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Corn not swallowing! Eats, but doesnt swallow?

JoeyBagadonuts
02-03-2006, 06:57 PM
I brought 2 very small pinkies home for my corn and this is what happened.

First pinky, he constricted it, swallowed it, but it seemed to get lodged in his throat and it wasnt moving down. He seemed to get his head as vertical as possible so that maybe it would go down easier. It didnt. He then started lashing around very quickly, and then came to a cease. Since he is a snow corn, I was able to see the blood in his head was really bright red like it was gonna burst and then completely white past his neck like he wasnt getting any blood flow. At this point, I gently lifted him he started to move and thrash when I was holding him and then out came the pinky.
So I waited a little while and proceeded to try again with the second pinky. He it about 20 min ago, but again, the whole thing is in his mouth, but it doesnt move anywhere. He put his head straight in the air again. Lashed around a few times,looked in the tank 5 min later, and he puked the second pinky up.

Any ideas what is going on? He has eaten much bigger pinkies and even some fuzzies in the past, so I dunno what is going on.

Joe

thanks in advance

Roy Munson
02-03-2006, 07:07 PM
That doesn't sound good. You probably have two options:

1. Take him to a vet immediately.

2. In case it's an injury that you can't see, wait 10-14 days. If he drinks, cruises, etc. during that time, try giving him the smallest pink you can find after the 10-14 day period. Maybe a pinky head could be a good start too. You may even want to lubricate it with vegetable oil. If his health seems to deteriorate during that time, or if he is still unable to swallow the meal, a vet visit will probably be necessary.

Good luck.

Lennycorn
02-03-2006, 10:04 PM
That doesn't sound good. You probably have two options:

1. Take him to a vet immediately.

2. In case it's an injury that you can't see, wait 10-14 days. If he drinks, cruises, etc. during that time, try giving him the smallest pink you can find after the 10-14 day period. Maybe a pinky head could be a good start too. You may even want to lubricate it with vegetable oil. If his health seems to deteriorate during that time, or if he is still unable to swallow the meal, a vet visit will probably be necessary.

Good luck.

I agree with Roy, try route #2 first then # 1 if that fails.
Just to let you know that my butter lifts it head towards the sky while swallowing it's meal, others on this sites stated the same thing , so that part seems "normal".
Good luck with the snake keep us posted on the outcome.

Tracee
02-04-2006, 02:15 PM
My goodness I've never heard anything like it. Poor lil guy :(.

You've been given some great advice and I hope you can get him feeding properly very soon. Do make sure to wait to try again, you don't want to 'condition' him to refuse food because it's causing him pain or discomfort.

Keep a close eye on him, I've got my fingers crossed for you.

JoeyBagadonuts
02-05-2006, 12:54 AM
~UPDATE~

He finally ate!
I know some said to wait before feeding him, but it was already 11-12 days since his last meal.
He was starting to shed some around his neck, so maybe this had something to do with him not being able to swallow. I noticed yesterday, when he tried to eat, he wasnt really moving the muscles in his neck. So, anyways, I put a wet wash cloth in a Tupperware container and let him crawl around for about an hour. When I opened it, he had completely shed. So, today I got him another pinky, same size as yesterday, and he ate it with no problem. I turned my head and it was down to his stomach already and looked like he wanted more.

Tracee
02-05-2006, 08:26 AM
It sounds as though the unshed skin was actually so tight it was stopping him from swallowing :eek1:

Well, it's great news at any rate. I would check your humidity levels for next time he sheds, and hopefully it won't happen again :)

Piper
02-10-2006, 09:10 AM
Wow, that's strange. I've never heard of anything like that either. I'm glad he shed & everything worked out ok!

I'm sure if I hear another situation like this, your story & solution will come to mind. Thanks for posting.