Here's why it's so vital to have a good exotics specialist available if you're going to keep snakes.
Two days ago one of our reticulated python females had to have surgery for an obstructed colon. We took her to SEAVS in Fairfax, Virginia last week after the area about 12" in front of her vet became hard and she felt like she had swallowed a tennis ball. Initially the vet thought she was just constipated, but exercise and massaging the area failed to improve her condition so we authorized surgery. What was found surprised all of us; left untreated she would have died, as she had an infection in her colon wall that was blocking anything from passing. That portion of the colon was removed and the healthy ends were stitched back together.
I've created a photobucket storybook with comments on each picture from the surgery at:
http://s477.photobucket.com/user/efi...Nova%20Surgery
Nova will be at the vet for a few weeks for post-op. She will also need to be tube fed carnivore care for several months while her colon heals, and she's on antibiotic shots for a while as well.
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