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Yesterday as I passed his tank I noticed him holding his mouth open... then he regurgitated a slimy whiteish goo. He has also refused to eat since the beginning of last month.... before that he would take a meal or two then refuse the next meal and eat again the week after (before this he was always feeding reliably) I have had him for 4 years now and other than a slight respiratory infection a year ago (he got over it very quickly with some added heat and a quarantine type setup.) he has been in appearant good health all his life. Since yesterday he has been leaning slightly to one side and not moving much at all.... and when he does, he only moves an inch or so about every hour. I can see an enlargement or swelling of his body between the 5th and 9th saddle then it appears normal up to right before his cloaca where he apears to be alittle bit bigger than normal.... kind of like before he is about to poop... but it is still there since atleast yesterday. none of the swelled areas appear to have have moved at all since yesterday. I also think I seen alittle bit of blood in his poop about 2 weeks ago... but where is is on a substrate and not just paper it is hard to say....
I disinfected his tank and cleaned everything and put him on newspaper insead of substrate. I also tried putting a heat lamp on him but he just wants to get away from any heat source so I turned it off.... he still has his undertank heater but he is on the opposite side of the tank where the temp. is around 73 degrees.... the warmest side of the tank get up to 97 degrees... which is very hot but there is no way for me to regulate the temp of the under tank heater.

I called the vet yesterday too, but there is only one vet who will see reptiles where I live and he will not be available until Thursday... 2 days from now. And I honestly think my snake will die tonight or tomorrow.

I am very very sad as I love this snake very much (he was my first snake) and I am wondering if anyone knows what could be wrong with him and what I should do..... should I put the heatlamp on again and basically heat the whole tank (I am guessing 85 degrees would be okay) or should I just leave it off. And would it be a good idea to mist him or raise the humidity in some way.... I am soo worried.

those sound like some awful symptoms...some of them almost suggest resperatory infections(mouth hanging open and discharge from mouth), while others sound like some sort of lower internal infection or infestation...i would take him AND a sample of that whitish goo to a good herp vet and pronto.let us know how it turns out.

He died before I managed to get him to the vet

I have no idea what happened.... I asked the vet about the price of an autopsy but they said it would cost $80 for just a basic autopsy.... cutting him open and having a look.... all laboratory work was extra and there is no way I can afford that, especially after a vet bill totalling over 300 dollars less than a week ago.

so sorry to hear about your loss-we know how hard it is to deal with(as well as ludicrous vet bills-but you get what you pay for,as a rule)best wishes and best of luck
~bpg and artsnakeb0y