Kink - Won't Eat

I have a 6 year old corn snake. About 6 months ago, he got a kink in his spine. It is about half way down his body, above where his poop hole is. He no longer moves like a snake and seems to just have a hard time getting around. We took him to have him looked at and we were told that he has a calcium deficiency which caused the kink. Since we heard that, we have been supplementing calcium in his water and have a special light for him.

Since this has happened, we've had to shed him. We've been trying to feed him once a week, and in all this time, he still has not eaten. I think everytime we've bathed/shed him, he's pooped though. Although he is still docile and likes being handled, he just isn't the same.

Does anyone have any advice on how we can get him to eat? Or is he purposely not eating because he doesn't think he can process the food since he can't move the same way anymore? I am just so unsure on what to do and feel very bad for him.

What do you mean, you've "shed him"? As in, you are trying to get him to shed?

He is not eating because he probably can't pass it, or is too uncomfortable to think of eating. I do not know a lot about kinks - only from what I've read on here - but I think you should expect more rejections of food to come. At 6 years old, it wouldn't be a huge concern to me... not until that kink gets worked out.

Your snake is more thank likely passing urates, rather than actually pooping. Especially is he is not eating. But that is still a good thing! Passing urates means he's drinking water and still hydrated.

My advice (take it with a grain of salt as I don't have experience with kinks) would be to wait it out, and watch the kink in hopes of it healing. You've done the right thing by taking him to the vet and getting the necessary treatments.

Best of luck, and I hope he gets well soon!

By shedding him I mean that he is incapable of shedding himself. We give him a bath and have to peel his skin off when it's ready.

Does anyone know how long a kink will last? We were told that it wasn't something that would heal itself. If anything, it's only become worse over the past 6 months.

I have never, ever heard of this.
Most of the time, a kink is a birth defect or the result of a severe injury. I have never heard of a snake having a kink caused by a lack of calcium, and I don't know how a snake would have a calcium problem unless it's been fed very young mice or rats without any fully formed bones it's whole life.

Hmm, yea I don't know either. I could be wrong about what caused the kink, but he didn't develop it until recently.

There was a period of time about 3 years ago where he was being cared for by my boyfriends brother and he fed him live mice. Since it didn't develop until recently, I don't know if there was some sort of injury from the live mice that could just have finally shown itself. He was fed frozen mice before that period and has been only given frozen mice since we got him back.

I would try him with a rat pink- live if you have another snake that will eat it, or FT if you don't.

maybe it's not necessarily a kink, but a dent? i attached some photos so we can get a better idea.

Holy cow! Were there any x-rays taken of this? That is a pretty significant dent/kink...My lavender male was born with several kinks, the worst being in his neck. He has adapted fine. I would get a second opinion on this and have them snap an x-ray to see what exactly is going on there...that looks pretty uncomfortable

I agree with Zombie Girl.

Otherwise looks to be a very beautiful snake. That stinks

Yes, definitely agree with the above. You need to go to a different veterinarian. That does not look good!!