Saline injection & laxative?

Things are not lookin good for Totti's constipation after so many warm soaks, so took him to a vet last nite. Stuck a fine tube up his arse injecting him with saline, and tasked to force feed animal laxative 3 times a day.

Have u guys heard of this procedure before? Im not very convinced unless the lax can turn the hard mass into pulpy crap.

Haven't heard of oral laxative helping very hard masses in snakes, however I did find a video where the tube injected saline was replaced with a small amount of lubricant. Snake unloaded something that looked like a smooth rock and I swear it looked relieved.

What makes you think your snake is constipated?
Some snakes will hold in their poop until they shed, which could be weeks. My snakes poop once month or less.

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Originally Posted by Lemonde

Things are not lookin good for Totti's constipation after so many warm soaks, so took him to a vet last nite. Stuck a fine tube up his arse injecting him with saline, and tasked to force feed animal laxative 3 times a day.

Have u guys heard of this procedure before? Im not very convinced unless the lax can turn the hard mass into pulpy crap.

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Not orally. Even when delivered anally laxatives are a hit and miss proposition.

How has the vet come to the conclusion that the snake is constipated?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

What makes you think your snake is constipated?
Some snakes will hold in their poop until they shed, which could be weeks. My snakes poop once month or less.

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Mine just did this. We've only had him since Christmas and he'd pooped some very small things but he shed for the first time last night and also pooped a giant turd.

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I have to say, the idea of force feeding a laxative 3x a day sounds like it would be more stressful than anything else. I have never heard of anything like that, and I doubt I would do it if my vet suggested it.

Yeah uhmmmm I really dont know how to respont to this nicely other than. No.

On a related note, doesn't 3x daily oral dosing sound waaaay too often for a species with such a slow metabolism? Wouldn't the snake end up with a ton of the stuff in its system? I mean, it isn't going to have digested much in between doses...

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Originally Posted by FireStorm

I have to say, the idea of force feeding a laxative 3x a day sounds like it would be more stressful than anything else.

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Yep. Thought the same thing.

Sigh. Bad ending. 3 weeks after the first vet visit and frequent soaking, still refused to feed nor poop. Went to a 2nd vet, immediately got 1 lump out but another lump was still inside so asked to soak daily. Reached home and my boy died. Guess it was too weak for the stress after going off-feed 2 months for the little guy. Blame myself for going to get a 2nd opinion too late.