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Please Help. I'm scared. Swollen snake?????

T

tracy0416

Tracy
Okay, just to make 'er quick. All viv things normal and within normal limits, humidity 55%, cool hide warm hide, proper temps, aspen, water, drinking, etc. It's been about 80% here and I don't have air conditioning. but the fans are going and there are no lights on right now over/on her viv.

I fed my little gal (15 inches or so) 3 days ago, (sunday) he's up to 2 pinkies now.

today, my other snake refused a pinkie so I fed it to Joe, (about 1 hour after it had been out/thawed), 2 days before she was supposed to eat. I thought I'd give her a litle extra something to eat.

So tonight I'm tinkering around beside her viv and she comes out to see what I'm up to. She's BIG. When you get past her lungs, she looks almost swollen and her skin is stretched a bit. She moving about though, doing her nightly routine and looks alert, etc. But right up to her tail she's FULL, like she's about to take the biggest poop ever. She's like 25% or more wider girth than usual.

Could this also be a partical overnight growth spurt? She under a year.

I overfed her didn't I? I feel aweful. I thought I was being kind by tossing her an extra pinkie and now she's gonna explode. Some mother I am.

What should I do? Is she in harm? She doesn't look like she's going to regurgitate or anything but I'm worried that she will.

Please respond and let me know the best course of action, even if it's to do nothing at all. And let me know if I did a major no-no.

Thanks.
Tracy
 
So I can't believe I'm posting a picture of pooh but here it is. When I was taking pictures, she had a somewhat runny bowel movement, 2 actually, with clear liquid, white (urites) and some normal dark brown fecal matter. She even made a runny squishy pooping sound while passing the fecal matter, but not actually a flatulating sound. Again, can't believe I'm posting this kind of information...

I think these pictures don't give a good impression of the swelling (or what I imagine to be swelling). But here they are anyway.

Is she just full? There's a lot of clear liquid along with the stool. Perhaps she's overhydrated? Is that even possible?
 

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Oooh I see what you mean...that is noticeable...

I am not an expert but the only thing I can think of is that she has picked up some sort of tummy bug or is a bit constipated? Very interested to hear what the experts say!

I don't think it's due to you "over feeding" her. Especially due to her size and the small size of the prey item you gave her. I OFTEN feed my yearling corn rejected pinks and he has never shown any ill effects.

Two questions: How often do you normally feed your girls (7 days, 5 days etc), the reason I ask is that you said you fed her two days early and that could mean on day 2 or 3 after previous feeding or on day 5 after previous feedings...

Ques 2: Is the snake that refused the meal new? The reason I ask is that you said that she refused the meal and you then said that you gave the pink to your other snake but it had only been thawed and hour ago...some snakes (especially little ones) take a while to eat their food, I usually leave prey in over night for mine, if they haven't eaten by the next day, I then regard it as a refused meal. Even if they are normally good eaters and eat immediately.

Wishing you best of luck! I am sure there are people here who can advise you! :) BEAUTIFUL little snakie btw.
 
I feed her 2 pinkies every 5 days.

the snake that refused wanted something bigger. She's a 3 foot Ball Python and I am feeding her tomorrow but I tried to give her 2 pinkies and she would have nothing to do with them. I tossed one into the corns dish.

Good gawd. I hope I didn't pass something from the BP to the corn. The BP is new but healthy. Normal poops and so on.

Here's another thought. The pinkie, wasn't pink, it was grey. Holy carp. What do mice that have "gone off" look like? It was grey when I took it out of the freezer. I just thouhgt it was a different coloured feild mouse or something. Got it from a reputatble pet shop.

What do you mean by a "tummy bug'? Is that as bad as parasites?
 
her head seems to be moving when she breathes. This didn't happen before, not that I noticed anyway. Is that laboured breathing?

She's got her head stuck out of her hide and she's tilting her head toward the top of her viv. That's not that star gazer thing is it?

Someone please respond...

It's midnight and there is not vet open here that can see reptiles at this time.
 
Hmm... Well, I've found something on another snake forum that sounds like it could be the same. Or something similar...

One reason could be bloating from bad intestinal flora building up.

