Rescued Snake - please help

[Raven]

I just picked up a new corn tonight. She was in a tiny tank, maybe 5 gallons, with nothing but a water bowl and coconut substrate. I am fairly certain she is gravid and possibly egg-bound. The vet will not be open until at the earliest Tuesday.
I have put her in a 20 long with a generous sized humidity/lay box with damp sphagnum. She seems extremely happy about that. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Raven]

She also has odd red swellings randomly on her, but I can't get a good photo of them.

[Shiari]

She looks obese and may have what are sometimes referred to as 'hips'. Definitely still take her to the vet. What you've done so far is definitely good.
If she poops for you before the vet visit, collect as much of it as you can and bring that sample with you.

[Raven]

Thanks Shiari! I was wondering if that was possible. What is the best way to keep a snake fecal sample "fresh"? Would exercising her help like it would other animals? Are there any long term problems associated? I was told she's only 1.5 yrs old, but she seems big. Sorry for all of the questions.

[Shiari]

She probably is overweight for her age due to the small cage size and being overfed. Drop her down to once every 10 day feeding for now. As for keeping a sample 'fresh', put it in a plastic baggy, get as much air out as you can, and store it in the fridge, but not the freezer.
Exercise would definitely help, but wait until you get back from the vet to make sure she isn't eggbound *and* fat, as obesity can cause the former. But she is also rather young to be producing eggs if that age is accurate. Not completely unheard of, but very very uncommon. Long term, being chronically overweight is going to shorten her lifespan so we want to get that weight off slow and steady.

[Raven]

Ok! Hopefully she just has some extra weight. I'll try calling some of the other vets around maybe one is open this weekend.

[Raven]

Earliest appointment I could get is Thursday morning. I'll know more then!

[Raven]

Update: Just got back from the vet. Snow White is indeed a female. She weighs 464 grams. Initial fecal was negative for parasites. X-rays confirmed that she is gravid and has no tumors nor is she obese. The vet suspects that the swellings and lumps are due to trauma/injury from her previous living conditions. Time to keep my little momma to be happy!

[Raven]

Happy girl

[Raven]

6 days after shedding... she's in and out of her lay box. I don't know who is more antsy waiting for the eggs, her or me?

[Twolunger]

Let us know how she does. Mine usually become restless just before laying.

[Raven]

I will. The incubator is all set just in case her eggs are fertile! Crossing my fingers that they are and she can pass them without issues.

[Raven]

Still no eggs....

[Raven]

Day 19 after shed. She's still eating and active but has not laid yet. I know there is a variation in how long it can take before they lay. How often should/can I be checking on her without pestering her?

[Twolunger]

If you have a lay box in her vivarium there's no reason to pester her. Just peek at the lay box to see if she laid. Pre-lay sheds are nice, but some of my females lay without shedding first. Some eat the day before they lay, a few of mine go off feed a few days to a week before laying. I am a little concerned because she had obvious eggs already moved to the cloaca area, and it's been almost a month since you posted her picture. I guess I'd wait for another week, but then I'd want the vet to make a determination that there's no reason for concern.

Of my females that laid this year one laid without shedding first, four had sheds, laying within 14 days, and one has eggs but hasn't shed yet.

[Raven]

She has a clear lay box in her tank with a generous amount of damp sphagnum. By pester, I meant walk near her tank, check conditions, peer into the box etc. I have had other snakes in the past successfully lay, then hatch out the clutch to healthy babies. I'm still learning and check this site when I have questions or want to know more - always learning something! The collective knowledge here is fantastic!

The bulge by her tail, as determined by the vet and x-rays, was trauma from an event prior to when I got her. Her eggs were not near her cloaca.

I was wondering if anyone else had experience with a similar situation? If she still has the swelling, will she be able to pass the eggs without issues?

I figured if she doesn't lay in a reasonable amount of time, I will be calling the vet, though I would rather avoid another trip (unless she needs the visit) that may unnecessarily stress her out and cause her to have more problems with possible retained eggs.

[Twolunger]

She has a clear lay box in her tank with a generous amount of damp sphagnum. By pester, I meant walk near her tank, check conditions, peer into the box etc. I have had other snakes in the past successfully lay, then hatch out the clutch to healthy babies. I'm still learning and check this site when I have questions or want to know more - always learning something! The collective knowledge here is fantastic!

