Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my python went missing for 2 days, was supposed to eat on friday and today i found her in my drawer staying warm in a bundle of clothes. she drank water then i placed her in her terrarium where she moved around for 2 min and then placed her head inside the hut where she sleeps. her body was elongated in the tank with her head inside the hut when she *** went into a convulsion/spasm and made her body FLAT like if she had just been squashed. she stayed like this for 7 min and then her body went back to normal then after 5 min she coiled her entire body into the hut. she is breathing and still inside her hut...any advice would be greatly appreciated

zsazsa

ps. she is 2 1/2 feet long and 7 months old.

pss. i will take her to the vet for the this week.

I know my male does that quite often and I've seen my big fem do this to but I've never payed attention to how long they do it. Your snake is probably stressed and wants to stay in the hut where it thinks it is safest. I would give her a week to get back the way she was and to try to find a lock that'll work on her cage.

thank you.

She just ate her thawed mouse. Had no problems, took it down tail first so that was a first because usually head first.

zsazsa

I don't know what could've caused the convulsion/spasm but it's definitely not normal. That doesn't necessarily mean that your snake has serious problems but it does need to be looked into to see if it was a temporary reaction or a persistent issue.

Is there a chance that the temperature in the drawer she was found in was low, or were there any moth balls, cedar, or any other kind of chemicals in there? Maybe even dirty socks? (Just kidding - trying to add a lil' bit of humor to help us all keep our sanity.)

Could've been an issue having to do with it drinking - like maybe the water temperature being a fair amount different than its body temperature. Or even some water inadvertently going down the wrong pipe while drinking.

If this is the first time, I'd keep an eye on it and try to look backwards for any/all possible causes. I'm not saying that I wouldn't go ahead & take it to a Vet because of this one incident because it's always better to be safe than sorry. Definitely, if it happens again and you can't place your finger on anything that could've caused it, take it to a Vet asap.

In your particular situation I can't help but feel that it was caused by something other than genetics or disease/illness.

Please keep me updated. A lot of people silently reading the forum can learn a lot from your situation.

Hang in there!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Just thought I droped in and say HI, I'm one of those quiet reader in this forum that had leard a lot. Thank you all for sharing your experiance.

Kerwin

Hi Kerwin!
Nice to meet you! Don't be so quiet, jump in a discussion or two once in awhile, ask questions, offer advice, post pics, tell us a story or something.

Hope to "see" you around!

HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com