Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my bullsnake for three years. In that time he has grown from a small hatchling to a robust 5 foot animal.

Something terrible is wrong with him this year, though. Everytime I try to feed him, he attacks and kills the rat, but can not eat it. I try not to disturb him when he's eating, but I think I can see him struggling to swallow it. He is either unable to swallow the rat or is losing interest after he killed it.

I have tried reducing the rats size from a medium rat to tiny rat pups, and he is still unable to swallow it.

Does anybody have any clue what can be wrong here?

I really appreciate anyone's input. Not only am I wasting alot of money on uneaten rats, but I am quite fond of this snake and I hate to see him wasting away like this.

I don't have any idea why this problem has suddenly arisen. Just a suggestion though, try coating a rat lightly in Mutton-Bird-Oil. It may just help him getting it down. Good Luck.

I'm not sure he can swallow anything. He used to be able to gulp down fat, medium sized rats, but now he can't swallow the smallest of rat pups.

Could there be some kind of internal infection causing this? I've noticed very once in a while, he'll let out a loud, short hiss.

Might be, try the oil, if that doesnt work maybe you should take him to a vet. Good Luck!
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-Doug Daly

"Aren't you two a little old to be drinking illegally?"

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe Obsoleta lindheimerii)

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A loud, short hissing, could indicate a respiratory infection. This can cause a lot of discomfort in the snake and lead to loss of appetite. When it hisses look for any liquid, or bubbles, coming out from the nose or mouth, even if it's very small this would indicate a respiratory infection.

A dose of anti-biotic can usually clear this up in a snake very quickly, I'd recommend taking him to the vet if you do notice any liquid/water coming from the hose when it hisses.

What do you feed him on? If it is a loose substrate, such as aspen, then he might have swallowed some of it and it has become an impaction in his body. Or perhaps he has some fur stuck down there. You might want to consider getting him to a vet who is experienced with snakes to check.
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phflame

I doubt its impaction. That wouldn't prevent the snake from eating all the way, moreso preventing the snake from being able to digest and absorb nutrients from the prey, and taking a crap. Even if the snake is fed on aspen, one small chip should be completely digestable, especially on a 5 foot snake. Aspen is 100% natural wood. You can't honestly say that when a snake eats in the wild it NEVER gets a small bit of a twig or something broken off can you? of course not. Also, impaction occurs 99.99% of the time at the beginning of the intestinal tract. This snake is having a hard time swallowing, so I would be more tempted to say it has some kind of infection, be it a RI, or maybe even some sort of strange parasite (although i've never personally heard of one that does that.)

I'd still take it to the vet. Either way, it doesn't sound like it's something that you can cure yourself. (I say this because even some things you CAN cure yourself, like an RI, are really left to those who know the details, and if you haven't dealt with it before then I would say to let a vet help.)
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Chondros and colubrids... my 2 favorite types of snakes!

"Life is hard. Life is harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne

I have to ask - why haven't you taken this beloved snake to a vet?

When something goes wrong in a long-term, previously robustly healthy animal, the first stop is the vet's office, not the Internet.

Off the top of my head: there could be a physical mass (tumor or cyst) that is preventing him from swallowing. And that mass would be getting bigger as you wait for replies on this forum.

I'm sure that's coming off harsh, but when you stop and think about it you'll realize how right I am and you'll call your vet.