Corn Snake is ill, fearing the worst

My corn snake is somewhere between 7 and 8 has not eaten in a while, I'd say in at least a month. I have tried to offer him food, and he refuses to eat it. I have also noticed that there has not been any fresh stool in his cage in a long while, leading me to beleive that he has not deficated in some time. Also, he has not been burrowing as much. The bedding of his cage is made of what I can describe as large wood shavings, and he normally hides under them. Latley, however, he has been sitting out in the open, which is rather unusual. These things may or may not be related to the problem, just things I noticed before I discovered this issue.

Recently when handling my snake I noticed something that frightens me a little. I noticed these odd bulges starting about 2 thirds of the way down my snake's body and ending at the base of the tail. It started off with 2 of these bulges, but has turned into about 4 or 5 of them. These bulges feel soft, tender, and almost squishy to the touch.
Even worse is that he is completley limp past the begining of the first bulge. When I touch this area, he does not protest at all. In fact, it almost seems like he doesnt even feel it. It seems as if he is partialy paralyzed.
The rest of his body moves as normal, however. He is alert and his tounge flicks in and out. If I touch anywhere other than the affected area, he respons as normal.

I would really apreciate if someone could help me figure out what the problem is and what action I should take.

Here are a few pictures I took of these strange bulges.

The first picture is of the whole area affected by the bulge. Note that everything after the start of the first one is completly limp and motionless.


This picture is a close up of a few of the bulges.

Could it be constipation/impaction?

I could try treating him for impaction. Is the whole limp tail thing caused by impaction? I looked up the symptoms but did not see anything about that?

Is there a reason you can't take him to a vet? If those bumps are not eggs, something is SERIOUSLY wrong. If they are- the snake should still not be limp. How do you know the snake is a male?

I would perfer not to take him to a vet due to the cost, however, If i needed to I suppose I could scrape together the cash to do it.

As for your question:

Originally Posted by Nanci

How do you know the snake is a male?

I don't know.

At first glance, those definitely look like 'egg bumps'. If they are, your snake may be egg-bound, meaning she may not be able to lay her eggs Regardless, he or she should still have feeling in the lower body.

I would ABSOLUTELY take Nanci's advice (she is a Guru around here) and get him or her to a Veterinarian ASAP!

Vet please. No creature should suffer. That looks painful I wish you the best of luck.