I recetly purchased a female clown for my future (was hoping)clown project. I named her Emma after Emmit Kelly the clown. Emma is about 300g and hasn’t flicked her tongue since she been here . Emma appears thin with loose skin like she lost weight she isn’t gasping , bubbling or wheezing . Emma has a kink at her vent, and she supposedly eats frozen thawed rats ,I even warm them up but she has refused every other day as I have offered to her. I’ve tried normal size and a little smaller prey item. I just want her to be ok . I called the a vet but they are wanting more then cost of new clown because of testing ,x-rays etc. So bummed.
We can try and help. Info we need to be able to:
-A couple pics of your enclosure (include what size etc.)
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What are you using for heat
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What kind of thermostat to control your heat source
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What are your temperatures set at
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how often have you been handling
That would be a good start we can take a look and see if anything sticks out
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How long have you had Emma?
It is normal for snakes to go off food for a short while after being transported.
How are you warming her food?
Unfortunately, and dont take this harshly, that is the cost of having a exotic pet.
With mammal vets they have multiple visits a day which makes up their wage, with reptiles you may see 1 or 2 a week, so increased costs covers the lack of custom.
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this is her in her tub . She is in Quarantine. I use bottom heat roughly 88-91 . I use clorahexadine as my cleaner . I keep relative humidity of 50% I mist during shed . I keep my room at 80. This is how she came not what i did.
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I have only had her just over a week . I just have never experienced this . All my other snakes have eaten with 3 days of getting them . I put them quarantine and dont mess with them for a couple days . I give then a once over. Thats how I notice the kink but I missed the flick. I reached out to breeder and he went over how he fed her etc. Said she was healthy. So I’m going on what he told me as well.
Humidity needs to be around 60-70%. She needs to be left alone for 1-2 full weeks after you get her, then each time you try to feed, don’t try for another week. Constantly offering food can and will stress your snake. She has plenty of weight on her still and there isn’t a need to panic. I recommend leaving her alone for a couple weeks and only bother her to give her water. Some snakes even need a full month to settle in, it just depends on the snake.
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I thaw over night . Then I warm them up to above 90with hot water. . I keep then in a bag to try keep em dry . I temp. the heads because the skull take longer to heat. My snakes seem to like it .
The most concerning thing to me is the kink. Just a snake not eating the first week you have it is no big deal, and although the pic was way too zoomed in to see much of the snake or enclosure it didn’t look overly skinny or anything. I would guess it has eaten fine before. However, if you specifically asked about kinks and were told it didn’t have any then you did not get what you paid for and I would return it.
Depending on the severity and where the kink is located the animal could be breedable but probably a slim chance. I would return it if possible.
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Sounds like you’re trying some good things.
Overall I’d focus on giving her some extra security and seclusion. Another wider photo shot of the whole tub, and a photo of where the tub or rack is located could be helpful for ideas for achieving that. I’d also suggest to only attempt to feed once per week, and no handling except to weigh her every other week and keep a record, only disturb when needed for keeping the tub clean.
Some snakes have different reactions to the stress of going to a new home. Based on her looks in the photo, it looks like there’s still time to be patient with her and see if she’ll start eating for you by trying some small changes.
Did you ask the breeder what substrate she was being kept on? I’ve heard that that can sometimes make a difference.
If she still hasn’t eaten after a month or two you can maybe try a different prey item like a small mouse to see if you can jump start her into feeding again.
Hope she starts eating for you soon!
I wanted to send back but would have come of the snake. He didn’t care much for her. . That’s why she here I wanna give her a chance maybe rehome as a pet when she get better or keep her myself. Either way I’m gonna get a breeder female to replace her. …once I find one that is 
Her lower jaw/throat area looks super weird from the pictures, maybe it’s the kink but the skin looks really baggy and kind of swollen. Could she have something caught in her mouth/throat, or have a dislocated jaw? Do you leave near an exotic vet who could maybe at least take a quick look? I know testing and X-rays can get expensive, but a simple office visit in which he looks down her throat, etc shouldn’t be too bad
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Her skin is loose her kink is at the othe end (upload://82CrRwmB8qxrpkFEEJ4UIKUMJPx.jpeg)
at the top of the " I " it kinks or was broken. Either way
I keep my smaller snakes in a 14 liter on paper towels hide and water . So the set up is the same. I quarentine in my office /kitchen . Not much cooking goes on here . My actual office is nie my snake/rat room .
I was tryn to show her more. I don’t have a lot of pics of her yet
When her head is extended it just looks loose. Thanks for seeing what I’m seeing .
Just to clarify a couple things, the kink is pre or post cloaca? The photo of her on the hide I can’t tell from looking for sure does she have an overbite or is that just an effect of loose skin fold at the back right of her jaw?
Have you witnessed her drinking water? I definitely concur with what everyone else has posted, my one concern, while rare, is dehydration compounded by the malnutrition. I have a couple that the only time I notice any real amount of tongue flicking is dinner time and when I first take them out to handle them once they settle around my neck nothing.
Definitely follow what others have posted as far as tweaks to husbandry. I would check on her periodically at night using a red light filter. I might also suggest trying a small live prey item rat fuzzy asf, if they are readily available in your area.
You definitely have cause to be concerned, but from what I can see from the photos a week or so of no contact should be fine.
keep us posted with any changes or questions, good luck.
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The kink seems to be pre cloaca. I believe it loose skin and head position.o havnt seem her drink and she she didnt want the live fuzzy . I don’t have access to asf.
Here is write up the @stewart_reptiles did that goes over what to do when you have a baby that wont eat.
i hope this helps. 
New owner with non feeding hatchling, troubleshooting 101
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She nit s hatching she is 300g and sick I believe or was abused
I consider anything under a year old a hatchling. Either way the information in the still applies.
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I wanna thank everyone for all the helpful advise I’m gonna try to help this little girl back to health. I can’t wait until we have expo again so i can see what I’m buying and from who.
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