Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is anyone able to help, my grat plains rat snake is doing strange things, normally very placid & eary to handle, he's about 18 months old & last week he sicked up his fuzzies, now when i pick him up he is holding his head upside down & spining his head/neck round slowley, also gripping real tight to my hand & the trying to bite, seems quite distressed, is there anything i can do?

well are you holding the snake tight? I he may be going into shed, leave him alone for a bit.
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0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat
1.0 Black Rat
0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
1.0 Green Tree Python
0.1 Texas Bairds Rat

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North American Rat / Corn Snake Care Sheet

Honestly, it doesn't sound good. If I were you, I'd make an appointment with the vet ASAP to get your snake checked out. Reguritation is bad enough, but if he's spinning/thrashing around, that's usually a death throes sort of thing. Not to seem too pessimistic, but if the snake dies- refridgerate, do not freeze, and take to the vet for a necropsy to determine cause of death. If you have any other snakes, move this snake away from them and monitor them closely for signs of infection.
I hope you are able to get your snake to a vet soon. In the mean time, minimize stress to the snake (no handling) and make sure your temperatures are in the appropriate range.

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Lora

Sounds like some sort of neurological problem.
Could be a parasite or bacterial infection.
Vet may not even be able to save it.
Did you get it from a pet shop? If so , it could have been exposed to all manners of foreign viruses, bacteria, etc.
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