14 months since this guy ate....

[Big Gunns]

Yup. I read up on flagyl a bit. I understand it doesn't really stimulate the appetite so much as get rid of the problem that had them not eating... call it what you will but if it works it works! If this doesn't work panacur et al. will be the next try.

I'm thinking tapeworms wouldn't go this long without dying out considering the snake isn't eating? Or would it just eat the snake from the inside out? Either way it seems like a long time!

Yes it probably would, which is one reason BG only said to use Flagyl.

Whew! I think I answered them all. Thanks so much for all the interest and advice guys and gals! This is why I like this forum. At this point I am just waiting for the Flagyl to (maybe?) work it's magic and then I'll try feeding him this Sunday most likely.

Sunday night.

I actually meant to do that last time and I forgot. If it's a no-go this weekend she already said I can bring him back in for another go. I'll ask her about that then.

By the way, did I mention that the visit didn't cost me anything at all? I promised to buy some candy bars from her kid for the school money drive.

She didn't charge you because she felt guilty for not really knowing what to do.

Flagyl really hasn't been shown to stimulate appetite in trials. It's actually an irritant in the digestive system and tends to put animals off feed. What it does is kill protozoa. Undiagnosed protozoal infections can certainly be a cause of anorexia in reptiles.
So, people give flagyl, the animal starts eating, and they believe the flagyl gave them back their appetite. Not exactly what's happening.
This is why it doesn't always work, of course. You might as well add in some panacur and do a total parasite clearing, while you're at it. It's hard on the snake to use these worming meds, but if it works, it's because the snake actually had parasites.

Or, assist-feed the snake, obtain a fecal sample, and have the vet do a proper fecal float check to determine if anything's going on. This would be better for the animal than shotgunning it with worming meds. If it has, say, tapeworm--that requires a different medication. So does coccidia. Panacur kills worms, and flagyl kills protoza. So, that's 4 different types of meds (at least). It would be best to use only what's needed.

Big Gunns needs to comment on this further.

A few people including WWP have given BG some grief about telling people to use a certain med without a fecal. Big Gunns has this to say about that. Every time you go to the doctor, does the doc take blood or check your urine. We know the answer to that don't we. If you go to the doc and tell him you have a stomach ache, he is gonna ask you a bunch of questions and maybe prescribe you something.

On the other hand. If you go to the doctor and tell him you have a stomach ache....along with the fact that you just got back from Africa studying the mating habits of the African Dung beetle. He will probably do more tests on you.

Big Gunns point is this. Although doing a fecal and other tests is not a bad thing, it's not always needed if you're experienced....key word is "experienced". BG may turn out to be wrong in this case, but if the OP does everything BG says, BG thinks it will eat if it's not too far gone. We may need to do a leeetle more tricks to get it to eat though. If they don't work then BG thinks more tests will be needed.