It has been a while since I last posted here and thought it was time that I updated you lovely people with what is going on here. I am first going to share with you the story of Gerald, the blizzard (not 100% sure) male corn snake.
Meet Gerald.
Here is his story. I was sitting there on my lunch break enjoying a nice cup of tea and a egg sandwich (pretty boring I know), when I am tapped on the shoulder. It was a lady who I had sold some hatchling corn snakes to last year. She began to ask me if I was interested in a corn snake, I thought that she was offering me the ones I had sold to her previously. I told her that I have no room at the moment but thanked her for her offer. I was pretty surprised when she informed me that it wasn't hers, it was a friend of hers who had a "white" corn snake which was apparently very underweight and very unwell, and how she knew I kept corns and enjoyed looking after them. She asked me again to take him and seemed very concerned about the snakes welfar. The next day she approached me again saying that the corn snake was in worse shape than she initially thought and how she was worried that if I did not take him he would die very soon. So as far as I see it I had no choice but to arrange to take him from the original owner. I met my friend from work a couple of days after initial being asked to take Gerald, and collected him from her house, and I think it is fair to say I was shocked. He was tiny for his age, apparently 3-4 years old, nothing but skin and bones and I think it is safe to say I have not ever seen a snake this thin (you may be able to see from the photo above), he looked as though he had forgotten what a meal looked like. In addition to this I was slightly concerned about his breathing as I could hear a slight wheeze when he was, possibly signifying he had an R.I. I was pretty upset as to how any body would buy an animal without providing the appropriate care and attention needed to care for them properly. From what I what I was told Gerald was kept in a small kitchen container with no heat, and not enough hides, and hadn't been fed in months, and it was clear to see he lacked muscle tone and had a few small scars along his back.
So I began the journey home, with Gerald safely strapped in to the passenger side. Once I got him home I gave him a nice soak in a warm bath, I then placed him in to the quarantine set up which is always set up (not plugged in) just in case I go on a snake shopping spree. I placed his head near his water bowl and he made a mad dash to have a lengthy drink, making me wonder if water was readily available at his previous home, or whether that was too much to ask. That very day I offered a small mouse, which he devoured in a matter of minutes, showing just how hungry he was, I am planning on steadily increasing his prey items in weight within the next couple as I do not want to overload him too quickly if he hasn't eaten for a long period of time. As soon as I have moved a couple of things around in the snake room, and Gerald is in full health, he will become a permanent member alongside Jake and Dot.
I think it is safe to say that Gerald needs a bit of a helping hand to get him back to full health. Hopefully I will be able to do so and provide him with the highest level of care that I can. I will be keeping an eye on his possible R.I. as well as his weight, muscle tone and scars on his back in order to stop anything else causing him too much stress. I will keep you posted as to how he is getting on in the near future, fingers crossed all will be A-ok.
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