Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

mark · Captivebred Communist Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 1063

AND ANOTHER

sounds like a neurological problem to me....maybe threes a 'loose connection' between the feeding response and recognising his self as himself and not another snake and as he is a kingsnake and they are cannibalistic he is getting this wrong...(i know.... super simple and prob unlikely but just an idea)

Took these from an old post of Nerys....

http://cornutopia.com/Corn%20Utopia%20on%2...cannibal%20corn

Hope this helps and keep us posted...

ToM
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boas and burms

mark · Captivebred Communist Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 1063

THE LINK WONT WORK SO HERES WHAT IN THE LINK

I'll call this the 'Cannibal Corn', though since it's dead and frozen, naming it is hardly a concern. I found this baby amelanistic corn this way in its individual shoebox cage, so it was not due to a struggle with a cagemate. I hadn't fed it recently either, so the centrally located lump was not a mouse. Maybe that's where its own rear end was curled (doubled over), because its tail was obviously folded over.
Why did it do it? Definitely an enigma!

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boas and burms

stargazerlily7 · Contributing Member Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 60

should i be giving her vitamin supplements? i asked a few herp people when i got her and they all said kings dont need it. is there a good supplement that i can use (like herptivite)? she seems fine with orientation, she has no problems righting herself when i flip her, she's active and acting normal except for the tail biting so it doesnt seem like a vitamin deficiency, but if there's something i can give that might help i'll do it. she's been ok since i bandaged up her tail... she's moving around well with the bandage on, she's at a normal activity level, she's not acting sick or lethargic or otherwise odd... i'll keep the bandage on a few days and then take it off and see if she leaves it alone.

will a condom really work? im afraid if i put something soft she's going to start biting at it, plus if the tape is just on the condom holding it tight, i cant imagine it staying on for more than a few minutes. snakes are good at getting out of tight places.

mark · Captivebred Communist Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 1063

i will pass this info on as i really dont have a clue myself im just trying to get answers from more people to try and help you out Wink

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boas and burms

stargazerlily7 · Contributing Member Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 60

i figured i'd post a pic so you could all see how beautiful my girl is. i'm having xrays done thursday, we'll see if we get anywhere.....

stargazerlily7 · Contributing Member Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 60

I just figured I'd post an update... last nite I woke up around 2am, and her bandage had fallen off. I decided to leave it off, since I was home all night and all day today, to see how she was acting. It's now 8pm and she hasn't bothered with it all day! A few times she passed by it and stopped and licked at it a bit, and then moved on. I'm still keeping a close eye on her, but she's definitely doing better. She's happy now that I put her big water bowl back in (I'd taken everything out of her tank except for a little water bowl, so she couldnt rub against stuff to pull the bandages off)... she's curled up in the water right now, looking happy. Thanks to everyone that offered support or advice during this whole ordeal! Smile

mark67123 · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:19 am Post subject:

Good news - hopefully she'll leave it alone now.

Looking at that pic I take back what i said about upping her food size - certainly looks well fed.

Just out of interest, whats the substrate in the pic? Don't think I've seen that one before.
Not thinking it was anything to do with the problem, just looking for an alternative myself. tried various things over the years (aspen, newspaper,etc) and ended up with beech chip but not entirely happy with it.

stargazerlily7 · Contributing Member Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 60

yeah my vet agreed that she's at a good weight, so i probably dont want to feed her any more. but someone i talked to said they'd heard of kings doing this, and they said giving her a garter or ribbon snake to eat would help. so i might do that, even though she's stopped the odd behavior.

the substrate is yesterday's news. if you decide to try it, make sure you get the one for small animal bedding, not the cat one, because the cat one seems to have more dust. Smile

mark67123 · Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:32 pm Post subject:

Ok, cheers. I'll have a look at some when i get chance.

stargazerlily7 · Contributing Member Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 60

Athena has been leaving her tail alone. But for some reason, one of the pieces of tape I'd used to adhere the bandage to her tail didn't come off (the rest came off within a day or two). I cut through it so that it wasn't a ring anymore, but it's stayed on her for the past couple of weeks. I wasn't too worried, I figured it'd come off with her next shed. Well yesterday she shed, and she didn't shed the area where the tape was. I've made the tank extra humid, and today I'm going to soak her tail for a bit. Any ideas why she might not be able to get that piece off? I can understand it being more difficult than the rest, since the tape isnt as flexible as her skin, but theres plenty of rough surfaces in the tank for her to rub against, and she was certainly working at it, and it hasn't come off. Otherwise she's acting normal and healthy. Any thoughts?