California Kingsnake suspected constipation

Colubrids Kingsnakes
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Hi all - my snake Peri is (probably) constipated! I brought her to a vet on Monday (Aug 8th) and they gave her some fluids and a laxative to give orally at home. They weren’t able to do a diagnostic X-ray or ultrasound, so they recommended followup with a specialist exotics vet, but nowhere nearby has an opening for weeks. Anyway, I’m trying to figure out if there are any other home treatment options.

I brought her in because I had noticed a visible lump/swelling just above her vent. (See pictures). She’s been passing urates this week, but the last proper defecation I’m sure of was around a month ago (she has a tendency to go in the middle of the night, and she likes burrowing, so I often don’t see it right away). Her activity level has been pretty normal, she doesn’t seem sick or in distress other than the lump. I’ve been giving warm water soaks as well as the laxative.

Anyway, I would really appreciate advice on this - both whether I should try harder to see a specialist vet for a diagnosis, or what I can do in the meantime. (I am located in the Berkeley, California area.)

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Welcome to the community!! You will find a lot of info here! My advice is: A good soak in Luke warm water for a good few hours or so is the first thing to try. Just deep enough to go up the sides a bit not enough to completely submerge the snake. You can even put the bin inside of its enclosure to keep it from getting too cold. Pics might help, as well as more info age size food. Hope the Soak helps!

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I’m not sure why the picture doesn’t show up in your post since it shows up in the thumbnail of the thread. Either way, here is the picture:

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image701×500 31.9 KB

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How old/big is she? I’m wondering if that might be an egg actually.

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Wow that does look pretty big! How does it feel? Especially if it is super hard, you may need a x-ray or ultrasound. I’d say soak it and keep it on paper towels in the enclosure, so you can easily see if there is any discharge from it ever. Keep it comfortable until you can get in to see a reptile vet, or at least one that can do imaging for you.