Terrified for my corn!!! what could this be!!!!

[joltiana]

I have an adult ghost corn about 4ft long
I fed her about three days ago and left her alone.
I took a look at her today and she has a lump its not very big at all.
At first it was about 5 inches from her head and she seemed like she couldn't
breath to good she was doing strange things with her mouth and gazing upwards, I decided to give her a warm bath to see if with her swimming it would go down, while swimming she pooped, there wasn't anything unusual about it, no blood or weird color, or to hard or soft.
I took her out and felt that the lump did move down to about the half way point of her body. It concerns me because If I touch it lightly she flinches and kinda slithers with that part raised also she wants to get away as fast as possible, she isn't being aggressive but more scared.
I just recently bought her and went to buy the mice which were large, while watching her eat by the time she got to the hip section she seemed to struggle a bit, also the mouse' feet were in like a crouching position facing forward(no broken legs or weird angles)


I'm really worried what it could be?
Any Ideas?
I will monitor her for another day or so as well as bath her to see if it goes away.
This would be very disappointing if something happens especially because of the story behind her and her mates, the owner was very, very impatient and wanted them gone Asap. It was very odd since I talked to another person who actually knew where my snake came from and he was a complete stranger.

[hoppadoodle12]

You should only feed the snake an animal that (fur not included) is no more than 1.5 times the width of your snake at its thickest part, but if you did this, then more than likely its a digestive problem.

think about whether the mouse was fully defrosted. It could be that she had eaten the mouse, realized that it was frozen and that she couldnt digest it, and was attempting to regurgitate it when you found the lump in her throat. I'd make sure that her tank is plenty warm enough to help digestion and so that she is not stressed in any way, and perhaps bath her in luke-warm water once a day for half an hour (shallow water) and keep an eye on her. If the lump is still there in 2 days, get her to a specialist or to a vet as soon as you can. Also, check out www.youtube.com/user/SnakeBytesTV and look up the sick snakes episode which might help you out. you can also post comments up there and brian will help you out as much as he can.

[joltiana]

She isn't that small sorry the mouse wasn't bigger than her it was about the same size
sorry I should have stated that. I let my mice thaw in warm water for about a half hour then I check to see if it is still frozen by just holding its chest/tummy for a minute if I get a cold feeling I continue to thaw for longer till ready.

when I felt the lump it really isn't that big you can't hardly notice its there unless you pick her up and see from her belly and even then its kind of difficult to tell, Its not like some other posts I've seen where the snake looks like it swallowed a golf ball or something. I bathed her today and thats when she pooped and it went down farther, so I will do it again and see what happens and how she is doing and yes for sure if it doesn't go away I will be taking her to the avian and exotic pet clinic here.
thanks for the help.

[hoppadoodle12]

no probs, did you feed her in the viv? she could have nabbed up a piece of substrate or something? if the mouse was wet it could have got stuck to its fur or something...

[joltiana]

No she has paper towel in her tank and because I was moving this weekend she was in her travel cage prior to moving so she wouldn't be stressed out.

[Naagas]

Wow.
I'm sorry this is happening to her.

She could genuinely have something stuck, like a piece of Aspen. Or, it could be a more chronic health problem, like cancer.

At this point, a vet is your best option.

Let us know what the vet says!

[MysticExotics]

What are her temps? Temps too low or too high can cause digestion problems.
At first it was about 5 inches from her head and she seemed like she couldn't
breath to good she was doing strange things with her mouth and gazing upwards
this part made me think possiboe regurge, if the food was only about 5 inches from her head, after 3 days.
Is she near a shed? (possibly in the clear phase?) this can cause problems with digesting too, & possibly cause regurge.

[bitsy]

If it was cancer, then the lump wouldn't move and would feel firm rather than soft. Hopefully that's a good sign here.

[joltiana]

everything is fine it is gone now thanks everyone

[Nanci]

I think I would feed a couple smaller than normal meals, just to give his digestive system a little rest.

[Naagas]

everything is fine it is gone now thanks everyone

I'm glad. :dancer:

Bitsy, you are right! Cancer wouldn't move. Duh.