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HELP!! What in the world is this?

Thank you to everyone for your help and concern, this is the strangest thing ever.

I took Tula out this morning, getting ready to go to the vet, and I immediately noticed, the lump is gone. I mean, completely gone. So I look high and low in her viv for poop and I dont see any. I knew if i took her in they were going to look at me like I was crazy.

I wasnt going to cancel the appointment because of how prominent those horrible lumps looked 2 days ago so I went anyway and tried and tried to explain to the doctor where and what the lumps looked like and tell them Im sure something is wrong because of the regurge. I told the dr the mouse got to that bulge and never moved past it, and it was regurged about 8 hours later. They asked me about temps, what im feeding, how Im feeding, etc. They thought initially it may be aspen but they couldnt feel it when they gave her her exam. The dr kept saying "Show me where the lump was again"

They brought in 3 herp doctors who kept saying the same thing, we dont see any lumps, she looks fine, alert etc, one said maybe it was a gas pocket, another said sometimes weird things happen with a snakes intestines, maybe it worked itself out, etc. They all felt her down from her neck to her tail and then brought another guy in to do it too, and then we did X rays and sat down with them and another doctor.

Basically, there is no obstruction. There is nothing unusual on her x ray except for the fact that her intestines are full of air.

The other thing is, I said before he belly is clear.....down by her cloaca waiting to be passed out, is a bunch of POO.

Could that entire thing be something that took long to digest? Cause it is completely gone and all of a sudden you can see poo inside her that was there before.

Anyway, they gave her something to help go to the bathroom and pass the gas. The doctors were very gentle with her, once she poops they want the sample to test for parasites just in case, but their convinced she is fine.

I feel bad I made her regurge. I shouldve just waited a few days for the lump to go away :confused:

The bill wasnt a grand, but it was close enough to it for me LOL
 
I'm glad she was ok. Like we always tell patients where I work, it's better if we don't find anything- even if that means you never know. You don't want us to find something.
 
Cool!

You can let her swim in a warm bath that will help her pass anything it might still have inside. I execised all my corns in a tub with warm water each snake swam 20 minutes twice a week and man I have to tell you that its the best thing I have ever done all my females layed fertal clutches so far (18) of them and no egg binding! I keep mine in a snake rack and they just dont have the room to execise the way they would if they were in the wild!
 
Ok!

Well thank god you posted, could you have told me to seek a vet without being a mean 9 year old or does that just come with being graced with your presence?

Well, I see alot of people post on there snake problems with regurges and other problems,and others replys and most dont even have a clue on whats going on. If a cornsnake regurges bottom line its sick ,unless of course its a gravid female thats eyes are bigger then its stomach. I mean theres alot of sugar coating imo going on. Then the cornsnake dies and the person with that sick snake wonders why. I gave you the worst senerio of what it could have been,but how would you have felt if you never took it to the vet and it died? Because others told you its probably no big deal. Should I be one of those people who tells everyone that everything is going to be ok?
Sorry thats just not me!
 
Tula_Montage said:
At least you have peace of mind now. Gas build up sounds plausible for sure...
Click to expand...

Thats true. This is an odd experience for me, for sure.

Nanci said:
I'm glad she was ok. Like we always tell patients where I work, it's better if we don't find anything- even if that means you never know. You don't want us to find something.
Click to expand...

Yea, and it was pretty interesting to get to see a snake x ray too! :rofl:

Im just glad she is home and in her viv now, when I walked in with a little container they looked at me funny, the dr treats mostly large snakes.....they got a kick out of her though. Shes only about 70 grams.
 
You know what, it's nice that you got to meet all the vets- now you'll know what they are like ahead of time if you ever have another emergency. It sounds like they were very thorough and caring.
 
Well regardless of the fact that she checked out ok, she still regurged between Saturday & Sunday...so Im assuming I go by normal protocol and attempt again on the 11th, small meal with nutribac right?
 
I'm happy eveything went well for you..I guess yours and my snake sure didn't have the same problem, or mine was way more serious. Strange how things go away like that???? Kinda like taking your car to a mechanic and swearing something is wrong!!!!! Good luck.
 
