Slow digestion?

[GarterGuy]

Really sorry to hear you lost your little one. Really surprised that pinky legs did all that. Wouldn't think they'd be all that hard to digest. I know all my little guys are munching on them with out any worries. Guess it was just one of those things.

Roy

[adamanteus]

Here's a thing...my tetrataenia are on half (lengthways) pinkies now. Yesterday I found a completely undigested pinky foot in the poo. Everything else was gone..spine, pelvis, skull etc. but a perfect foot made it through.

I buy my pinkies frozen and more often than not the feet have already snapped off 'in transit', otherwise I might see this more often? I don't know...just thought I'd mention it.

[Lulu Bennett]

i have started feeding my tetras in quarters lengthways but i havn't found anything like that in their poo

[adamanteus]

Since I got them they must have eaten 50+ pinkies between the three of them, and I've only seen the one foot, so it's not an everyday occurrence. I just thought it was pertinent to this thread.

[Snaky]

I've never heard of that before... very strange, I always heard they could digest very well.
I'm sorry for your loss.

[KITKAT]

Here's a thing...my tetrataenia are on half (lengthways) pinkies now. Yesterday I found a completely undigested pinky foot in the poo. Everything else was gone..spine, pelvis, skull etc. but a perfect foot made it through.

I buy my pinkies frozen and more often than not the feet have already snapped off 'in transit', otherwise I might see this more often? I don't know...just thought I'd mention it.

I did wonder whether the tendons in the pinky foot were part of the problem, ie harder to digest. Then again, he could have been a slow eater in the first place because something was wrong. I'll never know.

[Cazador]

Kitkat, James,

I think you're both helping to put together a pattern that I though I noticed a while back. As you might remember, I normally feed caribou meat as the primary food source, and I supplement with worms, fish, vitamins, calcium, etc. Anyway, when/if I feed a strip of meat that has a lot of tendons in it, the snakes sometimes regurgitate it. Sometimes they pass it only partially digested. I'm not sure what causes it, but I try to trim these sections of meat off before feeding. Maybe that contributed to the abnormally fast passage and incomplete digestion?

By the way, that was a great, descriptive picture Kitkat. The second lump was clearly beyond the stomach and just anterior to the cloaca. It definitely showed a blockage. Though not certain, I think sepsis is a very reasonable diagnosis. Can you please remind us how old this snake was and how long it had the lump before dying? The age/timing may help others in the future.

This sounds rough, but I just had a female go through a rather difficult birthing process. Some of the young became blocked and died in utero. The female couldn't pass them for nearly a month. After about three weeks, I figured that the female was going to die if nothing was done, so I began to try to manipulate the blocked (and it turned out - partially decomposed) offspring by the equivalent of a deep massage. I never pressed her from the sides for fear of breaking ribs, but I stroked her fairly deeply from the vent anteriorly to separate the young. Sure enough, she began passing the young soon afterward. I want to be clear to everyone that this was a last ditch effort, though. In hindsight, Kitkat, your problem may have been even more difficult. If you were too rough in manipulating the blockage, the bone (undigested foot) may have punctured the digestive tract. Sorry for the rotten outcome, Kitkat.

Rick

[KITKAT]

Kitkat, James,

snip

By the way, that was a great, descriptive picture Kitkat. The second lump was clearly beyond the stomach and just anterior to the cloaca. It definitely showed a blockage. Though not certain, I think sepsis is a very reasonable diagnosis. Can you please remind us how old this snake was and how long it had the lump before dying? The age/timing may help others in the future.

snip

In hindsight, Kitkat, your problem may have been even more difficult. If you were too rough in manipulating the blockage, the bone (undigested foot) may have punctured the digestive tract. Sorry for the rotten outcome, Kitkat.

Rick

I do believe sepsis was the cause of death, due to the horrible odor when I opened the gut. When I increased the temp slightly in response to his problem, I believe this caused increased growth of bacteria and overcame the baby in short time. This little fellow was about eight or nine inches long. I had gotten him as a free (just pay shipping) baby because he would not eat, and Scott was force feeding him to keep him going. Scott was surprised (and so was I) when he started eating after only one forced meal. I think he was about a month old when I got him... and I had him about six or eight weeks.

From feeding of the mouse parts, to death, took about 3 weeks, although the lump was not obvious until the latter part of that time... perhaps ten days before death was the first time it looked suspicious to me.

I believe this baby was too small to safely massage... although I did a very small amount of that on one occasion, about a week before his death.

[Spiritwolf]

Someone should keep a record of all the different problems and experiences, diagnoses, findings, etc, discussed here. Altogether, the information may be very useful in advancing the knowledge of garter snake problems, causes, prognoses, treatments, etc. In many areas there are no vets experienced with snakes or other exotics, and even where there are herp specialists, often breeders see problems that veterinarians don't see, just because breeders usually deal with more animals of a species on a day to day basis.

Just a suggestion, from things I have learned along the way as a lifelong animal lover who is always studying, breeding, showing, etc some kind of creature!

[anji1971]

Hi! I am new here- just registered today. Your post sounds EXACTLY like what my garter was going thru. My kids caught her a couple years ago, and I've been taking care of her since then. The last week she seems sluggish and dull-skinned and there is a lump that looks like a meal, right where your Sparky had it. I've been reading this site all evening and now I am WORRIED, not just because of the lump, but because I just realized I should be doing WAY more with this critter than just feeding her worms every few days! I am such an amateur!!!!
Is there any more you can tell me on how to deal with this- I know your situation turned out very sadly, but I am hoping you or some others might be able to give me a little advice, maybe we can save Dojo???
By the way, all I've ever been able to get her to eat are earthworms; could it be a nutrition issue as well?