Intestinal Blockage?

[Bogertophis]

His condition has deteriorated rapidly. Tuesday he was behaving normally. Today, he can barely lift his head.

I gave him the three baths the vet prescribed last night but I was unable to massage out any additional material from the blockage. I also gave him oral antibiotics that the vet prescribed. Finally, I tried to feed him hoping to stimulate a bowel movement but he refused to eat.

I took him for a follow up appointment this morning. The vet examined him and confirmed that he has a large tumor. He was able to remove a small amount of material from the blockage, but said that further treatment would be futile. He's so weak at this point the vet doesn't expect him to last the day.

I'm so sorry, I was afraid it was something like this (a tumor). If he was my snake, honestly, I would opt for euthanasia now so he's not suffering any more. I'm so very sorry.

And not to second-guess your vet, but in snakes, oral antibiotics are generally not effective because snakes are cold-blooded & digestion is not reliable- that is, they don't eat on a regular basis, & even less (usually not at all) when they're ill, and antibiotics must be given in a way that levels remain constant in the bloodstream to fight infection- thus, in snakes, antibiotics are generally injected. Either way, they wouldn't have helped a tumor though.