Yey!!!!!!

[lozzer]

Well today we took rio to the reptile vet.And it turn out that lump is nothing to be worried about!he said its just a fat deposit(you were right John).
He escaped like 3 times on the journey there though lol

[Vicki]

Did he give you a good diet/exercise plan? I would still say it is something to worry about even if it is fat. Excess fat can cause various problems for the liver, kidneys, heart, lung, etc. And can result in premature death of a snake.

You will need to slowly reduce the food and give him plenty of exercise until he is back tp full health.


Well done for getting him to the vet

[lozzer]

Well ive started feeding him every 2 weeks instead of every 1.The vet reccomended putting him through brumination to lose some weight but we don't know if hes a she not a he so if he starts produceing infertile eggs after brumination obviously he or she could become egg bound also he said be careful to watch out for infections in tail where its becomeing to become overlapped but other than that he said there is nothing to worry about.

[lozzer]

I would just like to say thanks everybody for their support and thank you so much Vicki for the address of that vet

[John Pilling]

Good result lozzer, and i'm glad it was nothing "to serious". I have a suggestion for the weight loss tho, instead of jumping streaght to 14 days, i wouls drop a food size and feed every 10 for 6-8 feeds, and see how you go from their. I would also weigh rio every 3-4 weeks so you can monitor the weight loss.

Anyway, well done mate for seeing the vet and getting it sorted.

[Shrimply]

That's great hope the diet goes well. Is there any chance of the snake getting cranky from lack of food.

Greedy Granite usually gets fed once a week and once she was left for 8 days and she started stricking at me when I was in the tank or through the glass.

[John Pilling]

Shouldn't do shrimpley, my sand boa's, then yeah, but it's rare for a corn to strike after missing a day or 2 longer then scheduled.

[Shrimply]

Just my greedy snake then. There is always one isn't there.

[Amber]

When Akasha gets hungry, it is much like she thinks everything is food, she would strike I'm sure but not so much because she is angry, and she is hungry.

Thats good, poor snake though!

[Vicki]

Yea, i agree with John, reduce to every 10 days to start with, then after a few weeks make it 14. Also go down a size in food. Bruamating may actually be a good idea, although id he/she is brumated you wont really be able to exercise him/her.

Anyway, im really glad you are on the right track now, and hopefully this time next year she will be back to her pretty self. And Rio has got you to thank for that

Also dont expect sudden results, it can often take 6-12 months to shift excess weight. Good luck

[fluffy]

this seems a bit strange tbh
ive rescued a few overweight snakes in the past and its never been put down for fatty deposits that quickly,they did tests and x rays before giving their opinion on the matter and without advising diet plans and exercise plans i tell you ive sat there with my vet sorting out plans and advise on set ups,frequency of feedings etc and its having trouble passing urates and faeces its going to have a dramatic toll on its health if its unable to pass waste freely
i have seen that fatty deposits cover a larger area than shown in your pictures and wouldn't you have noticed it getting bigger than the animals body and not let it continue to grow further as you notice things like that caring for your animals on a regular basis and that looks to be swollen as the vent is almost closed shut
maybe a bigger vivarium space would be a good idea with branches giving it the oppurtunity to climb and exercising in the bath increasing it gradually but if you went to a vet they should of told you this and without experienced keepers like john and vicki id say you wouldn't have got the push to see an experienced vet imo
i know im supposed to be sympathetic to this situation but i am not but ive got to be honest
tony

[lozzer]

Well she used to be in a 4 foot vivarium with a male called cuba but she would never budge or exercise though i have alot of branches and fake plants and everything.In the last 3 years of keeping corns i have never seen rio explore her viv unless its for water,to do a poo and thermoregulate.

[lozzer]

The vet didn't give us any instructions just said carry on feeding every 2 weeks and the fatty deposit is nothing to worry about.

[lee]

wouldn't you have thought the presence of the other snake would affect the snakes movements and i am in agreeance with fluffy that your vet should have gone into more detail into food sizes and frequencies and cage set ups and ways to downsize the lumps as its not that easy and it is worrying that it got that far in the first place before something was done about it
seriously i don't want to be the bad person here but things like that i don't have symphathy for and it doesn't happen overnight
an adult cornsnake of 3ft-4ft only needs 1-2 large mice every 10 days or a weaner rat every 14 days and going over that you are bound to have problems
lee

[lozzer]

k i will change to a large mouse every 10 days instead.

[Vicki]

I would have thought the vet would have done an xray etc, infact if it were my snake I would have demanded an xray. Did you go the the vet i recommended Lozzer? If so he is supposed to be one of the best reptile vets in the UK from what I have been told.

Anyway, after say 4 weeks you should have slowly cut down to feeding 1 med/large mouse ever 14 days or thereabouts. Just make sure that he is not loosing weight in other areas. I say this as the rest of him looks the correct weight, its just the 'bulge' that looks fat, so it he starts loosing drastic weight elsewhere I would return to the vet. Prehaps we can have some pics every month or so and see the progress, would be interesting to see

[lozzer]

Yer i went to the one you reccomended vicki