Just to start - this isn’t a post asking “do I need to go to the vet". This is a post asking “how soon do I need to go to the vet" - because it’s the night before I go on a 3 week vacation out of state and I’m kind of freaking out because I didn’t expect this.
TLDR: my elderly, disabled corn snake has lost over 100 grams in one month, going from 469 on may 20th to 361 today. He hasn’t been eating for a little under 2 months, but I didn’t expect such a massive decrease in his weight as he’s always hovered around 450 at his vet appointments to my knowledge. Unfortunately I will be away from my home for 3 weeks, so I’m not able to go to a vet appointment myself, and I’d only be able to convince my mom to go by herself (maybe keep me on speaker?) if it was an emergency, if even that. Do you think 3 weeks is too long to wait for an appointment, or is he still probably healthy enough that I can wait until I get back? (Of course I’d schedule the appointment for right as I get back)
Full context: I have this sweet old boy- er, well, he’s actually a girl, but I was incorrectly told he was a boy originally before finding out the truth years later and old habits die hard. Happy pride month and all of that. But joking aside, he has been obviously on a downward trend for years. Every late spring / early summer he stops eating for a while and will only start eating again when he sheds, lays his eggs (attempted parthenogenesis) or otherwise gets rid of them, and then sheds again. He has been scaring me for years, before I knew he was a girl I was just terrified I was losing him every year. And frankly, even once I found out by finding a mysterious clutch of eggs in “his" cage one night, I remained worried every summer after.
In 2024 I was moving across the country during his typical anorexic period prior to laying eggs, so I took him to the vet to ensure he wasn’t having any problems, especially because I hadn’t the first year he laid eggs (which was 2023). Lo and behold he had a really awful infection in his back for reasons I still don’t know - I treated him before moving, and he made the trip no problem and made a recovery, with one awful caveat - he visibly has issues with spine fusion due to arthritis caused by the infection, which makes it harder for him to move than it was before. But he still gets around, is able to drink, poop, thermoregulate, etc. Struggles with shedding but did before then too. And sometimes forgets to take care of himself but again, he did that before too. He’s also obviously lost a lot of muscle mass (although that started in like 2021) and is generally not very good at being mobile, but he manages.
In 2025 he laid eggs again (in 2024 he had some but they got reabsorbed according to X-rays) and I took him to the vet after and the vet gave him the all clear, but afterwards prescribed a painkiller which we didn’t discuss in the appointment, so I declined to have it filled. I personally have chronic pain and he absolutely cannot do oral medication, and personally I’d rather just deal with the pain than get a shot most days, so i figured for now it’d be best to just let him live out his days how he wants. But my old vet back in California did say he’d likely need to be on painkillers for the rest of his life, but the vet here initially disagreed, so I’m not sure…hence why I wanted to talk to the vet about it if the vet actually recommends it. In any event, he got all his eggs out and was otherwise doing fine.
5 months ago he went from eating two hoppers every meal (small prey for his size but he stopped eating bigger ones) to eating one hopper every meal, but he was still eating so I wasn’t worried. 2 months ago he stopped completely - but again, that isn’t too unusual for this time of year. Like I said in the tldr his weight a month ago wasn’t concerning to me - which is why this drop really is. Unless he’s hidden his eggs from me shockingly thoroughly (and laid them early), that just makes me all the more worried for him.
Originally I was going to make a much less frantic post asking about something else unusual. A little less than a week ago he shed - or more accurately I had to help him once he got started. We do the usual soak and rub routine, we’ve done it before. I hadn’t checked on him closely (ie handling) since then (I was hoping he’d eat…) and then I checked him tonight before attempting (and failing) to feed him. And the poor thing was all scraped up! A couple of small scabs / scrapes and a bunch of scales that look like they’re flaking off. I might have just dismissed it as being close to shed if I didn’t, you know, just help him shed less than a week ago. I did semi recently change his cage and move some things around, and I know with his navigational issues he ends up rubbing his back against some weird places - could that have caused the damage? It’s pretty extensive honestly…and didn’t happen until after he shed, so I’m wondering if he was just tender after I helped him? Is there something I can do in the future to help prevent that from happening? It looks painful 
I just feel so bad for him. His new favorite hide is rougher in texture in some places than his old one so I’m wondering if that’s it? Rough ceramic in an aluminum dish vs an aluminum dish with a plastic lid (the old hide was too beat up and the new dish’s lid would’ve been way too noisy oml). I don’t mind baby proofing his enclosure but I want to know if there’s something else going on.
I have been low-key expecting his death since 2021 or 2022 (I can’t even remember now) and that won’t stop it from hurting terribly, but I just want him to be as comfortable as possible for the rest of his life. And selfishly? I really don’t want him to pass while I’m gone. I don’t know how old he is because I adopted him as an adult, but I’ve had him for almost 10 years and the vets think he’s pretty old. He helped me recover from the trauma of losing my first snake prematurely (pet store snake, don’t know what was wrong with her despite testing, went out due to anorexia and weight loss as well…) and he’s just done so much for me. I have 3 other snakes and i love them all dearly, but Phantom, the snake this post is about, is just…special. I just want to do right by him. If I wasn’t leaving Literally In 12 Hours I would consider rushing him to an emergency vet (I don’t exactly know of any emergency reptile vets nearby, but I’d do my best) before my trip, but that’s just not an option… but I will do whatever I can to do right by him.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for reading! And I am so sorry if I broke any rules posting this, I couldn’t find the rules on mobile very easily and I was kinda writing this in a quick panic… please let me know if I did and I’ll edit things asap!
I’ve been through this rodeo before so as long as he eats in the next few weeks I am far less stressed. That doesn’t get me back the hours I lost overnight to anxiety but hey, I’m not the one driving so sleep deprivation won’t kill me LOL. Thank you so much again!!
