the same size, but once you moved up to hoppers and fuzzies they would definitely vary in size. I used to feel the bag to guesstimate what was in there.

Lankyrob · 10-23-11, 11:10 AM

Not sure how i missed this yesterday, very sorry for your loss, always hard to lose an animal.

I would say that lump is slightly large but not overly so, my baby corns that i got last year were easily eating prey 2x if not 2.5 times thier girth and have done so for over a year now with no issues at all with their health.

All my snakes eat prey that i try to guestimate is 2x their girth, personally i think it could be something else that killed the snake that may have been triggered by the feeding but was not actually the prey size itself.

Will watch this thread with interest for the conclusion of the autopsy.

**lady_bug87** · 10-23-11, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Not sure how i missed this yesterday, very sorry for your loss, always hard to lose an animal.

I would say that lump is slightly large but not overly so, my baby corns that i got last year were easily eating prey 2x if not 2.5 times thier girth and have done so for over a year now with no issues at all with their health.

All my snakes eat prey that i try to guestimate is 2x their girth, personally i think it could be something else that killed the snake that may have been triggered by the feeding but was not actually the prey size itself.

Will watch this thread with interest for the conclusion of the autopsy.

there's another thread as well about this particular feeding where the poor thing was having a hard time swallowing

spots · 10-23-11, 11:16 AM

Can I post a link to another forum that has a mouse rat size chart?

infernalis · 10-23-11, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spots

Can I post a link to another forum that has a mouse rat size chart?

yes...........

spots · 10-23-11, 11:22 AM

Thanks

Mouse/Rat size chart..... - Reptile Forums

totheend · 10-23-11, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lady_bug87

there's another thread as well about this particular feeding where the poor thing was having a hard time swallowing

Which leads me to believe that it had nothing to do with prey size! That little corn sounds like he has had issues right from the start. If they can fit it in their mouths they can get it down. They will not die from slightly too large of a food item. We all keep focusing on the size of food....

**lady_bug87** · 10-23-11, 01:32 PM

yes I am aware of that and I agree its a great point but now I'm curious as to what it was

totheend · 10-23-11, 01:36 PM

We are all curious. I however, don't think we will ever know what killed this little guy. Some just aren't meant to survive.

daddy and son · 10-23-11, 04:35 PM

I had a look at the chart. i'd say these were closer to fuzzy than pinky. every bit of an inch and probably a touch over. Gonna try and review the whole situation, see if anyone has any ideas. Fred took about 20 minutes before he actually went after his mouse. The other 2 went straight after their's. There was a rough spot on top of his head, sort of like a scab, about 3 mm long and 2 mm wide. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but a couple of times before he went for his mouse he had his mouth open wide, like he was yawning. Don't know if that's significant or not. Once he grabbed his mouse, it took him probably about 30 minutes to get it all the way into his mouth. The mouse was frozen, well thawed and slightly warmed. I looked in my 2 books about corns and didn't see anything under illnesses or anything similar to what he was doing.
Daniel is a little more upset today, he says it's his fault Fred died because "He was my snake and I'm responsible for him". Hard to explain to a 7 year old boy that some things are beyond his control and even when he does his best, things happen.

infernalis · 10-23-11, 04:42 PM

Those of us who deal with hundreds of snakes call this "Failure to Thrive" it's a cold / heartbreaking aspect of what we all do.

Unfortunately a youngster had to experience it.

Jenn_06 · 10-23-11, 04:49 PM

you can go here Buy Frozen Feeder Animals Online: SALE Rats, Mice, Rabbits and see the sizes too they have the rats and mice next to a quarter. i dont think it was the size of the food that kill it had to be something else, it might had something wrong with it since it hatched and just now killed it...sorry for your son loss its hard on kids

Snakefood · 10-23-11, 04:52 PM

aww, give Daniel a sqeeze from us!! Poor little guy. When mamma's dog died, we told our son she died and went to the rainbow bridge to play with all the other dogs!! He was only 3 when Sweet-Pea passed away.