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Blocked glottis on snake -any advice urgently welcome

Since you've been trying to catch him up on nutrition, I think the vitamins have helped, but I agree, I'd only add them occasionally now. Once he keeps a little more weight on, he'll probably get interested enough in feeding if you make him wait a little longer (10-14 days) between meals. At least I hope so, we're pulling for you both. The best part is that his respiratory symptoms are now gone, what a relief for him. I've had to tube-feed my share of sick snakes, but watching them recover makes it all worthwhile. Good work!
 
It's kind of "meh" news .....:shrug01:

He's alive and relatively well, no more RI symptoms, and moving around OK albeit sluggishly when I handle him, but still not feeding voluntarily, and actively refusing (as in violently backing away from) and regurgitating any solid food I force down him (plenty of energy then, damn him!).

So we're still on forced survival by tubing beaten eggs, which neither of us enjoy, but I'm damned if I'm going to watch him starve. My main concern now is that we are heading into our winter, when normally their feeding patterns slacken off naturally.

I reckon I have about another month to get him feeding before it gets cold enough for him to stop altogether, so I might have to add some form of heating to his tank to keep his digestive system going (I normally just keep them at natural background temperatures here, as this is where they are from).

I'm still adding the probiotics, and he is still producing urates, so I can only presume that his system is in reasonable working order, he just WONT EAT.
:hair_on_fire:

Thanks for the concern!
 
Could you mix very finely ground chicken or turkey with his beaten egg, so it's small enough to fit down the tube and it will be easier on his system? Or maybe some bone meal powder for calcium, since egg has very little?
 
bcr229 said:
Could you mix very finely ground chicken or turkey with his beaten egg, so it's small enough to fit down the tube and it will be easier on his system? Or maybe some bone meal powder for calcium, since egg has very little?
Click to expand...

He is regurgitating anything less liquid than egg. A while back I tried blending some chicken gizzards and hearts into a thin paste, and it all came straight back up. I'm even adding a little water to the egg, as he vomited up a thicker mix I made a couple of weeks ago. I forced a small piece of chicken wing into his throat, and massaged it down well. Next morning it was on the floor of the tank.

He seems to very actively refuse and get rid of anything with enough solidity for him to work on. And yet i know he can form stools, so it's not that his digestive system has totally collapsed.

I'm giving him a maximum of 50 ml of mixed egg/ baby vitamins and probiotics at a time (I just dropped the elderly Herpa-Boost Mutton bird paste from the mix) I'm wondering if part of it might be that I'm not getting the tube far enough down; my tube is about 50 cm long (1.5 feet) on a 1.8 m (6 foot) snake. He makes it very difficult for me to get the tube in any further, but do you think I might not be in the stomach yet?
 
Helenthereef said:
I'm wondering if part of it might be that I'm not getting the tube far enough down; my tube is about 50 cm long (1.5 feet) on a 1.8 m (6 foot) snake. He makes it very difficult for me to get the tube in any further, but do you think I might not be in the stomach yet?
Click to expand...
Huh, I checked a few anatomy diagrams and your tube may be a few cm too short to actually reach the stomach. It looks like the stomach starts about 1/3 of the way down and ends halfway down.
 
That tube sounds long enough to me...and any time I've tubed a snake, I stop when I feel a little resistance...to push on can cause damage, so I think you're doing it right, Helen.

Are you sure you can't get Gerber's chicken baby food sent to you there? I know Walmart sells it, but do they ship to Fiji, I wonder? or Amazon? You should also be
able to add a little calcium or vitamin powder to whatever "liquid" diet you're tubing into him, but just add a bit of water so it goes thru the tubing easily. (even the babyfood alone needs water added)
 
Hi Helen
Really glad he’s still alive ,I think your doing a grand job with him
I know it’s a bit gross and Ive never had to do anything like what’s your doing only oral antibiotics for ten days but would you be able to liquidise a mouse and use that
Be a bit messy but would have everything that he would normally eat when healthy, would even smell right .would probably have to water it down a bit to get into the tibe like
Cheers rich


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
hotlips said:
You should also be able to add a little calcium or vitamin powder to whatever "liquid" diet you're tubing into him, but just add a bit of water so it goes thru the tubing easily.
Click to expand...
You can get liquid calcium supplement. Normally it's added to the water bowl but she could just add a few drops to the egg mixture. When I had baby garters I would also put a drop on their night crawler feeder because worms lack calcium. It's thin like water.

