Please help me. My Miami Corn snake (I'm not sure if it's a male or female so lets just call it a him) lost his tail last night. He is less than a year old.

A few weeks ago I brought him to school for one of my classes to feed him for the students. It was an Oregon Wildlife class and the teacher thought it would be a good experience for her students. The first day I brought him in I noticed the tip of his tail that morning before classes started. It was dried out and hard. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it but the teacher told me he may have just squished it or something. I wasn't too worried but I kept checking up on it.

However, last night I noticed that he had glazed over and was getting ready to shed. I quietly held him just to check on his tail again. It didn't seem much different until I went to run my finger along it where it proptly fell off and into my hand. I was shocked but my snake just sat in my hand as if he hadn't just lost part of his body. The tip that came off wasn't more than 2cm. I haven't exactly measured it and can't seem to find where it went. When it came off though at the end of his live tail a little bit of blood began to form and the inside of the dead tail was hollow.

He seems to be ok this morning and the bleeding has stopped. I'm just worried and I don't really know what I should do. Will he be ok? Is there anything I should do for him? How should I take care of the wound? Any help would be wonderful. Thank you!

What substrate are you using? You want to be sure that the tip stays as clean as possible, so something like newspaper would be good, nothing should be loose and sticking to it as it heals. There isn't much you can do really, just watch it closely for signs of infection (puss, discharge, swelling, redness), it should heal all by itself. If it doesn't start to look like it is healing or you notice something wrong then a trip to the vet would be in order, but it really should be OK.

put some neosporin on it, the regular one and not the stuff with painkiller. Also i suggest to keep the next few weeks on newsprint or papertowels so nothing will stick to the tail . it also makes the clean up a breeze. Stuff like this can happen. My ball python accidently bit his tail tip it fell of a few days later(about 1cm) i put neosporin on and now it skinned over.

Chances are good the reason he lost it to begin with was incomplete sheds, a bit stuck on and eventually cut the blood flow off, causing the tip to die. What are the humidity levels in the tank? Every time he sheds you have to check him to be sure it's all off.

I'm honestly not sure what the humidity level is. What should it be at? And right now I have Aspen bedding in there and I will change it to papertowels and newsprint right away! I also have some neosporin too thank you.

Corns don't require high humidity. 50% is fine. You could provide a humid hidebox or lightly mist him once a day when he's in shed. Fill a container with damp sphagnum moss and cut a hole in it. A well hydrated snake will shed with no problem.
I

Sphagnum moss? What is that? I've switched his bedding over to just newsprint. I've also applied some neosporin. How often should I apply that? Just once, daily, twice daily, I'm not sure..

i used to do it 2-3 times a day. just do it asit suggests on the tube.

Thanks guys. He's the first snake even reptile I've ever had and so being new at this I was probably freaking out more than I should have. Thank you very much for the help ^.^ I'll update too just so if anyone wants to know how he's doing.

Sphagnum moss is moss used for planting and terrariums. It holds humidity very well. You can get it at any garden center or pet store. When your snake has healed, use your normal substrate and use the moss in a humid hide box.

We'd love to see the lil fella^^ I've never had this happen with my snakes...but they can suprise you^^

I'll be sure to look into it ^.^ thank you

you can buy a thing called a snake cave that comes with the moss

really? do you know where I would find one at? I'm guessing online.. hmm.. maybe I'll check petco.

i got mine at pets mart and i've seen them at just about every pet store. they are somewhat expensive though (about $20-$30)

ok thanks I'll be sure to pick one up.. I found one for sale online for 12.99 so it doesn't seem to bad.

just make sure you get the right size

My snake typically has a little bit of shed that doesn't come off when he sheds, so I always have to make sure to get a wet paper towel and get it off. Watch after his next shed to make sure it doesn't happen again!

He's less than a year about 8 months I believe and so I'm not sure what size he would need. Now that I know what caused this though I'll definatley be sure to watch him more carefully. I haven't had much experience owning snakes so I didn't know what to look for.

that is a small on the top and a medium on the bottom

Thanks. He could probably fit in the small one but maybe the medium one just since he keeps getting so big. Or is bigger not a good thing?

Just a quick update for you guys. I bought him a snake cave wich should help with shedding. He also shed a while ago and I made sure it all came off. His tail is definately a lot better and I really want to thank you all for your help. He gave me quite a scare there and I was afraid it was a lot worse than I thought until you helped out ^.^ Once I get the camera working I'll get more pictures of him up! The only one I have is my Avi.