Help! Bleeding from Anal Vent

[dasluder62]

Joey was constipated about a month ago. She normally poops within 5 days of a feeding. She went for almost a month without a poop. I thought maybe it was because she didn't get her usual sized mice for 3 feedings - the store where we buy only had little ones. We stopped feeding her and soaked her for several days in a row. We were just about to call the vet when she pooped. That was 2 weeks ago.

We fed her a normal sized mouse and she pooped normally after. We fed her again on Sunday and today she pooped, but less than the normal amount. After I cleaned it, I noticed blood in the substrate (Aspen shavings). She's restless and crawling around in circles and it looks like she's trying to poop more, but isn't able to get it out. I tried to soak her, but she wouldn't stay in the tub.

We called the vet and he's on vacation for two weeks. We don't know of any other reptile vets where we are.

Please - any advice? I'm really scared for my baby.

[dasluder62]

Update: We finally found a reptile vet. We had to drive over an hour to Leipzig. Joey is severely constipated and the constant efforts to evacuate has caused the cloacal to prolapse and an infection to brew. The vet was very positive, however, and said that with treatment, she should be back to normal in a few weeks. They are going to keep her for a few days and hydrate her and give her a laxative. Once she's evacuated and the urge to defecate stops, the cloacal should heal and close.

The next step is to figure out why she became so constipated in the first place.

[Twolunger]

So glad you were able to find a good reptile vet. I can't remember ever having a constipated corn snake, but I'd be curious to find out what caused it.

[dasluder62]

I will post an update!

[dasluder62]

I promised to post an update:

Sadly, we lost our Joey. The constipation caused an infection in her intestines and it was just too late for the antibiotics to help.

I'm completely heartbroken. I keep thinking that if I had only taken her to the vet as soon as I noticed something wasn't quite right, maybe they could have saved her.

We have absolutely no idea why she became so constipated in the first place.

[Dennis Gulla]

Very sorry to hear of your loss... that’s a bummer. Soaking a constipated snake was the right thing to do.

[dasluder62]

We did soak her - every day for a week and she did have a bowel movement. That's why we thought everything was okay. But then two weeks later, she had only a small bowel movement and started bleeding from her cloacal. That was the beginning of the end.