Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, I have posted this question about amonth ago, but still have not got him to eat. I bought him from someone here on this site and was told that he was in brumation for a few weeks before I bought him for my son for christmas. I was told that he was brought back up to the right temp again and had a successful feeding before he was shipped. I also bought a female the same time as him from the same person and she has been doing great.
I have tried both f/t and live pinks, plus I have tried the butter tub thing all night, and one time I think that he ate, but threw it up the next afternoon.
Any other tricks I can try? Its been about 2 months since he has eaten and he looks bad! I am trying to post a pic so you can see what he looks like. Any feedback would be appreciated!
Jeffrey

Looks real bad actually... I'm thinking that there is very little you can do.

Force feed it some mouse tails... 1 every 3 days. Hopefully this will start to put weight back on it. Or if you want to give it something with more nutrition, you could feed it egg yolk through a syringe.

I hope it gets better... Looks like an awesome snake.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.freewebs.com/badyear2005

Even if you get that snake to eat(or force feed) it will die with stomach rot anyway, it looks like it has been to long. Might I suggest euthanasia, put that poor thing to rest!
Good luck!!

Very unfortunate situation you have. The poor guy is dehydrated and odviously suffering from malnutrition.

You could try to pinky pump a small meal of either pinkies "only pump about 1 pinky", or prescription diet a/d canine/feline food.

From the looks of it I would say it's to late, but try it if it makes you feel better about the situation.

I would put the animal in a zipper baggy and place him in the feezer to end his pain.....

I would end his suffering and just cut my losses. . . Sorry, to say that, but after 30 years of keeping snakes and having witnessed this situation a few times myself, I can tell you that even if you were to force feed it, the stress alone would kill it the same day because it is too weak at this point. . . I have already tried it several times (years ago), and even when the sick snake (like yours) DID keep a small meal down it would always die a few hours later due to the stress in its' already "too-far-gone" stomach. I had THIS guy (in the pic below), do the same thing last year, and he got skinnier and skinnier (even though he WOULD eat a mouse or two once a month for about six month). But it wasn't enough, since he WAS 77" long and weighed over 5 pounds. I think he just gave up on life, due to age. So after watching him lose half his weight, I euthanized him . . . It was a sad loss for me, he was my biggest kingsnake ever. . .Here is a pic of him:

Zee

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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

they have a very slow heart rate, so freezing will cause ice crystals in the bloodstream and a slow death.

www.anapsid.org has a page or two about "humainly" putting herps out
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (dahmer and berkowitz)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon B)
0.1 blizzard corn (bundy)

http://www.anapsid.org/euth.html its a guide to euthinasia of herps
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (dahmer and berkowitz)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon B)
0.1 blizzard corn (bundy)

A suggestion, since most of us DO NOT have access to fancy
go-to-sleep chemicals: Destroy the brain (by direct blow to head), or if you can't do this: Submerge in water with the use of a zip-loc bag (make certain all air bubbles are forced out when closing bag) and walk away for about 15 minutes. . . Drowning is NOT painful but can be difficult to watch since most snakes can keep their breath for at least 5-10 minutes. They do suffer, but only for a short time (those last couple of minutes when their air runs out). I am only saying this as I can imagine that I myself would rather drown than to suffer a slow death because someone didn't use the right amount of drugs or other painful method. After all snakes kill their prey in the same way: Asphixiation.

Zee
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Your snake looks very thin and unhealthy, but you may be able to save him. Unfortunately there is no way that any of us will be able to tell you what the problem is with any degree of certainty. If you would like to save this animals life I would suggest that you bring him to a vet TODAY!

The snake looks too dehydrated to eat. I would put him in a container with a quarter inch of water and soak it. If dehydration is the problem you should notice him drinking as he lies in the water. He does look to be in rough shape but occasionally snakes bounce back. The advice of force feeding is not bad advice[ in my opinion] but I really think it needs to be hydrated first. The shriveled up look may just fill out a little and he just may recover. I would also consider adding a little pedialyte to the water. If I am not mistaken, that may also give him a needed boost. You have not seen this snake drink any water in a while have you? Have you noticed any mucous or crust on his mouth or nostrils? If the snake is not flighty....which it should be....place him on the edge of his water dish and try and get him to notice his water, and hopefully he will drink a belly full. Even if he drinks a bit, I would soak him a lot for the next 48 hours, and make sure he is at a decent room tempterature. Good luck Tom Stevens

Well I think that I saw him drink a few days ago but just a bit. My son will be heart broken if it dies! But I dont want to see it in any pain and suffer either! If anyone knows of another male thats for sale for a good price, let me know! Jeffrey

Listen to that advice about hydrating the snake. It needs more than a drink - it needs to be in a deli cup soaking in about 1/4" of water set near a heat pad (not completely over the heat pad, but just on the edge so some heat gets in on one side of the cup.)

Dehydration is a major cause of problems in baby snakes. And that snake looks bad. On the bright side, I've seen babies like that recover on occasion.

It seems whoever sold you this snake was not doing you any favors. This happens too often unfortunately.

I went on a driving job and was gone for a month. To make a long story short the guy caring for my collection made many awful mistakes. I found both of my het for Peanut Butter Brooksi in bone dry cages, one was already dead. The second had almost the entire length of its shedding skin hanging off it without it having been peeled off....it looked like the snake had 2 ugly skins at once... anyway that one was even on its side with its mouth open. I soaked it for a few days straight and somehow she made it. It is not a bad idea to freeze it...but why not give it a few more days? If it has its mouth open or can not crawl upright as they usualy do then it is time to freeze him....good luck Tom Stevens

how could somebody be so careless?
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (dahmer and berkowitz)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon B)
0.1 blizzard corn (bundy)

Did you get these snakes from a petshop or at a show? I would try the rehydration before euthanasia, but if that doesn't work, it's sad to say that it is the best thing for it to be euthanized. Good luck, Derek

I got them from an ad here on this site actually.
I am trying to re hydrate him now and will see how that goes. If it doesnt look well, I will use one of the methods you guys proposed to put him down. Thanks again, Jeffrey

I can't imagine how you guys can tell Jeffery to kill this snake. I am not saying he should spend thousands on trying to save it's life, but to tell you the truth I am very surprised that i am the only one to reccomend the snake should be seen by a vet to properly diagnose the problem. I agree that soaking is a good idea, but it will not help if the snake has parasites, but a simple course of Flagyl might! I am sure several of us have seen snakes in bad condition bounce back with proper medical care.... I know that i have! SO I STILL THINK YOU SHOULD BRING THIS SNAKE TO THE VET TODAY!

Thanks for all your help guys! We really appreciate it. I wish we could of gotten him to a vet, but we live in the middle of the boonies and no such vet around.
As soon as I went back to start soaking him, I knew it was too late, he couldnt even hold his head up any more.
Once again thanks everyone for your input, Jeffrey

I remember when you got those snakes. We corresponded a bit at the time about them. I am sorry to hear of your loss.

Namaste,

Dawn