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Inexplicable Open-Mouth Thrashing and Not Feeding?

S

SteveRhea

New member
Hi everyone, I'm really worried about my corn snake. She's very therapeutic for me (I'm on the autism spectrum) and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on her health and behaviour.

My corn snake has been eating adult mice for a while now (she's picky, she only eats live mice), but she's about the perfect size for eating hoppers. I brought her into my local small pet store two weeks ago so they could confirm that she had been eating the right size mice. They gave her a slightly larger than usual adult mouse, which she threw up a few hours later. It was partially digested, so some of it must have stayed inside her. I discarded the remains and continued her care as usual.

A few days ago, we tried feeding her again. She's been thinner than usual and much more limp, presumably because she's gone a bit longer than usual without a meal. She weakly struck at the hopper when prompted, but made no distinct effort to constrict or eat it. We went back in today and tried feeding her a fuzzy, but she took no interest. A reptile vet happened to be in the store when we were there, so he took a look at her. He said that she's either overly stressed, her temps are off, it's a parasite, or blockage. He suggested that we soak her in a tub of warm water to let her work out whatever food or stool might be in her.

A few minutes after being submerged in lukewarm/warm water, she started exhibiting some really concerning and scary behaviour. She began opening her mouth as wide as she could and shaking herself around the tub, arching back into herself vigorously. While thrashing around like this, she would dip below the water and stream bubbles out of her throat, almost as if she was trying to force herself to projectile vomit. I took a video that shows it really well, if it would help to see exactly what she's doing.

I'm quite worried about her. Thanks so much for reading :)
 
I have no idea what this is, I sure hope someone does. It sounds scary! Just wanted to share my sympathies. I hope it all works out! Keep us updated.
 
Thank you for your concerns. Based on watching her movements, it looks like it's a response to pain that corresponds to a stiff lump a few inches into her body. Maybe there's some sort of internal injury that came from trying to eat something a little too big.
 
Update: She seized up in pain and went limp. She's barely responsive and not moving at all, so I've put her in a cooler at room temperature with some clean aspen shavings. Hopefully her passing will be as graceful as possible.
 
I just saw this. I'm sorry she is doing so poorly. No doubt that anyone who reads this cares and is keeping you and your snake in their thoughts and/or prayers.

I'll keep you both in my prayers.
 
Thanks DollysMom.

She made it through the night, but she's very weak. She isn't keeping her own head up anymore. I'm doing some research on force feeding a pinkie as a last possible option to keep her alive. Thoughts?
 
Make sure she has a comfortable environment, including hides, controlled under tank heat, and clean water as well as her aspen bedding. Give her peace and privacy.

Other than that, whether to force feed or not is beyond my knowledge level. I hope those with more knowledge will weigh in. My inclination, if I were in your shoes, would be to keep her comfortable and consult with a herp vet.

You and your snake remain in my prayers.
 
Final Update: Despite the kind thoughts and prayers of everyone involved and several emergency measures, she hasn't moved for over two hours and appears to have died and entered rigor mortis.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your snake. Losing pets is really hard. I'm sorry this happened : ( You did everything you could, your snake was lucky to have an owner that cared as much as you.
 
Very sorry about this..I know its a pet and I don't mean to sound like I'm a inhuman person but have you thought of doing an ocropsy on her? To be honest I don't know how I'd feel about cutting my animal open after death..but then again maybe it will answer some questions about her death and you'll have more knowledge about this situation in the future on your other snakes..

Sent from my XT1028 using Tapatalk
 
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