The bulge by her tail, as determined by the vet and x-rays, was trauma from an event prior to when I got her. Her eggs were not near her cloaca.

I was wondering if anyone else had experience with a similar situation? If she still has the swelling, will she be able to pass the eggs without issues?

I figured if she doesn't lay in a reasonable amount of time, I will be calling the vet, though I would rather avoid another trip (unless she needs the visit) that may unnecessarily stress her out and cause her to have more problems with possible retained eggs.

Boy, that's a good question regarding if she will be able to pass the eggs with that swelling. I assumed it was just an egg, but it could prevent normal egg laying. If the vet wasn't concerned, knowing she was holding eggs, maybe we shouldn't be concerned, but anything out of the ordinary is not a welcomed sight. We did have a female with a tumor near her cloaca we didn't breed, just kept as a pet, but she laid infertile eggs anyway, and had no trouble passing them.

[Raven]

Good to know! Thanks! Hopefully she is just taking her time until the weather is nicer out.The vet didn't think it was a problem, but we also figured some of the swelling would have gone down by now. There was a difference in the ribs on the section with the swelling, but again she didn't think that would cause an issue. We also don't know if they are fertile eggs. Normally I wouldn't concerned, but there are a lot of "ifs".

I have no idea of anything before I got her except that she was not being properly cared for (though very well fed!). They said they had a male corn snake - I asked if I could take him too but they wouldn't let me. They woman I got her from said to her knowledge the two corns hadn't been together. Anything is possible though.

[DennisP]

I wonder if Eggs happened? :)

[Raven]

Sadly not yet. She's refused to eat the past 2 feedings and been extra restless the past few days until today, she's just resting on the cool side. That's usually a good sign. I called the vet this morning and am waiting a response from them on what to do. I also covered the tank partially with a dark sheet.

[DennisP]

My females do the same thing just before they're about to lay (refuse food, then rest)
Did the vet xray earlier? I would have suspected they'd have done that.

[Raven]

Yes. The vet x-rayed to check on the injury, bone density, if she was gravid, etc. She had at least 7. Just heard back from the vet. She said to weigh her. If she's lost weight she reabsorbed the eggs, if she's the same or heavier we may have a problem.

[Raven]

She was definitely not happy about me taking her out today. Current weight is 433g. That's definitely weight loss, but is it due to re-absorption of eggs or less food and more activity?

[Rich Z]

What does your egg-laying box look like?

[Raven]

sterlite bin stuffed with damp sphagnum (may add even more) with a hole in the lid. I can take a picture of one of my other ones. I don't want to lift the sheet unless I need to with her.

[Raven]

The vet is saying that she most likely is re-absorbing the eggs and should be fine but to keep an eye on her. If anything changes I'll let you all know. Thanks for all of the support and advice! If there is anything else I should be doing for her please let me know.

[Twolunger]

It's probably a blessing that she is re-absorbing the eggs. That is much preferable to becoming eggbound. The only thing I would do is make sure she gets lots of exercise.

[Raven]

I've read swimming and stair climbing work well. As I have no stairs nor tub, what are other forms would work well? I normally just let them slither around. I was looking into building an "exercise" enclosure for my crew but that won't be done for a while.

[Twolunger]

I had a bleached dead tree about 5 feet tall. My corns loved to climb up the branches. They would climb for hours. But you really had to watch them, as hawks would attempt
to swoop down and grab them, even with me sitting in a lawnchair near the tree. I have seen exercise climbers made from dowels. Someone posted one or two on this forum, and you use it indoors.

[Raven]

Thanks! Yours don't get mites from the tree or outside? I was thinking of something similar, but screened in (very well - reptibreeze style) so that I didn't have to worry about other critters attacking them while they were exploring outside and that I could bring as well. I'll have to look through the forum some more. Must have missed it.

[Twolunger]

No mites, and surprisingly the wild ones I caught didn't have mites. I've been thinking about building an outside exercise pen but haven't done it yet.

[Raven]

Awesome!! I've always been too worried about mites to try that. You may have dimished my fear a bit!