Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a two year old female albino snow corn, never bred, not around any other snakes since she was a few weeks old. She's been extremely healthy in all this time, eating well, shedding well... everything. She hides most of the time, so it's a treat to see her out playing at all. She was out of her hiding rock pretty much all night last night and this morning, she was laying against the glass of her aquarium, very still, but looking as though she had cramps all through her body - not exactly kinks, and I can't detect any swelling, but when I saw this, it scared me. After remaining in this position for about ten minutes, she relaxed, but after another bit of time, she did it again. Now, I could imagine an animal about to regurgitate or lay eggs in this type of strained position, but I know of nothing that would cause Rya to do it. She was last fed two weeks ago, had a bowel movement last week, and has not shown any other problems. Am I over-reacting? Or could there be a serious condition here?

Thanks for any help!
Shannon/Gypsy

It's hard for me to say what exactly is going on. I can picture it in my head, but it could be quite different than what you see. In any case, is this a constant behavior/posture? If not, does it happen often, is the snake acting normal inbetween episodes? Why has it been 2 weeks since the last meal, did she refuse?

Without yet a big picture, my immediate advice is to follow your instinct. If this is a transient behavior that has occured a couple times, then take note of it and watch for improvement or additional signs of a problem. If this is something that is regular, increasing in frequency or severity, or if the snake looks to be in pain, then a trip to the vet is your best option.

Ian

Thanks for responding so quickly! This was the very first time she ever exhibited such behavior... it was like she was all scrunched up from head to tail and "bumpy." After a few minutes of staying in this position, she relaxed, and then a few minutes after that, she scrunched up again, but not as much. That was all I saw of it. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw her was that she looked like a very badly herniated lower intestine when she was in that position. So I thought it might be cramps, a blockage that she was trying to get out, or some form of snake "colic." The good news is, last night when I arrived home from work, she seemed to be doing fine again, and I took her out to check her and didn't feel any lumps or kinks or swellings of any kind. She is just about to shed though, by the feel of her. The reason she's not been fed in two weeks by the way (actually, it was 12 days)is that I have her on a two week feeding schedule. I know some people think that's too long, but please believe me when I say she's not malnourished! I plan to shorten the schedule when I get her a bigger place to run around in, which will probably be in the next month. Thanks again, and I'll let you know if she exhibits that behavior again... it was just so strange, and I thought someone might have seen it before.

Shannon/Gypsy