Strange twitch/seizure-like movement??

[mindfreak]

Hi guys. First a little background:

I got my snake in 2003, and he was a year old at the time. Which makes him around 10 now. He's always been an eager feeder, and never went on any hunger strikes or 'hibernated'. A few years ago he got a respiratory infection and stopped eating for a while, but that's the only time he stopped eating. He's the only snake I have and there are no female snakes around.

In the past year or two he has started occasionally refusing meals, but he would always eat a week or so later. About two months ago he stopped eating completely. When I offer him food he doesn't even stop to smell it, he ignores the food completely.

He is very active in his cage, always crawling around and pushing against things like he does when he gets hungy. I know it's relatively normal for corns to go on hunger strikes this time of year, even though Smeagol never has in the 9 years I've had him, but I figured that must be it so I didn't worry too much about it. I kept offering him food and he kept refusing it. I also tried giving him smaller mice and raising the temperature.

In the past week he has started breathing heavily and sneezing occasionally, so I'm going to take him in to the vet to check for another RI.

BUT here's why I'm freaking out. I put him in his feeding box to offer him another mouse, and as I was lowering the mouse into the box he was crawling around trying to get out, but it was noticable that his tongue wasn't flickering at all, which is unusal for him.
Then he froze for a second (it seemed like he was seriously panicking, I don't know how I could tell) and then his upper body did this massize seizure like movement for a few seconds. It wasn't his whole body, it was maybe the first 5 or 6 inches of him. His mouth opened and his tongue flew out the side of his mouth, seemingly uncontrollaby, and then a few times out the front. It stopped a couple seconds later and as soon as he regained control he immediately opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then left it open as if it was painful to shut. A second later he was crawling around like normal.

What is this???? Could he have some sort of sickness that I've never heard of? Is it old age? I'm really worried, he seemed very freaked out by it and I can't stand thinking that he might be in pain.

If anyone has ANY ideas, please let me know...

[mindfreak]

Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's just strange that he hasn't gone so long without eating in the 9 years I've had him, and he has never acted any differently/twitched during breeding season. The entire thing seemed so strange and the movements were definitely involuntary.

I found this thread and wonder if he's having similar issues. http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110131

[bitsy]

The heavy breathing and sneezing, coupled with what sounds a bit like a seizure rather than a mating twitch, certainly indicate that a vet visit is the right way to go.

I wouldn't try and second-guess an illness from the internet. I've tried it with myself and scared myself badly!

[RobbiesCornField]

I have to agree with bitsy on this one. It definitely sounds like a trip to the vet is in order.

[chris68]

I agree with the above; we folks here can give you an educated guess at best :)

[mindfreak]

I wouldn't try and second-guess an illness from the internet. I've tried it with myself and scared myself badly!

You're right. I dreamed last night that he crawled around belly up in his feeder box and died :/

But it would be nice to get some direction at least so that I can either have some peace of mind or so that I can do my research and be as prepared as possible. The vet here doesn't seem to know much about snakes :(

Thanks for the responses guys.

[bitsy]

OK, here are a few random left-field thoughts, which might be no use at all!

Are you using any air fresheners, plug-ins, scented candles, joss sticks or the like, in the room? We had someone here a few months ago who was using a scented caadle (I think) in the room and their Corn started to show neurological symptoms. When the candle was taken out of the room, the Corn recovered within a few days.

Can you double-check the tmperature on the foor of the tank with a different thermometer than you'd normally use? Sometimes high temps can cause increased activity and neurological problems like seizures, so it'd be good to know that you haven't overdone it by trying to take care of a possible RI. Plus thermostats and thermometers can glitch like any other electrical equipment, although that's a remote possibility.

Breathing heavily and sneezing may be entirely unrelated to the spasm. Is he due a shed? The skin loosens around the snout first and sometimes the loosening skin causes irritation to the nostrils and results in sneezing. If you've raised the temp, the air may now have dried out. Perhaps a humid hide would help? Might assist any RI as well.

Refusing food in the spring is a standard thing for adult male Corns. They're more interested in mating! Certainly the increased activity is usually linked to this kind of behaviour. Although it seems to have taken your fella a few years to cotton on, an adult male refusing food at this time of the year is nothing to worry about on its own.

Certainly nothing that you've described can be put down to old age. 10 isn't really that old for a Corn in captivity these days.

I'm not sure if any of that really helps, but it might give you a few more pointers. Good luck and keep us posted.