Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the other day while cleaning cages, I noticed a holdback male axanthic suboc, born last year, making high speed laps around its cage. It had its head elevated like a coachwhip, and it was moving as fast as Ive ever seen a suboc move. I opened the cage to see if something was wrong, and didnt notice anything out of the ordinary. I then picked the snake, it had a bulge in its throat like a pelican with a fish. I pressed on the bulge and the snake expelled a bunch of water. Then the snake went limp, and appeared to be dead. I could turn it on its back without the snake moving one bit. I figured it must have died. I left it in the cage and returned later to find the snake rightside up and appearing completely normal. Pretty weird.

Man, that's a freaker!!! Glad it's ok...maybe it was just dickin' with you

Playing "Possum" may be a type of seizure in some snakes, which would explain the later recovery..

Matthew
Never heard of it in a ratsnake, though..

Yikes. That is weird. Well, I'm glad he's okay now. But geez, I don't even know what to think on that one...I'd contact a herp vet to ask what he thinks might have happened.

I once had a salivary gland in my throat/buccal cavity "clog"...it kept producing saliva but not secreting it...so it filled up like a water balloon...I had to go to the doctor and have it popped. I had instant relief...it was really weird too.

DR

Suboc.com

But did it cause you to race about your house with your head elevated?
Graham.
-----
30 Snakes :
Corns, Milks, Kings, American Rats, Asian Rats, Leopard Rat, Royal, Boa, Diadems
www.ratsnakefoundation.org

To me it very much sounds like a classic case of Ophidian Paramyxo Virus. Unlike some previous claims on this forum (a long time ago), it actually DOES affect colubrids (the Veterinarian Department of the University of Utrecht has documented and published many cases).