Mexican Black kingsnake feeding issues

Ok, so far none of my tricks have got her feeding again yet, not even live anoles. Before I cave and bring her to the vet, I wanted an opinion on whether or not that reptaboost stuff or other appetite stimulants are worth a try. The bottle says it works for corn snakes, but the bottle says a lot of things. I’m not eager to force a syringe into her tiny little baby mouth willy nilly, especially not if it won’t help. But a $15 thing of vitamins is more affordable than a $100 exam fee for the exotic vet.

Can you post a pic of the animal? As long as it is not losing weight and looking bad you might just be best off waiting it out.

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I think she LOOKS ok, she almost looks like she’s got a wide spot in her. I’m worried she’s stopped up.

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She looks about like what mine looks who’s a freaking chow Hound. She could probably be a little bigger but she’s not like… Starving.

Yeah, that animal does not look like she is anywhere close to being in the force-feed area. I would just let her be for now. Keep her supplied with an easily accessible water source and maybe try feeding again in a month.

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UPDATE: I added a bit of repta-boost vitamins to her water dish, and she’s started going to the bathroom again finally (though her ‘leavings’ are much smaller and less frequent than her usual) so I think her system is finally “moving” again. Haven’t tried feeding her but I’ll have some fresh pinky mice to try as soon as my mice drop their litters in a week or so.

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Sad update, but maybe a medically interesting one.

The animal never did feed for me again. She had an unusual wide spot in her body that progressed to a large pair of ugly lumps that kept getting bigger. The veterinarian recommended against surgical intervention on a snake so small so we opted for a humane euthanasia and a necropsy.

The necropsy revealed the slightly wide spot that became a very ugly set of lumps was actually an intussusception, a condition in which the digestive tract folds up into itself like a telescope. She had some bacteria present in her stomach but we cannot say for sure whether this was an infection that caused the issue, or an infection that occurred because of the issue. There was some potential for parasitic causes as well, which may have been more likely because she had to be fed anoles as a hatchling when she wouldn’t take mice.

An animal has to have phenominally bad luck for this to happen (the sphinchters in the stomach have to grab part of the stomach and pull it through basically) and once it occurred she was basically doomed as she wasn’t a very good surgery candidate. So no amount of corrected husbandry or different prey items could have fixed it. I’m very sad I couldn’t have helped her, but the autopsy at least made me feel more at ease that euthanasia was the kindest option for her and that it wasn’t something that was anybody’s fault. I hope I have better luck with other colubrid friends in the future.

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Omg I’m so sorry for your loss! I couldn’t imagine the frustration and heartache. Thanks for the bit of interesting info. though. That’s gotta be a long shot of a happenstance. At least you gave her a good life and happy home for as long as she was healthy.

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Very disappointing for you, sorry to hear it! It is interesting to see the information, sounds like a pretty bizarre set of circumstances.

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Terribly sorry to hear this was the outcome but, as you said, at least you have the peace of mind knowing that it was nothing that you did wrong.

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