Long sick snake story

[ladylc21]

Hello,

I'm new here and I hope someone can provide insight. I have already taken my cornsnake to the vet and nothing has changed.

I have 2 4-yr old female cornsnakes that have lived together since I bought them at a pet show as babies.

One of them developed a large stomach bulge about 2 months ago. It could have been slightly longer - but I was very ill all summer and my husband was caring for them (and I wasn't paying attention).

We held off feeding her for an extra week and it seemed like the bulge mostly went away (we thought we might be feeding her too much).

Then we fed her 2 fuzzies - normally she eats 1 small mouse. She re-gurged about 4 days later.

We took her to the vet at that point, who did x-rays/poo scan (she had a very runny diarrhea in the box while at the vet). The poo scan was negative. X-rays showed 'something' and the vet gave us lactulose (snake ex-lax) to give her every other day for 2 weeks and told us to give her a warm bath every day.

We did that (and have kept her in her own tank away from the other snake) - but she only had a small amount of diarrhea in those 2 weeks.

I fed her a pinky on Saturday and she kept it down, pooing a small amount on Wednesday.

BUT - the bulge is back - it comes and goes (see below - she hasn't eaten anything). Sometimes its almost twice her diameter and bumpy...and sometimes she looks completely normal.

I thought it might be crypto...but my husband isn't sure. If I take her back to the vet, I'm not sure what else they will do.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

I appreciate any insights.

[Neekko]

My girl has been going through almost the exact same thing!

My own vet diagnosed it as intestinal parasites (likely acquired from prey) that are causing gas retention (hence the come-and-go bloating) and prescribed antibiotics, as well as warm baths and smaller food portions.

I wish I could provide some advice, but I am far from an expert on snakes. Maybe bring up the consideration that it may be parasites during your next vet visit?

[hypnoctopus]

Whatever it is, it would definitely be in your other snake's best interest to separate them in case it's something contagious.

[ladylc21]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm going to try to get a better poo sample and take it back to the vet to see if they can identify a parasite.

[Nanci]

If it was crypto, you would most likely be seeing a series of regurges, causing you to have to feed smaller and smaller prey. She would have a swollen stomach, which the vet would be able to palpate. She would be thin.

[smigon]

Cohabbing causes stress in corn snakes which can cause regurges, you are better off keeping them in separate vivs. Here is a great article (http://squamishserpents.ca/care-info/can-i-keep-multiple-snakes-in-one-enclosure)on why not to cohab.

[spyderk]

My young Cal king had a bulge on Thanksgiving day last year. Let me look up the thread where I talked about it in more detail. The bulge came and went. He only had 1 regurge. I had him euthanized because he was looking so thin and refusing food, and the vet discovered that he had an intussusception, something she had seen in dogs such as German Shepherds, but hadn't heard of it in snakes. His stomach had turned in on itself, and it would slide in and out, causing a bulge sometimes but not all the time. It isn't correctable in snakes.

[spyderk]

Here it is. http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134155&highlight=elliot