This is Phim (for short), she is a female '06 Florida Blotched Kingsnake (what I am assuming Florida intergrade King) ... had been sold as a Flame Florida King when I purchased her. She did have some very nice red bands, on black, but, of course & as expected, those have faded away ... and the black has done a lot of the inside fading of individual scales. Not my most colorful snake, or King, but ... she is very special to me.
She just finished her antibiotics and was on them because ...
One day, when I pulled Phim out, I noticed that she had some blood at her cloaca. Not a lot, but it was there. I monitored this, each day for the next week, but did not find any more blood at her cloaca.
A small amount of pressure, placed above the cloaca, did not cause blood to be produced either.
Belly felt normal and appetite, & behavior, remained normal.
'Course, she had, also, been doing more soaking than usual (the extra soaking being a bit out of the norm) so ... it could be that any blood had been "washed away", each time, before I checked her.<shrug>
Then, one day (approx. 1 week after noting the initial blood), I went to pull her out of her viv. As I started to lift her ... she stiffened up, mouth went agape, and I felt the rhythmic motions of an impending regurge. So I put her right back down. What came up was, mostly, in liquid form and was of a small quantity ... with just a tiny bit of what looked like partially digested small "pieces" in it. This is a snake who has an "iron stomach" and has never regurged a day in her life (plus it was not a typical regurge)... so I figured something must be up. I pulled her out and she was acting normally. Checked her cloaca ... nothing there. I held her, for a bit, and, while I held her, she had wrapped her tail around my wrist. After putting her away, I went to wash my hands and ... noticed some blood on my wrist. I knew, of course, where it had to have come from. A call was placed, to the vet, because, at the least end, I suspected there must be some sort of infection and, if not, I needed to know what was going on and fix it.
When the vet went to probe one side of the cloaca (during exam), a little blood was produced. The other side, of the cloaca, made Phim flinch in quite a bad way. Anyway, without going into all details, ... and all said & done, it turns out that Phim had an infection of the small pocket inside the cloaca... and I had one pissed off snake! (After arriving home, Phim was a happier snake and sweet as could be.).
I mentioned that the extra soaking must have been an attempt to seek some relief and the vet agreed.
One thing that made me feel real good was that Phim had, also, gotten a physical exam and the vet said that ... there was no gas in the belly, weight was good, muscle tone was right where it should be, etc., and that, other than the infection issue, ... I couldn't ask for a healthier snake.
Phim has been on antibiotic injections, since the 20th of Oct., and the last one was last night. All seems well.
BTW For anyone reading this ... If you notice your snake is soaking more than is its norm ... don't, automatically, think this same thing is the "problem"/reason because extra soaking can be for various reasons. However, if there is blood at the cloaca, reasons are rather limited and an infection could be one suspect
Well .... here is Phim:
She just finished her antibiotics and was on them because ...
One day, when I pulled Phim out, I noticed that she had some blood at her cloaca. Not a lot, but it was there. I monitored this, each day for the next week, but did not find any more blood at her cloaca.
A small amount of pressure, placed above the cloaca, did not cause blood to be produced either.
Belly felt normal and appetite, & behavior, remained normal.
'Course, she had, also, been doing more soaking than usual (the extra soaking being a bit out of the norm) so ... it could be that any blood had been "washed away", each time, before I checked her.<shrug>
Then, one day (approx. 1 week after noting the initial blood), I went to pull her out of her viv. As I started to lift her ... she stiffened up, mouth went agape, and I felt the rhythmic motions of an impending regurge. So I put her right back down. What came up was, mostly, in liquid form and was of a small quantity ... with just a tiny bit of what looked like partially digested small "pieces" in it. This is a snake who has an "iron stomach" and has never regurged a day in her life (plus it was not a typical regurge)... so I figured something must be up. I pulled her out and she was acting normally. Checked her cloaca ... nothing there. I held her, for a bit, and, while I held her, she had wrapped her tail around my wrist. After putting her away, I went to wash my hands and ... noticed some blood on my wrist. I knew, of course, where it had to have come from. A call was placed, to the vet, because, at the least end, I suspected there must be some sort of infection and, if not, I needed to know what was going on and fix it.
When the vet went to probe one side of the cloaca (during exam), a little blood was produced. The other side, of the cloaca, made Phim flinch in quite a bad way. Anyway, without going into all details, ... and all said & done, it turns out that Phim had an infection of the small pocket inside the cloaca... and I had one pissed off snake! (After arriving home, Phim was a happier snake and sweet as could be.).
I mentioned that the extra soaking must have been an attempt to seek some relief and the vet agreed.
One thing that made me feel real good was that Phim had, also, gotten a physical exam and the vet said that ... there was no gas in the belly, weight was good, muscle tone was right where it should be, etc., and that, other than the infection issue, ... I couldn't ask for a healthier snake.
Phim has been on antibiotic injections, since the 20th of Oct., and the last one was last night. All seems well.
BTW For anyone reading this ... If you notice your snake is soaking more than is its norm ... don't, automatically, think this same thing is the "problem"/reason because extra soaking can be for various reasons. However, if there is blood at the cloaca, reasons are rather limited and an infection could be one suspect
Well .... here is Phim:
