My Snake Has a Lump...

[Dvas_Romeo]

I'm sure this whole ordeal has had you bouncing off the walls with worry and the least thing you need is someone telling you "WRONG!!! That Vet is all WRONG!!!"

I figure a second opinion couldn't hurt. Just make sure you tell her "the guy who's snake pooped all over your walls sent me". I'm pretty famous in that part of town as of late.

Haha, your're a good guy, Earl! Got your PM, thanks! I'll give her a call tomorrow and also discuss with my vet to possibly give her a call to discuss and share info as well. Will let you know how it goes!

And yes, you're right...I am going nuts with the strange lump on poor Jelly...and not feeling that the situation has been resolved...hoping he's not in major pain...and also receiving conflicting information from my vet which makes me wonder if I should really be seeking another professional opinion. Doh!

[Bojangles37]

Hi Bo, thanks for your comments, it's really appreciated! Thought for a while there I was forgotten!

No problem, unfortunately, I can't be positive, I'm an animal science major at UConn, but we deal mostly in domestic livestock as well as dogs and cats, not so much in snakes. I should really get me an A+P book on snakes because I'm sure that it would be really easy for me to get to know well, then I could be sure about these things. I would assume that their tracts are very similar to chickens, which I know pretty well, so what I said should be the case. I will try and do a little research when I can.

(I was supposed to take Herpetology this upcoming semester but my school is really cool and decided not to offer it.)

[Dvas_Romeo]

Bringing in Jelly this morning for a follow-up and possibly another enema for the poor guy. I'll give an update when we return, thanks!

[Dvas_Romeo]

FINALLY!!!!! Woohoo!!!! As soon as the vet inserted the enema tube into Jelly all hell broke loose and all the poo came right out with a bit of massaging/squeezing. This was another vet at the same location and she said she's never seen anything like this...but kind of fascinating.

I was right in that there was just a tiny quarter-sized urate left in him...and that came out first. It wasn't rock hard and shouldn't have prevented him from passing the waste through. Rather, the vet thinks Jelly was so expanded with the lump that it wasn't possible for him to pass the waste squished inside the lump on his own.

The lump remains but it is definately not as big as before. The vet said it's just the result of the area having been stretched for a period of time and should eventually go back to its normal size.

The main thing, and best of all, the poor guy is now completely empty of stored/clogged feces and urates and he should be feeling a whole lot better.

Thanks to all who provided their support and shared their comments/suggestions these past few weeks! Mission is finally accomplished - what a relief!!! Woot woot!

[frankykeno]

Oh what good news! Glad to hear Jelly is finally unclogged. Bet you and Jelly feel much better now.

I wonder if constipation in snakes is anything like with people. One of my older kids, as a toddler, had awful problems that way. I remember a doctor explaining to me that once the process started, it can become a vicious cycle. As the lining stretches it loses some nerve function, so there's no "signal" to pass feces. So basically the more they are constipated, the less they end up feeling the urge to defecate because the nerves aren't sending the right signals efficiently.

I do remember that after a bad bout, we had to be very careful he didn't back up again because the organs are all stretched out and still a bit "dulled" so it was terribly easy to start the cycle all over again before full healing had occurred.

I wonder if that's similar to what happened to your Jelly.

[Earl]

That is fantastic news!

[Dvas_Romeo]

Oh what good news! Glad to hear Jelly is finally unclogged. Bet you and Jelly feel much better now.

I wonder if constipation in snakes is anything like with people. One of my older kids, as a toddler, had awful problems that way. I remember a doctor explaining to me that once the process started, it can become a vicious cycle. As the lining stretches it loses some nerve function, so there's no "signal" to pass feces. So basically the more they are constipated, the less they end up feeling the urge to defecate because the nerves aren't sending the right signals efficiently.

I do remember that after a bad bout, we had to be very careful he didn't back up again because the organs are all stretched out and still a bit "dulled" so it was terribly easy to start the cycle all over again before full healing had occurred.

I wonder if that's similar to what happened to your Jelly.

Thanks, yes, I'm not even sure if I'm more relieved than Jelly, haha! I'm hoping no nerve damage was done but the vet did mention it's possible for these type of situations. As Jelly basically pushed everything out himself immediately after being given the enema, the vet doesn't think this is the case with him, thank goodness.

I'm just letting the guy rest and the vet said to hold off on feeding Jelly for another week. I wonder if Jelly will actually snatch the f/t rat next weekend when I offer it as it will be 3 weeks since he's eaten. Normally he just slowly slithers up to the rat (no rat dance required), gently places the head in his mouth (no coil/constriction) and begins the swallowing process! Not sure if it's because he's become accustomed to being fed f/t on a scheduled basis...or whether he stopped snatching/constricting because of the previously impacted heaviness at his tail end.

[Krazy99CL]

Thats great to hear!


Do you have an updated picture of Jelly? We wanna see the unlumped jelly...

[Dvas_Romeo]

Thats great to hear!


Do you have an updated picture of Jelly? We wanna see the unlumped jelly...

Don't have any at the moment but will take a few and post them here tomorrow or day after. Just rying to let him rest a bit from today's "massive" ordeal, haha!

[Reptilian]

Man i was gonna be disappointed if i read the entire 7 pages only to find out he still didn't pooh. J/K.

Congrats on the passage. I bet jelly feels a lot more better good. I was getting sick just reading the posts having mental images...