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Kingsnake with muscle problem

A

Audrey87

New member
hello~ hope u can help me with this..

Okie, its not a corn but a king.. but hopefully you guys can help me all the same.

when we first got him, he was a weak little one.. about less than 1 yr old i think..

Now fast forward 1 yr, we realize that he is super weak.. examples:

1) when we flip him over to show his belly, he does not flip back immediately. he takes awhile to flip over..

2) when we carry him, he doesnt use his tail to coil around our hand for support like the others but instead, if i let him, he can fall right off my hand.

3) he doesnt coil around his prey when eating.. this is a problem because when he doesnt coil around the prey, he is not able to "hold" his prey and end up has to use the wall for help to anchor the prey so that he can swallow. (prey as in pinkie) we still have to feed him pinkie because anything else is too big for him since he doesnt coil round so he's eating it full sized instead of squeezed to fit into his mouth. (hope u get what i mean)


is there some muscle problem that im not seeing here? any solution for it? the other corns are doing fine in the same environment.
 
It could be neurological damage.
Without a vet having a look at him, it is hard to say.
 
I would have a vet look at him, but I'm not understanding why he can't eat regular sized meals? Constricting doesn't change the size of the food any, and mine just start eating wherever they are, no need to hold the food..
 
Problem
Is there are no vets here..

Usually my corns constrict their prey and make it smaller, crushing the hips and so that they can swallow and angle it so it fits in their mouth..

Btw urs don't hold on to it's food either? Oh I tot it Was only mine tt did tt.. All the YouTube videos I see, the kings all constrict their food.. One time, he ate a hopper and he couldn't get it into his mouth at the hip area.. And just spit it out..
 
^^ Yup. Just break the bones. Or feed two of a smaller food item (not usually advised, but this is a special case.)
 
My corns don't break the hips on their prey items, even when they coil 'em, and several of them eat full-sized prey without coiling at all, no problem.

Also, most snakes that eat mice will not coil pinks. There's no need as, in the wild, the pinks can't run away and aren't dangerous. You are underfeeding your snake.
 
I agree, feed normal sized food items. What are the temps in the enclosure? Has the snake regurgitated at all? How large is the snake and how much does it weigh? Does it shows signs of a respiratory infection? (wheezing, sneezing, drooling, gaping)
 
ok at least now i know its normal if the snake doesnt coil around its prey.. its just tt all my corns do it even the youngest one that is 1 yr old. do i need to give him any special attention like give him a smaller feeding box or hold the prey while he eats? i did that for him the first few times he ate coz he was literally "chasing" the pink all over the box, trying to find an angle where he can push the pink against the wall to eat.

ill try feeding normal sized food items again.. although its abit scary.. he took nearly 2 hours to try to eat the hopper than give up and regurge it out. not sure will it be better to feed him smaller food items but at shorter intervals?

the temps of the enclosure is constant.. our tempretures are about 25-28 degrees here. He is actually still very small.. around 1-1.5 feet? never weighed him before but im guessing.. 800g? around there? he is nearly the size of my normal sized healthy 1 yr old corn. havent noticed any wheezing, sneezing or anything.. oh, he also is a problem eater. we sometimes have to brain the pink or find him live pinkies to eat or else he will refuse food or just cant seem to see the pink. he sometimes strikes(in slow motion) and misses.

i dont really know his age.. but the breeder told us he is about 1 yr old or less than that.. and we brought him back since last yr april 2011. so that makes him maybe around nearly 2?
 
If he's about 12-18 inches, a hopper is likely too big for him. He's not a corn. Their jaws don't stretch quite as well, so appropriate for him is a fuzzy.

800g is almost a kilo. That's about 2lbs. If he was that heavy he'd be shaped like a sausage. Did you mean 80 grams?
 
Uh, my Indigo weighed 800 grams last time he was weighed, and he was close to five feet long at the time.
 
BTW, ive been trying to find like crazy the causes of neurological damage.. but i cant seem to find any info on it.. can anyone help me? btw, can cold (like 17-18degrees) cause this problem?
 
eh. haha.. yar. i think i meant 80g.. but then again, i have to go back and weigh him again because im not at home.. but ill be home tomorrow.

hopefully will have the right measurements tomorrow.
 
Shiari said:
If he's about 12-18 inches, a hopper is likely too big for him. He's not a corn. Their jaws don't stretch quite as well, so appropriate for him is a fuzzy.

800g is almost a kilo. That's about 2lbs. If he was that heavy he'd be shaped like a sausage. Did you mean 80 grams?
Click to expand...

this is a very very helpful information. i did not know that. :headbang:
 
Neurological damage is generally caused at birth... or by head trauma or high temps.
I suppose it could be caused by freezing temps as well.
 
Oh, that is true, Vicky!
If you have an exterminator spray your house or if you use other chemicals with fumes.

Snakes aren't as sensitive as birds (you can't even heat up a non-stick pan in a house when you have a parrot), but they can get brain damage from fumes.
 
ok.. i checked with a few friends who have kings, and a few of them say tt this is normal behaviour of a king.. they even showed me theirs but theirs dont take such a long time to flip back..

haha.. im confused now. -.="
 
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