(Note: I started feeding 2 pinkies every 5 days instead of 1 every 5 days)

according to this poster : Feeding prey too large/ (AKA:too much) will quickly use up all a baby snake's gut flora. (Josephine is young still) This is why he bloated up so bad. Having been on a diet of pink mice too before that, he was burning more calories digesting than he was actually getting from the food. All of this has taken a toll on the little guy's digestive system but he should pull through ok.

So from what I am gathering i should...

wait for him to puke it up or pass it, wait a week and adminsiter bene-bac or probiotics.

HAS ANYONE HAD ANY SIMILAR EXPERIENCES?

Please let me know.

I just checked her again and it's 3:30 am. She's boogie-ing around her viv. Seems alert. Moved quick when she saw me coming from the corner and slithered backwards.

I am going to check the UTH to see if it's on the fritz or something. Maybe it's time for a new one.

God. I can't believe how worried I am. I couldn't sleep if I tried...
 
Hmmm...I see my last reply didn't go through...

A tummy bug is a viral or bacterial infection.

Did you quarentine your ball at all? I keep new snakes away from the rest of my collection for at least 30days, even if they look healthy.

If the pink was off, you would know about it, they usually smell to high heaven!

Really hope someone can help you!
 
I'd leave her alone to digest, because disturbing her may make a regurge more likely. When I move to 2 pinks, I change to 6 day feeding to give time for digestion, seems to work out well
 
D'lil:
I should have done the same thing when I moved Jo to 2 pinkies.

I feel horrible. I' might have harmed my little gal through not researching and asking enough questions here. While it's a good lesson, it's at another's expense and that's not good.

She was fine today after her last meal but when I looked at her after her "treat" she looked like a balloon animal at a kid's carnival! Hmmm. Guess that makes me the clown.
 
Tracey, I know exactly how you feel (if you read my thread about how I disrupted my granite's egg-laying, it makes me cringe to think I could have harmed her through my actions). Luckily the members here didn't queue up to bash me over the head, they gave sound advice and reassurance .
BTW, that is a lovely looking snake!
 
The photos not very good, but in my opinion, I wouldn't panic just yet.
In the wild snakes don't eat 1 pinkie every 3 days moving up to 2 every 6 days etc. They eat as much as they can when they can find it. If they are full they chill out till they can hunt.
we let our snakes go for slightly extended periods without feeding then feed a smaller pinkie than normal (the starter LOL) then after a look at the Pooh a slightly larger food item than normal. (main course) they then look like yours ,a bit stretched.
don't touch it leave it to digest and keep an eye on it.
I think it's just stuffed and happy.
wait for a big Pooh(oh it's that word again ) and go back to your normal feeding routine
You could also research *power feeding *if your still worried that you ve done something wrong.
MIKE
 
Snakes also develop "gas" and it shows up as bulges such as this. I have actually taken a snake to the vet and paid $150 with xrays to find out she had gas!!!!
 
Well this am she is a bit thinner. No additional pooh. She's running around her viv again, over and under this and that. She's not nearly as bothered by the bloating as I am.

Thanks for the compliments on her good looks. I tend to agree!

I'll keep y'all posted.
 
Looks like a slightly larger than ideal feeding bulge...not something I'd be scared about.

My female snow looked a lot like that when my husband accidentally gave her a rat pink two days after she ate an adult mouse. (The rat pink was for the picky BP and I had forgotten to tell hubby that I had moved the tubs around...by the time he realized his mistake, the snow corn had already grabbed the prey and he couldn't take it back.) It took her a few extra days to digest, but no harm. She was just fat, lazy, and happy. :grin01:
 
You guys are awesome! Thank goodness you're here! She's sleeping right now. I'll check again around 4:00 when I get home from my meeting.
Thanks!
 
Well it seems all has returned to normal.

Jo is her normal size and is wiggling around her viv looking for god knows what, (can't possibley be food), and my heart has returned to it's normal position in my chest.

I am a little surprised how paniced I got, and how attached to these little creatures I get. I started imagining her dead and it felt horrible thinking of her not here anymore.

My snake may not love me, but I sure as hell love her.

Thanks for your support and reassurence, Man it helped.

Tracy : )
 
Glad she's doing fine. I was going to say that the poop in the picture looks normal for a fresh one and as long as they are remaining active etc. I wouldn't worry too much. It's when they become lethargic (other than digestion or shed times that is) that I worry about them.
 
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