Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am currently in the middle of feeding snakes and I picked up my california kingsnake to feed him and his whole body just feels limp. He isn't using any muscles to hold on unless he has to. When I sit him down or hold him over the ground he is almost have small seizures. This is the first time I have ever seen this before. Any ideas what it might be? He is 4 years old, around 4ft long, typical colubrid set up. 29 gallon, 85 degrees day, 75 at night. Hides, limbs, water dish, cypress bedding. Cypress not cedar. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Jeff

It seems like he is ticklish when ever I touch him or move my hand while holding him.

Im no expert by any means. But I had a zonata come down with mountain king disease. Its body was very limp and had seizure like movements. He wouldnt eat on his own and I would have to almost force feed him. I dont know any treatment for it. My zonata's still kicking, he's just not his same old self. Matt

I talked with one of the local breeders here in michigan and he said he noticed this in some of his kingsnakes as well and read an article on lead poisoning and the effects on reptiles. Lansing, MI has old pipes and they have warned us of lead content and to run our pipes for 30 second before drinking it. I wonder if this could be the result?

Jeff

Did you happen to clean his cage with anything kind of harsh? Like Windex for example? If not I really have no idea...sorry Tom Stevens

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I had a corn snake that had the same exact sympyoms. It was an excellent specimen (from Kathy Love). Didn't know what it was, but I have seen this behavior before in snakes that were run over by cars. My conclusion (for the corn snake): Since it was my son's and he's a little young and careless, I believe he pinched the cage-top onto the snake not realizing it was there. The top is made partially out of wood, which leaves an area where the snake may be between top and cage if you lower it without looking carefully. After conducting an autopsy, no parasites where found, but a spinal injury was present near the head about 2 inches down. . .

Hope I/m wrong and that it recovers. I have a corn snake that I witnessed being ran over by a pickup LAST SEPTEMBER! SHE's still alive and doing great. SHE lost an eye and has some scars, but otherwise she acts normal and eats good too!!!

Zee

Last week I had an easter king act the same way. An '03 I recently purchased. It was limp and twitched when I tried to feed it. I'm not sure what prompted me but, I shoved its head into the water bowl and the thing drank like it was dehydrated. I pulled it out of the water bowl and fed it the next day when it seemed to have recovered a bit. I'm not sure why it wasn't drinking but I have been watering the little thing with a 60ml syringe because it doesn't seem to be drinking from the water bowl. Absolutely perplexing.

Bob Bull

I believe that's something that all of us tend to overlook a lot of times. I sure have! Thanks for the post as I will add that to my list of what to look out for in Snake's health!!!
(So obvious I overlooked it!)

Zee

the little guys due to lack of humidity. The cold dry air is usually heated through forced hot air or woodstoves. This warm air has a greater capacity to hold moisture and the relative humidity is very low. My house is sitting at 20%.If any young snakes have problems they can dehydrate rapidly.

Until this incident I probably haven't been as attentive to the moisture levels within enclosures as I should be(Duh.. pretty obvious from the sick snake ). The snake in question is a recent arrival an '03 at 65g. Today there are no outward signs of a lasting problem, but the symptoms were very similar to those described in the opening post.

The more we share the more we know,

Bob Bull

n/m

>>the little guys due to lack of humidity. The cold dry air is usually heated through forced hot air or woodstoves. This warm air has a greater capacity to hold moisture and the relative humidity is very low. My house is sitting at 20%.If any young snakes have problems they can dehydrate rapidly.
>>
>>Until this incident I probably haven't been as attentive to the moisture levels within enclosures as I should be(Duh.. pretty obvious from the sick snake ). The snake in question is a recent arrival an '03 at 65g. Today there are no outward signs of a lasting problem, but the symptoms were very similar to those described in the opening post.
>>
>>The more we share the more we know,
>>
>>Bob Bull

Good point, Bob. I live in n. MI, and have had similar problems before. Usually it's a combination of not eating and not drinking though. I lost one of my babies from this year's crop because of not paying good enough attention. I had two babies in one container that wouldn't eat, so I brumated them for two months. I took them out and one was very limp and emaciated. It not only hadn't eaten, but I suspect hadn't drank any water the whole time. I tried to revive it, but it died anyway. The other baby ate after a week and had no problem getting water from the water container. It is doing fine.

My Herp Room, which I keep going year 'round, is usually in the 70's, and has low humidity in winter. The room is warmed by an electric heater. The humidity goes down in the 20's, as you stated a similar %. I use a humidifier to raise the humidity, usually in the 30's to about 40%, but can't keep it going while I'm at work or in bed. I use other methods to keep the snakes with a little more moisture.

Nice points you brought up. TC.

It could be a nutritional imbalance of some kind. Iron toxicity is possible if you're using any kind of supplement. Even if he was in brumination/hibernation he should perk up some once he's been handled for a little while and warms up. He could also have internal parasites. Either way it sounds like he needs a herp vet. If it is iron toxicity it could be lethal and if he has internal parasites he needs medication to get rid of them. Does he have any sores or odd looking scales?