Not digesting food?

[Maloof]

Hey guys, I have a bit of a problem with my corn. He's almost 12 months now, and until now he's never had a feeding problem. He's never refused or regurged or shown anything but gusto at feeding time. The problem is, he appears to have a lump of food left over in his belly as of today (late Thursday) and he ate on his normal weekly feeding day of Sunday. The lump doesn't appear to be as large as the full prey (13g hopper, snake is around 100g), but it's large enough that it's visible. The lump is around his midsection, perhaps a bit closer to the tail end of his body than the head end. I thought that it might be a bit of poo retention, but I thought that would be a smaller lump, and closer towards the vent...

So here are some details. He's in a tank with the same dimensions as a 20 gallon long tank, but with a bit more height. He has a warm side hide, cold side hide, climbing branch, fake leaves, and water bowl. Substrate is aspen, 1 or 2 inches of it all over the whole tank. Warm side tanks are at a constant 84-86 (thermostat keeps it there all day) and cold side temps have been about 72-73. He took a poo from last week's feeding that appeared completely normal, I have not been able to find poo from this week's feeding. His behavior has been the same as always, and he is active and alert. He's had no change in feeding schedule / size (prey was no larger than the last one which was digested fine). I handle 4 times a week, 1 day to feed, 2 days to digest, then 4 days of handling.

Sorry for all the information but I'm a little worried as I've never seen this before, and I'm afraid of the potential to regurge. Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

[BobbyHill]

I've seen this once or twice when a snake is getting ready to shed. Hang in there and of course, keep a close eye! Hopefully everything turns out okay.

[Agent Psychocat]

Hey Maloof, I'm just jumping on to catch this thread's progression. Wishing you luck

[tommiegunnz]

You could try giving him a bath in warm water around 85*. I found this triggers the snakes I've worked with. Fill a tub with water about an inch or two deep so he can get his head out. I've seen it work really quickly where after only about a minute that tail come up!!!! Like Bobby said he could also be heading into shed, when is he scheduled to shed again?

[Maloof]

He should be going into shed in a bit, and he just started to show dulling signs today. I checked on him again today when I got home afternoon, and the lump doesn't appear to be visible, or if it's there it isn't quite large enough to notice as easily.

The problem with the whole shed theory is that he has always eaten the week of a shed cycle... He's eaten before going dull, while going dull, while in blue, and while cleared up and had no problems before. That's why I'm a bit concerned cause he's such a champ when it comes to eating.

Anyway thanks for the ideas, I don't really want to soak him due to the possibility that he might regurge because I really don't want that to happen. He would normally have another feed on Sunday but I'm going to skip that (for the first time) and stop handling sessions for next week as I did this week. Luckily it's supposed to get pretty warm over the weekend so that might help bump up digestion if that's what the problem is. Thanks again for the ideas, I'll keep everyone posted if anything changes.

[Maloof]

Well it appears that as of late Saturday the lump is gone, and he is definitely going into pre-shed. It's been unusually hot here (low 80's ) which I think might have contributed to him finishing digestion. I'm contemplating feeding him tomorrow, but I think I'm going to continue as planned and skip the feeding and handling for this week, anyone have any opinions?

[BobbyHill]

Maloof, I would skip feeding this week on account of him digesting so slowly. Just let him finish shedding and digesting, and pick the feeding regimen back up next week.

[Maloof]

Alright guys, little update. Since my first post he has clearly gone into blue and then cleared up, so he should shed within a few days. The lump is gone and he now appears to be fine. Last question would be: Should I feed him as scheduled tomorrow? He's eaten during a shed cycle several times before with no problems, but due to the recent issue I'm a little apprehensive, any ideas? Thanks for your help guys.

[BobbyHill]

Maloof, see my last post. It's certainly not going to hurt the little guy to skip feeding for a week, and it would be a shame if he regurgitated his meal because of too much stress/activity to the system. I vote just leave him be till next week.

[Maloof]

Well that's the thing, I already skipped one feeding, so this is the second that I would be skipping. I know snakes don't need a ton of food but he isn't an adult so I'm just a little unsure if going without food for 3 weeks would be bad.

Just to clarify I started this thread on a thursday, after a sunday feeding, I then skipped then last sunday's feeding and am now asking about tomorrow sunday the 24th. Basically, fed on 10th, noticed lump on 14th, skipped feeding 17th, asking about feeding 24th.

[Zulu3]

I would agree with BobbyHill, I have a yearling and she once went 3 weeks without eating. She did just fine. It isn't usually reccommended to feed during shed anyway, (which my girl does fine with too btw) but given his little digestive problem I would really wait this time. He will be just fine until he sheds. =)

[medusacoils]

Well that's the thing, I already skipped one feeding, so this is the second that I would be skipping. I know snakes don't need a ton of food but he isn't an adult so I'm just a little unsure if going without food for 3 weeks would be bad.

Just to clarify I started this thread on a thursday, after a sunday feeding, I then skipped then last sunday's feeding and am now asking about tomorrow sunday the 24th. Basically, fed on 10th, noticed lump on 14th, skipped feeding 17th, asking about feeding 24th.


I agree with Bobby Hill and Zulu3. Skipping a "couple" of feedings will not hurt you little snake one bit. They can actually go for a period of time, without feeding and have "no" ill effects from it. This time will give the little one, time to settle and I am sure his appetite will improve and he will be back to his self, in no time.

I also agree, that because of this issue, I would skip on feeding him while he is in the blue, for now on.

Just a thought,

Wayne