King Snake skin problem help - Page 2

TRD · 04-12-17, 04:42 PM

To me that looks like a snake that is in a form of pain or irritantion, be it internal or external. Neurological damage also shows itself as abnormal behavior, but what your snake is doing looks deliberate. Have you tried to remove him from his enclosure and into a plastic tub on newspaper for a while? Just at room temperature (about 77 F). Maybe the bedding just irritates him, or something in the air, can be as simple as that really.

See if the situation improves.

Can also be he has some internal issues, which the vet usually will not spot (they usually check external parasites and general health of the reptile). You know, if you are in pain you touch the spot where it hurts, rub it or whatever. You see what your snake is doing? Rubbing its body together and biting itself. They don't have an option when they are in pain, this is what they can do without arms...

I'm not going to question your vet's competency or anything, but it may be advisable to get in contact with a specialized reptile/snake vet, even if just telephone consultancy. He may be able to help also when showing the video to him over e-mail, also providing the information already shared to you by your regular vet. IF there's anything you can do to help him, it should be done.

**Andy_G** · 04-12-17, 05:35 PM

That's not what I pictured and is probably neurological in nature. I'm not confident if a vet can do anything in this situation...but of course keep the vet involved for as long as you're comfortable in doing so.

Albert - was this garter on a rodent diet? I'm not certain that a snake on a complete rodent diet can be deficient in B1, but it would make sense if rodents were only a part of that diet. Asking purely for my own info in case of something to watch for in the future.

TheProgramer · 04-14-17, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

Can also be he has some internal issues, which the vet usually will not spot (they usually check external parasites and general health of the reptile). You know, if you are in pain you touch the spot where it hurts, rub it or whatever.

Thanks for your thoughts. I watched the vet feel him up, top to bottom, to check him for any abnormalities and see the snake's reaction to it.

TheProgramer · 04-17-17, 02:31 PM

Here is an imgur album with more pictures of his skin (in case you see the same marks on your snake)

Additional Videos:

TRD · 04-17-17, 02:37 PM

I feel really sorry for your guy... he seems to damage himself quite heavily

Have you tried to keep him in a normal plastic tub on paper towels for a while? Is he continuously doing this behavior, or are these episodes?

I would still go for a reptile vet visit and do blood/fecal works on the poor snake. It's a bit easy to strike it off as neurological. I have several kingsnakes, and while they are a bit silly and fall sometimes, none of them ever encountered any ill effects from any such things. I doubt he would be able to hit himself hard enough inside the enclosure to actually cause trauma of this magnitude.

whistlepig · 04-17-17, 05:07 PM

I feel bad for your snake as well. Watching these videos as well as the other, it almost looks like he doesn't recognize his own body and is interacting with it like it's another snake. Does he get like this at random times? Any possibility that there is some sort of stimulus/trigger that get's him started? Just hoping there was something you could do to at least decrease the frequency of this behavior.

TheProgramer · 09-14-17, 01:42 PM

Hey everyone, I just wanted to update you guys on my special boy. He is healthier than ever and has stopped attacking himself. He only engaged in this behavior for about a month.
While we were unable to narrow down the cause from the multiple possibilities, he is now living a happy life and I am keeping an eye on him and hoping it never happens again. Sorry that I was unable to help anyone else with this problem, most I can do is hope that waiting it out works as well for you as it did me.
Look at the healthy sheen on this guy's scales! imgur.com/a/mjhnK

TRD · 09-14-17, 01:54 PM

Good that he's back to normal

whistlepig · 09-14-17, 07:20 PM

Glad to hear he's doing better. Hopefully, the behavior doesn't return. Good luck!

**EL Ziggy** · 09-15-17, 08:21 AM

That's great news! I'm glad your critter is doing better.