What is wrong with my snake?

At about 9 am this morning I found my snake laying in her cage in a very bizarre position. I was a bit worried so I checked her. When I started to take her out, she did some very weird, jerking motions. She was rearing up and swinging her head to the side. About the last two thirds of her body was limp feeling. At first I thought she was dehydrated because she was looking very skinny even though she had eaten within the last few weeks.

I gave her a bath and even tried dripping water into her mouth but it didn’t seem to help. Earlier this afternoon I just put her back in her cage to let her rest. I wasn’t sure exactly how much good I was doing or if I might even been hurting her instead. So its been several hours and she’s still alive. What do you think could be wrong with her and how do you think I could help?

Take her to the VET. I don't know how serious it may be but they should be able to help her out. or atleast give you something more to go on.

Ive spoken to the only vets office I know of in my area and they’re just cat/dog type of place.

You say eaten within a few weeks, but how often do you normally feed?

In the last maybe 5 months, she hasn’t eaten very much. She had been having a few problems keeping a mouse down. But in the last month she has about two times.

Sorry to say, but its probably too late to save her now There is a regurge protocol that could have helped, but after 2-3 regurges things are pretty bad- the snake loses their digestive enzymes and good bacterias when they regurge allowing the bad bacterias to thrive. You may want to just freeze her at this point to avoid further suffering its sounds mean I know, but really is more humane than allowing her to die slowly.

Shes eaten 2 mice in the past month and not regurged.

I understand, but once they loose those good bacterias the bad grow out of control and allow infections to grow and spread. You stated she was limp and moving oddly which is a sign death is near and she may be in pain

ok. Ill think about it.

Raiden,
Please do not take this the wrong way, but I too believe it is to late for your snake. The best thing you can do now is to end her suffering, I do not think you want to watch her go through the very violent throws of death, that can happen at this stage, trust me.

I bought a corn from a pet store and they did not tell me it had bee regurgitating, so the first time I tried to feed it I gave it a full meal for it's size (a very bad no no for a regurgitating snake) and it regurged again and died 3 days later. My snake was just as you described yours. The only difference was that when I found mine in the strange position, she was 15 mins from death, which violently happened in front of me and in my hands.

Her head thrashed back and forth, up and down, her body twisted horribly and flipped and flopped all over her viv uncontrollably. I instinctively got her out and hoped i could do something, she was limp, and thrashing and twisting and convulsing and gasping for air! It was a terrible horrific thing to watch and feel.

I shudder to even think of the pain and terror she must have gone through.

PLEAS PLEASE make something positive out of this unfortunate incident. I am not trying to be rude or cruel when I say that if she started to have problems 5 mths ago, you really should have done something, sought out help, found a vet, whatever, a lot sooner.

From this experience these are my thoughts on ways to grow from it and make sure her death is not in vain, accidents happen, unfortunately, most of us experience losses that could have been prevented.

1. Order Kathy Love's book "Corn Snakes The Comprehensive Owner's Guide", it is an invaluable resource. She has been keeping and breeding corns for almost 40 yrs, she knows more than most reptile vets know.

2. Carefully read Digestive Disorders p.126

3. Order a bottle of Nutri Bac from Kathy's web site http://www.cornutopia.com/ it will replace the good bacteria and give the snake a fighting chance to recover from regurges. Kathy has also told me personally that she gives it to all of her newborn snakes and to each of her newly purchased snakes just to make sure the bad bacteria are not already getting out of control with any snake she has (preventative measure).

4. Research for a herp (reptile) vet near you, even if it means you have to drive an hour and a half to get to it!

5. Do more research period, so that you will be better informed on what is and is not normal with a corn snake, what are warning signs of illness and what to do if something does go wrong(before it gets this bad and is to late).

6. Come on the forum regularly, ask ask ask, search search & search, there is so much great information here and so many great people willing to help us newbies learn and be better corn snake keepers!

I do not write this to you to preach or as some judgmental person who is perfect and feels they know it all, I am still fairly new to the hobby and I have lost snakes as well.

I hope you can do what is right for your snake not what is right for you. In this case you have to think about her suffering and not your own pain from her loss. Learn from this, if you have others become a better keeper for them and for the next ones you get, which I am sure you will get more, life just is empty with out them.

Tisha