I can't find any information on this problem.

Lucy, my little garter snake that I saved 1.5 years ago, has had a history of not eating, but this is different. Last summer, she just wouldn't eat for almost 4 months, but since September, she's been eating pretty well. I still feed her earthworms (because she's still too small for a pinky), and I put vitamins on them. I maintain a sizeable worm farm (two boxes now) and I've been doing that almost as long as I've had her.

She's been ravenous lately, eating all of the worms I give her. But last night, she couldn't grab them. Normally, she attacks one and immediately starts swallowing it down. But with each one, she would open her mouth and grab it, but nothing would happen and it would slide back out of her mouth. And even when she had them so that they were immobile (her body pressing them against the bowl or glass so that they can't move), she just couldn't swallow them and she had to give up.

It broke my heart because she was so hungry she just kept going for one after the other and couldn't get them. Normally there is NO problem with this - she swallows them down before they know what happened!

I know I have to get her to the vet but was wondering if anyone knows about this type of problem and what to do. If there's anything that can be done. I look forward to hearing from anyone who knows anything about this and please let me know if you have any questions.

Lori