Torn muscles?

So this little recue I got a few days ago is eating just fine and seems to be thickening up already and isnt acting strange at all. He hangs out in his hide most of the time. My question though is about halfway down his body his color fades and it almost feels like he has torn muscles. You can feel ridges all along his sides. Very strange! It almost seems like he doesnt have a lot of feeling in that area either. His first half he responds to and also the tip of his tail, but the faded and dented part he doesnt. Almost like not enough circulation to that part of him? I don't know. Any ideas? (PS: He just shed so I know it's not that, and his husbandry is awesome now)

Notice the color change from front to back:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...10114-1911.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...10119-2017.jpg

Here you can see the denting that you can feel with no mistake:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...10119-2018.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...10119-2017.jpg

I know he is underweight, but I dont think he is supposed to fell like that

When you take him out, place him on the bed or floor, watch his movement, if it's effortless and smooth I wouldn't worry.
He does look a little crinkly, after a few good meals and a couple sheds he should be ok.

Well it doesnt seem like his back half is as strong as his front half

Looks like he has a massive pee or poop..I've had hatchlings get that bloated, water balloon look and feel to them when they pee they're just fine, if you're really worried then a vet visit is in order.

he also looks like he's in shed.... very under weight though. my youngest was wrinkley like that when i go him and he was under weight and hadn't pooped as well, looked bloated and like they said, couple feeds and shed later, he's all better.

His color doesn't actually change. It is an optical illusion. What is occuring is that the animal is full of gas. It has expanded and stretched the back half of the snake out. The scales are stretched so far apart that you are seeing the skin between each scale (the skin is white). This gives the look of a snake that appears to be going into shed. My bet would be that if you feel just anterior of the vent, you will feel some sort of "blockage". Possibly a large urate ball that cannot be passed, or may pass very soon. I just recently had a hatchling like this, and manually palpated out the urate (in some cases it could be some other form of impaction), and was able to gently palpate out the gas by "stripping" my finger from the head towards the tail and pushing the gas out that was present behind the blockage. Sometimes there is liquid urine behind the blocake. After this is done, your snake will look "deflated", but should go back to normal.

note: If you do not feel comfortable doing this yourself, trying to find an experienced herper or vet in your area to help you.

I hope that helps,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddoc

His color doesn't actually change. It is an optical illusion. What is occuring is that the animal is full of gas. It has expanded and stretched the back half of the snake out. The scales are stretched so far apart that you are seeing the skin between each scale (the skin is white). This gives the look of a snake that appears to be going into shed. My bet would be that if you feel just anterior of the vent, you will feel some sort of "blockage". Possibly a large urate ball that cannot be passed, or may pass very soon. I just recently had a hatchling like this, and manually palpated out the urate (in some cases it could be some other form of impaction), and was able to gently palpate out the gas by "stripping" my finger from the head towards the tail and pushing the gas out that was present behind the blockage. Sometimes there is liquid urine behind the blocake. After this is done, your snake will look "deflated", but should go back to normal.

note: If you do not feel comfortable doing this yourself, trying to find an experienced herper or vet in your area to help you.

I hope that helps,

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Thank you SO much for that reply. Tonight I will soak him in warm water to hopefully relax and soften anything that may be in there, and give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes :)

WOW! I can't believe what a difference that made. He isn't nearly as bloated now (though still has some bloating left). I figure if it's still there tomorrow, we'll do it again. I got him to poop, pee, and there was A LOT of gas in there. I never knew they could retain gas like that. Is it something that happened because he is so underfed/unhealthy? He is 8+ months old and only weighed in at 105g when I got him a week ago. He is also moving better and seems like he feels a lot more "relieved" hehehe Again, thanks so much for your help. I would have felt really silly taking him to the vet and for them to tell me he has gas :rolleyes:

Wow I would have never guessed that snake was over 8 months old. I am glad you got the problem figured out I would have never guessed that myself.

Yeah he was a gift for someone in June, the poor baby. I just hope he pulls through for me. He's such a sweety. I pulled him out to check on him tonight and layed him out on my bed, and all he wanted to do was get close to me and snuggle (yes I know it's cause I'm warm, but I thought it was cute anyway)

I am glad that worked for you. In regards to the why, I don't really have an answer. It is relatively rare that they get a gas build up like that, and I only encounter it in my collection about once a year. It does happen though, and I have seen it in an adult fmale as well. The actual generation of gas in the snakes is a bit more common, as is seen when cleanning a disastrous cage. You will occassionally seen poop blown all over the cage. This is from the snake having gas. However, for them to blow up like you saw, they have to have some sort of blockage in conjunction with the gas. I have one Spotnose female that is very gassy, as she always has splatters in her cage on the walls, and I have on numerous occasions heard her having a bowel movement while I was in the room. It is always very noisy and there is always splatters on the walls of her tub. I don't know what causes it, but I have never had an issue with the gas, as long as it doesn't become trapped, as in your case. If it is trapped, and a little outside assistance is given, there shouldn't be a problem.