Worried about a kinky spine.

[TxScarlet15]

I had my kingsnake Scarlet Rose out today and I realized that not only does it seem as though she has gained weight but her spine seems abnormally kinky. She has always had problems with her spine, at least that's what I assume it is, although it's mostly been in her tail, the vertebrae are looking pretty bent and out of shape. But now I've noticed she has a couple places about halfway down her body that appear to be bent as well. As far as her weight goes, I'm not sure if it's my imagination or not but she appears to be a lot fuller, perhaps too much so, than a couple months ago. She hasn't been overfed because she has only eaten about five times I think since the start of the year. She's being really stubborn and has been refusing meals which doesn't worry me too much, but the possible weight gain and crooked spine is starting to get me a little paranoid. Does anybody have any suggestions as what might be wrong? I'm considering taking her to a vet except that I don't know of any in my area and I'm not sure if it's needed at this time. Am I being overly cautious?

[lady_bug87]

It would probably help to post a picture.

[TxScarlet15]

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[TxScarlet15]

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The pics of her tail show it the best, but it still doesn't look as bad as it does in person. The body pics I couldn't really get it to show well, if I knew how to edit I would add circles to show exactly what I'm talking about. The last picture shows the bumps the best, despite being the blurriest.

[lady_bug87]

Thanks. Has she always been kinked? Has it progressed? Have you consulted a specialized vet?

Ah ok I just re read your OP

What problems has she had specifically?

[TxScarlet15]

I know she's been like this for most of the time that I've owned her, which has been 5 or 6 years. I don't really remember what the extend was like when I first got her because back then I wasn't as knowledgeable about reptile care and didn't think anything of it. I do know that it was worse last year and looks to be getting even more so this year. What makes me think it's her vertebrae is that I use to be able to slide her body through my hand with slight pressure and I could feel her bones going back into place. It wasn't anything drastic but it did seem to make her feel better. Now I can't get anything to realign and she's been getting more tense whenever I hold her which makes me think she's in pain. I've heard stuff about metabolic bone disease and other things and although I don't think it's anything like that I'm just really worried about her. Also, I took a really good look at her today and she has definitely gained weight, starting from about 1/4 down her body until a couple inches before her cloaca she is thicker than she was just a few months ago.

[TxScarlet15]

Oh and she has always moved strangely, I don't know how to describe it exactly it just doesn't seem like normal snake movements. The most noticeable thing is that whenever I hold her a lot of times she'll end up with her head upside down or she'll try to continuously go backwards with the front half of her body. I always just thought maybe she has brain damage because she has a lot of scarring from when her previous owner fed her live and she's got a scar at the base of her head, but maybe it's something else? I'm at a loss right now, but I just want to make sure she doesn't have some disease or something that I'm unaware of.

[lady_bug87]

The only way to get answers is at a vet. The only thing is that some illnesses can only be diagnosed with a necropsy.

[TxScarlet15]

Finally managed to track down a reptile vet and got an appointment set up for tomorrow evening, hopefully all goes well and I'll get some answers.

[Albert Clark]

Finally managed to track down a reptile vet and got an appointment set up for tomorrow evening, hopefully all goes well and I'll get some answers.

Great! Good move and best wishes for a positive exam and prognosis. :yes:

[TxScarlet15]

Well I got her to the vet last night and he said there are a couple different options as to what it is. 1. Scoliosis, although he's kinda iffy on this one because she still has good mobility throughout her body and she gave no indication whatsoever of being in pain. 2. It could be from a previous injury, having something fall on her etc. 3. (and this was the one I had a hard time understanding so I probably will say it wrong) He said it's possible that she could have gotten infections from the mouse bites when she was fed live and that the infection messed up the caps? on her vertebrae causing things to go crooked and fuse that way. I think that's mostly correct as to what he said. So I feel a little bit better now knowing some options as to what it could be, but it's still frustrating not knowing exactly what is wrong with her. Vet said that otherwise she is in perfect health, heart rate, breathing, mouth all look good. No mouth rot or scale rot and her personality is wonderful :D. He even showed me where to look to see her heart beat which was pretty cool.