How to force feed a snake
Like 2 Dislike 0 Published on 31 May 2017
This breaks my heart to have to say, but Bear has relapsed and now we have to go through all the stress again. I'm guessing whatever he has is now chronic. So this time, I'm documenting it for science to help other herp keepers that require the need to do medical aid on your snake.
A year and half ago, he was practically on the verge of dying, for seemingly no reason. Nothing in his environment had changed, he ate from the same source of food as all my other snakes, was the model of health. Until one day I noticed he seemed off. Took him into the vet, got blood tests done, and they told me he should have been dead because he had zero potassium in his system. $2000+, nightly force feedings for two months, and all sorts of saline and medical injections later, all of which I had to do by myself, just when I was about to give up cause it just didn't seem like he was getting better; I gave him one more week before I'd need to "make the call", and he started peeking back up. He stopped shedding (he was going from one shed cycle right to the next after finishing, as if his body is trying to flush something out, which we all know the shedding process takes a toll on their body), drinking again and becoming hydrated, and even started eating again. He literally went back to normal and seemed perfectly for over a year. Then just last week went down hill. He JUST ate and shed for me two weeks ago and seemed perfectly fine.
Like I said, up until a year and bit ago, in all the years I've had him, I have never had any issues with him, he was my most healthy snake. So whatever seems to be happening, might be a chronic thing. I'm just glad I caught it this earlier on this time and know how to treat it so that we can get this relapse over with quickly.