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Found a weird bulge in my Cal king *update w/poop picture 11/30*

spyderk

Just a member
Pictures attached.

I fed my newest Cal king, Elliot, last night. Background: Got him in September. He ate twice for me, then skipped for a month, then ate twice in a row, and has now skipped the last 2 times. I took him out of the deli cup and first thought that he had eaten because he had a visible lump. Upon palpation, I can't really feel anything IN it, though, not to mention the pinkie is still in the cup. Odd. He was behaving normally, maybe a little slow, but he's not really a wild kingsnake baby, anyway.

Of course I started to research and came up with crypto as a possibility. The worst thing that I have done is washed water bowls together in a bin of hot water and dish soap. I used to wash with bleach water and then dish soap and hot rinse, but the past few times it's just been hot water and dish soap. For the first month, I washed his bowl LAST but after putting his bin in the rack, I didn't do that. He is in a homemade rack, the only one on the top rack, with 2 snakes below him and then 2 snakes below that. The bins have covers on them. I have weighed him in a different container from the start, and he has always eaten in his enclosure or a plastic cup that only he uses.

I grabbed a piece of poop that was stuck on aspen and put it in a bag to bring in to the vet on Monday. I work as a receptionist there, and unfortunately they are closed until Monday. I know a more fresh sample would be good, but he hasn't eaten in over 2 weeks now.

I moved his bin to a different room. I'll switch him to paper towels in a bit to see if I can spot a fresh poop faster.

What should I do about water bowls right now? Get some ammonia or peroxide and disinfect every single one? Being Thanksgiving, I can't just run to the pet store to buy more. I could see if the local dollar store has something I can use in the meantime, while I am washing the others. Pretty sure the dollar store is open until noon or maybe 2 so I have time to buy ammonia if I need to.

Because he hadn't eaten in 2 weeks, I have only handled him once a week to put him in the plastic cup. I am sure he didn't have a bulge the previous week. He did poop in the container with the mouse and of course it all smelled horrible and looked runny, but I didn't think much of it. Actually I was surprised he pooped at all, since it had been a week since he ate.

I know it could be nothing and I REALLY hope it is, but my mind usually jumps to the worst possibility.
 

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Ammonia is the only thing that kills crypto. (Well, and steam).

I think if it _was_ crypto, you'd be seeing a history of regurges. And he'd have an triangular shape, with a prominent stomach.

He looks round, but the bulge is concerning, given that he hasn't eaten. I'd have the vet check for any kind of parasite/bacteria, with a float and a Grams stain.

Crypto is a long shot, and you'd have to do three negative acid-fast tests to rule it out, or one PCR. I think I'd look at other stuff first. If that is what your vet agrees with.
 
Ammonia purchased, and I bought about 24 little dishes that can be tossed after use.

Why did this have to happen on Thanksgiving, when things are closed until Monday. Should I try to get him to eat again to get a fresh sample?
 
He was 19.3 grams on 11/8, fed on 11/11, and I weighed him as I was setting him up in his paper towel lined bin and he's 19.4 grams.
 
Update: The bulge looks less than it did yesterday, maybe a bit less than what it looked like when I found it. I soaked him yesterday and again today. He did poop a little yesterday before the soaking even began.

I'm handling him with vinyl gloves and all snakes have disposable water cups.
 

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A few more pictures. After soaking, he gave us a present. The soft bulge didn't seem to go away though. You cannot see it from the bottom like you could on day 1 and 2.
 

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Update

I had Elliot euthanized today. He had regurgitated his last meal, and had not eaten for weeks before that or after. He was getting very thin.

I forget if I had updated but I had him to the vet, checked poop, and he had white cells in his sample. She gave him antibiotics, which seemed to clear it up. He went on to eat for me twice or three times since then, but since then just continued to get thin and have runny poop. He was as far away from my other snakes as you can get in my house, and no one else has shown odd symptoms.

I felt like he was too small to take to the cities in the cold and put through procedures at this point, so I took him in to my local vet for euthanasia. She euthanized him and then cut him open to see his stomach contents. She told me (and I saw) that he had an intussusception, and there was nothing I could have done for him. She had not personally seen this in a snake, but said that it was very clear that was what it was.

So, I'm sad about it, but glad he isn't suffering anymore.

http://etd.lib.ncsu.edu/publications/bitstream/1840.2/1977/1/lewbart+3.pdf?origin=publication_detail
 
Spyderk I'm so very sorry for your loss. I can understand your pain and the hard decision you've made to euthanize him. You did the right thing and Elliot is welcomed in snake heaven by Lt. Dan.
Losing any pet is never easy for us. But they spent good times enriching our lives.
My prayers to you and your family.
 
So sorry for your loss and the difficult decision you had to make. But you did the right thing. It is nice that the vet was able to determine what the problem was so you have some closure.
 
Actually, Crypto occysts are highly resistant to chlorine and ammonia.
The only real way to go is boiling water/steam...

I am sorry for your loss.

I exposed 75% of my collection 2 years ago due to washing all the dishes with the same utensils... today I'm insanely careful... I wash them with boiling water/dish washer...

Sorry you had to go through this.
I hope this isn't Crypto... there are enough internal parasites that can lead to similar symptoms.
Sending a post-mortem/stool sample would have helped in determining the underlying cause, if any, for the intussusception.
 
Actually, Crypto occysts are highly resistant to chlorine and ammonia.
The only real way to go is boiling water/steam...

I am sorry for your loss.

I exposed 75% of my collection 2 years ago due to washing all the dishes with the same utensils... today I'm insanely careful... I wash them with boiling water/dish washer...

Sorry you had to go through this.
I hope this isn't Crypto... there are enough internal parasites that can lead to similar symptoms.
Sending a post-mortem/stool sample would have helped in determining the underlying cause, if any, for the intussusception.

I forgot to mention, a pet theory of mine is that kingsnakes, especially Getula sub species, are very resistant to reptile parasites- this is consistent with their diet in the wild which beyond a doubt exposes them to that threat.

It's a personal opinion though, not a fact.
What I'm trying to say is that physical complications in the digestion system do happen from time to time without being caused by parasites. Without a test, there's no real way of knowing.
 
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the kindness. He was my special little guy and I'm sad I won't see him grow up.

I'm relieved that not prolonging his life just to make him suffer, though. That helps.
 
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