I came home from a reptile show Saturday night to find my 3.5 year old male woma very sick/injured. The snake was healthy and normal the day before, when I filled the water dishes and watched him breeding my female. He also seemed ok when I made a quick check Saturday morning before leaving for the show.
When I got home, he was lying in an odd, kinked position on the floor of the cage. I lifted him out, and was horrified to see his bottom jaw ballooned out and swollen. He was gasping to breath, and he seemed to be having rigid paralysis of the back half of his body. It was stiff, but he could not move. His neck was loose and floppy.
I really thought he would die within hours, but I separated him and set him up in a clean tub by himself. Sunday morning the swelling was gone in his face, and he was able to lift his head up, but he still cannot move the back half of his body, which now seems rather limp.
I had somehow had mites on some long-term snakes 3 weeks before, and I was using No-Pest strip pieces to treat the problem. That was 3 weeks prior however, and the female woma in the same cage with the male is perfectly fine.
Could it still be a bizarre reaction to the strips, after 3 weeks? Could she have injured him- maybe broke his back or neck?
I just don't know what to think about the facial swelling. Here's a picture of him as I found him Saturday night. If anyone else has ever seen anything like this before, I would appreciate hearing about it. As it stands, that room is on lockdown until I figure out what's going on.
He is still alive, and can lift his head up, but he is still unable to move the back half of his body. I really am attached to him, and I am really worried.
Bizarre woma python affliction- anyone see something like this before?
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