Hard lump

[mtolypetsupply]

So I have these difficult feeders. One of them who did eat on his own on Dec. 6th still has a hard lump in his belly. I think he ate a pinky head, and I don't think he's digesting it. The lump hasn't moved down any further. He seemed pretty dehydrated the other day, so I put him in a warm soak overnight. He pooped, but the lump is still there. What can I do to help him? Is it technically an impaction?

[RobbiesCornField]

It could be an impaction, especially if its very hard. Do you have any photos of where the lump is? Considering it's been close to two weeks since he ate, and he still has a lump, you might want to get him checked out at a vet.

[mtolypetsupply]

Well, he passed away today. We're down to 4. :(

[Susan]

I'm very sorry for your loss. If you haven't disposed of his remains yet, you may want a necropsy performed, especially a test of his stomach for cryptosporidium. That nasty disease can cause the stomach to enlarge and bulge and it is easily transmissible to your other snakes. There is also no cure for this eventually fatal disease. I'm just thinking about the health of your other snakes at this point and would rather see you rule crypto out than let it go until it's too late. Testing several fecal sample may be able to diagnosis the disease, but negative results will not rule it out.

[mtolypetsupply]

Susan, unfortunately, we had the "funeral" already. The only other symptom was that below the lump, his skin turned green. I'll definitely keep an eye on all my babies, especially those that came from the same source, and continue to practice good hygiene before and after handling, feeding, etc.

How unreliable is the fecal test? I know that most tests are "inconclusive" if a negative result is acheived, but some tests are just garbage, too. I have a horse, and they do a blood test on them for Equine Infectious Anemia. There's no vaccine for the disease, so the test only reports the status of the animal up to the point that you draw blood. If a mosquito lands on the horse while you're drawing the sample, and infects them, you won't know it til they show symptoms or you test again next year. By then, who knows who you might have spread it to? I'll poke around for some info about the test and Crypto online here, any links you have found useful, I'd love to have.

Thanks for your input. It's sad to lose the two I have lost, but the breeder didn't have a good prognosis for these guys anyway. Looking on the bright side, I do still have 4 beautiful babies that would have become king snake food or something had I not gotten them.:)