I suggested it because a lack of calcium can cause muscle weakness and other issues.
 
richardhind1972 said:
Hi Helen
Really glad he’s still alive ,I think your doing a grand job with him
I know it’s a bit gross and Ive never had to do anything like what’s your doing only oral antibiotics for ten days but would you be able to liquidise a mouse and use that
Be a bit messy but would have everything that he would normally eat when healthy, would even smell right .would probably have to water it down a bit to get into the tibe like
Cheers rich


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Many years ago I actually tried to "blend-erize" (make a "snake-shake") out of f/t fuzzy rodents as others had discussed. Yes, it's very gross, but it's also not entirely safe, as you can end up with bone fragments that can cause internal injuries & only add another problem. I'm sure there are vastly more expensive commercial food processors that can do a better job with a safer results, but short of that, I wouldn't try it. And in my experience tube-feeding sick snakes, they don't care that it's not "mouse/rat flavor"....it's just that the chicken baby food is easily digested, enabling them to return to more normal functioning, feel better, and regain their desire for real food. It's the closest thing to an I.V. for a snake with no appetite.
 
Hi
I wasn’t sure wether it was possible ,I was also worried unless it was industrial strength that it wouldn’t grind up enough , I just wondered if calcium would be of help from the mouse itself
Good that the calcium powder can work a treat ,good luck
Cheers rich


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
I hadn't considered calcium deficiency as a source of muscle weakness, but it makes sense now you bring it up. I do have calcium tablets, and you can make calcium powder out of ground up eggshell.

I'm adding liquid baby vitamins, wonder if I can get liquid calcium supplements? Oh well - back to baffle the pharamacist some more...

I did once get ground up tinned cat food down him, might try that again.

Thanks for all suggestions.
 
My partner is coming to the USA in July. If there are any specific dietary products you can suggest, he might be able to pick them up.

Also any suggestions for tube and delivery system?

Currently I'm using a tube from an oxygen delivery mask, and a 50 ml syringe. The tube might be a bit hard, not sure, but the size of it and the syringe neck is certainly a limiting factor on the amount of material I can get through it.
 
For tube-feeding, I've always used rubber hospital grade urethral catheters & 60 cc. syringes, & actually, you can get them from www.beanfarm.com/collections/food-or-feeding-tools

Some vets will take pity & supply them to you also, but most medical suppliers (for human stuff) look at you like you're nuts & demand a prescription...? (I never have figured out what nefarious thing they thought I wanted a urethral catheter for, & apparently they didn't believe- or care?- that I was tube-feeding a snake! LOL!)

The reason urethral catheters are perfect for this is that the tip is rounded & closed: there are 2 holes just above the end on either side of the tube, so you don't have the blunt-cut tubing causing any internal scrapes as you push it in. I always lubricate the outer tubing with a drop of olive oil anyway, as it slides better. And when you first put the tube in, expel just a bit of liquid in the upper throat, as that too will make insertion easier on the snake. Unless, of course, you got them to take a drink of water...right before doing this?
 
Quick afterthought about tube-feeding snakes, for anyone thinking of trying this: just before you insert the tube (catheter) into the snake, make sure the tubing is filled with the liquid all the way to the tip (ready to drip)- you want to avoid putting air bubbles into the snake, that won't help them digest.

It's also best for the snake to be lying flat when you tube-feed: I like to do this in the
bathtub, with a towel they can lay on. That way drips are easy to clean up, but be sure to keep their body level with their head elevated as you put them back into their own enclosure.

Remember, never force the tubing: a snake will resist, of course, & occasionally their teeth can catch on the tubing, but otherwise the tubing should slide in easily; be gentle & when you feel the tubing stop, don't push any more (you're at the top of the stomach, where you need to be)...just dispense the liquid food fairly quickly, slide the tubing back out and let the snake rest. Some will open their mouth to try to regurgitate, because pulling the tube out just feels weird...I massage their neck gently, & they usually relax & keep it all down.

And for anyone just joining this (?), I've had lots of success using Gerbers (baby food)
"2nd foods- Chicken & gravy". It's very easy for a snake to digest & doesn't have sugar in it: it's nothing but ground chicken, water, & corn starch. (you'd be surprised what some other brands of baby food put in theirs!) To tube feed, you have to add enough water so it goes thru the tubing easily (test first & NOT on the snake!) & I often put a drop of olive oil in the liquid too, to make it "slippery". You can add dissolved vitamins, minerals or meds as needed also.

If you ask many vets about tube-feeding, they often recommend products like Nutrical, which is a high calorie supplement paste designed for dogs/cats...don't go there, use Gerbers. Nutrical (& similar products) contain a lot of sugars, and the main ingredient is corn syrup! Not exactly a natural food for a snake... (you can google the ingredients for yourself)
 
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