Hi!
I'm glad your girl was okay with the vets, looks as if good wishes work sometimes..!! I'm quite happy. :spinner: :dancer:

But just to be sure - I'd really take the next poo she does and let the vets have a look on it. :)
Intestinal gas accumulation can happen accidentally, by spoiled rodents, by parasites... In the last case it could happen again and it could get even worse. I don't want to be pessimistic, but some parasites have fluctuating life cycles so the symptoms show up, disappear, show up again...

You could take the fecal sample and send it to the vets per mail (just make sure you take an airtight box for it ;) ) the you also save the money for the gas/driving there :)

(I know it may be hard to spend more money on a snake that looks quite fine and healthy now, but then you will have the complete "peace of mind" ;) )
 
JustineNYC said:
Well regardless of the fact that she checked out ok, she still regurged between Saturday & Sunday...so Im assuming I go by normal protocol and attempt again on the 11th, small meal with nutribac right?
Click to expand...

I think your dead on there, better safe than sorry after all ;)

I think with a normal regurge you wait the ten days so the snake can replenish gut flora etc. but the way you described it in your snakes case then maybe the prey item wasn't regurged from the stomach as the blockage stopped it getting that far, but yeah best of waiting anyways i reckon.

All the best

Tom
 
Well heres an update on Tula.....

This is her tonight, does she look any better?

IMG_0502.jpg


She never did poo, and it was 10 days since her regurge on the 11th. She didnt look well that day, and I got really worried cause she wasnt moving around much. She refused her pinky head but ended up shedding a few hours later. Once she shed she was active again, and she's been climbing the past few days......tonight I offered again because I used chicken broth and I thought maybe I could get her to take it. So far, nothing.
 
Hi!
As far as I can see, she looks fine, but that she doesn't eat.... Try the known "tricks" - and if it doesn't work, you could get fluid nutrient from your vet (its Bioserin in German, don't know the english name) that can help her recover if she is ill... My vet can also take a sample without poo (by washing the cloaca someway), perhaps yours can also?

Much luck!
 
The swelling and regurge suggested something like crypto. If it happens again, I would take the mouse into the vet and have it tested. Often the crypto spores will not show in a fecal, but a stomach contents will have the disease showing. How much air was showing in the intestine? While some is normal, it should be relatively uniform and not excessive. I'm not sure that thickening of the stomach lining would show on an x-ray either. Hope she comes around for you. Did they do a fecal on her? Has she been tested for crypto just to be on the safe side? If you do take her back, I would suggest using a snake bag as it lowers the stress levels. All animals seem to be calmer and show less stress when they are bagged or have their head covered. A small snake bag is more discreet when traveling on public transport as well.
 
Hello again!
Do you own other snakes or reptiles? If your little one has Cryptos (god may help she doesn't) they could infect other reptiles in you household too, because normal disinfectans don't work to kill their spores.
If you have other reptiles it could be safer to use one-use rubber gloves when you handle your patient, wash everything she touched properly with hot water or throw it away.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed she has no Cryptos, if you get her to the vets they can make a washing of stomach or cloaca to find out what matters her.
Much, much luck!
 
MegF. said:
The swelling and regurge suggested something like crypto. If it happens again, I would take the mouse into the vet and have it tested. Often the crypto spores will not show in a fecal, but a stomach contents will have the disease showing. How much air was showing in the intestine? While some is normal, it should be relatively uniform and not excessive. I'm not sure that thickening of the stomach lining would show on an x-ray either. Hope she comes around for you. Did they do a fecal on her? Has she been tested for crypto just to be on the safe side? If you do take her back, I would suggest using a snake bag as it lowers the stress levels. All animals seem to be calmer and show less stress when they are bagged or have their head covered. A small snake bag is more discreet when traveling on public transport as well.
Click to expand...

Where the hell would she have gotten crypto though? Ive gotten all my snakes off here, so unless someone on here was selling snakes with Crypto I dont know how she wouldve gotten it.

They didnt test for Crypto and she didnt go to the bathroom after we left the vet. The air in the intestines to me didnt look like alot, but Im not a vet, and it wasnt enough to make a buldge because when I brought her in and told them about the lumps, they lookd at me like I was nuts.

Ive had her a year, so she was in my room with all my other snakes, standard quarantine is 60 days right? So basically if its crypto I can kiss all 5 of my guys goodbye?
 
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