# Corn snake hatchlings



## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I have just had my first ever clutch of corn snake eggs hatch, brilliant you might say, but I've got problems with them 

One that hatched last Friday I found dead today, and one that hatched 3 days ago has died within the last hour, it was having fits

One hatched today but is deformed, has one tiny eye and one normal eye, it has a very weird pattern and colour and is very short compared to the rest

I will never breed my female again, and I don't have the male anymore

Anyone had the same/similar problems? It's horrible


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

Very sorry to hear about your hatchling problems.  

I have never heard of the eye problem in corn snakes, which may simply mean nobody has admitted it on the forums I've visited. (Vertebral kinks seem much more common.) But I have seen similar eye abnormalities in timber rattlesnake, gopher snake, and Indian python hatchlings. I've also heard of eye problems in other snakes and even turtles. Unfortunately, nobody has come up with a convincing explanation, though there are several theories. I lean toward the vitamin deficiency in the mother theory. In farm animals and humans, that sort of thing is known to cause a variety of conditions, including infertility, congenital deformities, and high mortality in the babies. And vitamin A deficiency causes eye abnormalities in piglets.

I've had my share of incubation/hatchling difficulties, though not your particular ones. I agree; they are no fun at all.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

The one with the eye problem is very weird, I will have to take a picture of it when I am home tonight

The 2 that died looked absolutely fine, no kinks, no weird pattern, no eye problems, and were fiesty when they hatched, its very odd 

I am going to assume it is a genetic problem as both parents seemed perfectly healthy and have never acted strange at all, I certainly won't breed them again and I have warned the person who bought the male just so they know

Gonna have to keep a very close eye on the remaining babies now, and keep my fingers crossed!

They were from an amel x anery pairing, I got 17 normals, 1 anery and 1 amel hatchling, there is 1 egg left to hatch but I don't hold out much hope as it's almost a week since the rest started hatching


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## radicaldave (Sep 25, 2009)

I feel for you especially after having good eggs laid and waiting the incubation period.


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

That's really sad. Especially when you've incubated them and everything seemed normal. But i have to ask one thing as i'm just curious.
Is there a chance of inbreeding?. Because that's what caused my baby beardies liver deformity that caused him to die at 6 months old.
Im sorry for your loss.
sachax


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Well I suppose it is always possible that they might have been related but I highly doubt it as I bought my female from a reptile shop 2 years ago in Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire where I used to live and I got the male as a rehome from somebody in the local area where I live now (Gloucester) last year, BUT you never know!

I really hope that no more babies have problems


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

Well it could still be inbreeding if the male or female has been inbred so much that their genes are really week even with fresh genes added. Its strange though. If it was me personally i would go to a vet and get the female checked out. Just to be certain that it's not something to do with the female. I wouldn't let this stop you breeding. It might have just been a bad clutch. 
Although i don't own snakes ive done years of research on all reptiles. So I'm just taking info from things I've read over the years. 
Sachax


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I wont be breeding her again, no matter what a vet says

I am not taking her to the vet unless it is absolutely necessary, spent enough there lately lol its going to be a problem either with the male or the female, because from the way the baby that died yesterday was acting I am pretty sure its a neurological problem, which I expect will be from bad genes, so rather than risk it again I simply won't breed her again

I would like to breed corn snakes again at some point, I do have another female but she has at least 2 years to go before she can breed...and I don't have a male anymore lol


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