Shedding disorders

[chris-uk]

I've done a fee searches and drawn a blank so far, so let's see if anyone has heard of a disorder that fits what I think I'm seeing.

Bethan is our problem checkered, she barely eats and some of you may remember me posting about her spinal problem, and also that she's had several bad sheds now.
The spinal problem I think is probably autoimmune, the lumps on her spine are similar to arthritis, and she started with 2 visible lumps, now she has 6 or 7. So it's a progressive disease.

Anyway, that's background as this post is about her shedding. We make sure that we see her at least every other day, and we generally see her each evening when she comes out to drink. We can be pretty sure that she has not gone through a blue phase, and yet she's retained yet another shed. I suspect that the last shed I helped her break didn't come away fully in the end and bits of that were stuck like glue. Now it's likely that she has another shed stuck, and this time I can't break it in the same way because my attempts with a scalpel this time are distressing to her.
What's making me think that she has a biochemical imbalance is that she hasn't gone through a blue phase, or her blue phase was so brief we missed it completely. I don't think it would be a great leap to believe that that a disorder exists that inhibits the production of the skin shedding lubricant, and consequently a snake is physically unable to shed when the new layer of skin is bonded to the old.

Has anyone come across this sort of disorder? I'll try searching more, but while I'm doing that I wanted to see if there was anything relevant in this collective knowledge pool.

I don't expect my search to help her, as I'm resigned to the fact I will need to put an end to her suffering once she is clearly suffering and shows signs that she has given up. It's academic curiosity now that makes me want answers.

[EasternGirl]

Are you sure that her spinal problem is not a congenital defect? I'm actually going somewhere with this...

[aquamentus_11]

awesome question. i looked, but haven't turned up anything.

[EasternGirl]

I'm asking because I was discussing some stuff with my breeder through email and he was mentioning some birth defects that he has seen in snakes...he mentioned spinal problems. I was wondering if maybe he had seen something like this and if it would be worth talking to him about it.

[chris-uk]

She wasn't born with a kinked spine or any visible sign of a spinal problem. As far as the spine is concerned I'd describe it as a series of nodules that have appeared one at a time over a period of months. Hence my comparison to arthritis. The cause of this is likely to be something she was born with, but it's not the typical kinked spine defect.
If the breeders you're talking to has seen anything similar I'd be interested to hear.

[kibakiba]

Someone had that on their snake and it ended up being parasite things in it.

[aquamentus_11]

could you post some pics, chris?

i actually had a dream last night about this question and in it I found that it was thyroid-related. probably not, obviously, but i'd be very interested to take a look at those nodules and the rest of the snake. do you notice anything strange with the eyes?

[aquamentus_11]

(sometimes i wish i had kept going with vet school; herp vets are so cool)

[chris-uk]

could you post some pics, chris?

i actually had a dream last night about this question and in it I found that it was thyroid-related. probably not, obviously, but i'd be very interested to take a look at those nodules and the rest of the snake. do you notice anything strange with the eyes?

Nothing strange about the eyes. She has beautiful deep, dark, eyes, so when she looks at me and I'm trying to help her shed it's even more difficult. I'll take some fresh pics and post them up - I should be busy working so it won't be straight away. On the whole though she doesn't look good. The first thing you'll see if the retained shed which just won't move. I may have to annotate the pics to highlight the nodules as I don't know how well they will photograph.

[EasternGirl]

Chris, the breeder is Jason, Chondro788...he has been really busy with work and family lately...but he is a great guy, he will definitely discuss it with you when he has a chance. Send him a PM with a pic and tell him I mentioned that he had said something about seeing birth defects and spinal problems...ask him if he has ever seen anything like it. He'll get back to you as soon as he can.

I'm so sorry she has to go through this.

If I could go to school all over again now...I mean, if I had the money...I would absolutely go to school to be a herp vet. I'm looking for jobs right now and I'm getting ready to apply for a job working at the animal hospital where I took Cee Cee...hoping maybe I can train as a vet tech and work with exotics/reptiles.