Over fed ? Bloated? Idk! Please help!

just got done reading the whole thread and looking at the pix. that's a cute and fat lil guy. didn't look like a sausage butt to me tho and i'm super happy to hear his impaction was removed. was that just solid, hard fecal matter. he also looks to be in shed, so hopefully he will let loose w/ the shed.

BTW how do u feed Monty? in enclosure? what kinda substrate do u use? snakes will be ok w/ swallowing a lil bit of substrate here and there, but they won't pass chunks of mulch, husk or shavings like a wood chipper. hopefully this was just a one time incident and u most def have your heart in the right place.

Wow, I feel so relieved, it's almost like I was at the vet- :rofl: I'm so glad for the happy update, we've all been worried about Monty (& you). :dance::pinkele::bounce:

Yay!!! Ugh, was so worried about you and sweet Monty. You're a good mom to take such great care of him. Pay attention to substrate and let us know what you think caused the impactions.

Thank you all so much for caring about my sweet little guy. I did use reptile bark as substrate and I did feed him in his cage. I always watched him eat though and I've never seen anything stuck to his dinner as he was swallowing so I'm not really sure. I'm thinking a bigger water bowl and higher temps in his cage. He is pretty tender "back there" and he is so swollen he is bulging out his rear. She assured me that it was not a prolapse and that what they had taken out of him caused that bulge. She said if it did not go back in that I could use sugar water or straight sugar on his rear end to help the swelling. But when I checked on him a couple hours ago he was resting peacefully in his hot hide and his vent was not protruding anymore. I also cleaned his caged thoroughly and dumped all his substrate. He will just be on good old clean paper towels until we get through this. She also mentioned that lower temps in his cage could have caused a slowing of his digestion in turn causing the impaction. There's just no clear answer to why. But I'm now just trying to correct it. It means a lot to me that I have a place to go with my concerns. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you ❤️

Awesome news, I'm so glad to hear he's doing better.


If your vet didn't suggest it or you aren't doing it already, offer his f/t feeders wet. More water in the front end = more out the back end, which can help keep his urates from getting so hard that he has problems passing them.

And when you feed him, use a "plate" under his food...doesn't have to be a real plate, can be paper plate or cardboard, shoebox lid, anything to keep
the substrate from sticking to his food. Don't use paper towels, as moisture makes them stick & get swallowed too. So happy you found a good vet to
help him thru this.

Yay!!!!! I'm so stoked to read Monty is doing well.

Keep up the good work!!!
Also, I second what bcr229 said about wet feeders. I feed all of my snakes this way.

Same here: I thaw my rodents directly in water (not in plastic bags as some suggest). It washes off some of their scent, but certainly not all of it.
Most snakes don't care either way, but if they're used to feeding fresh or dry-thawed, they might hesitate a little but normally "adjust" just fine.
On the other hand, whenever I've worked with wild caught snakes, you can almost see a smile on their face when their prey is wet.

I thought you might like to see how the swelling has gone down a little since yesterday. The first picture is today the right side picture was before I took him to the vet. His vent has now closed and he is getting ready to shed. I thaw directly in water as well. I do dry it off with a towel (that I've deemed my "rat towel" lol) and he has never missed a meal. He is a great eater. I will feed him wet from now on. Thank you for the tip! I'm sure he won't care. He was holed up in a paper towel tube today so he doesn't seem distressed or anything. I'll include that cute pic too. Keep the great tips coming every one! ❤️
https://ibb.co/b8Bgrd
https://ibb.co/d6PjBd

He still looks puffy (& presumably sore) but much better, and time will help him heal, I'm sure. What a little cutie! He's been through a lot, just needs TLC now.