Atherton Jungle gone off food, losing weight, bulge in abdomen.

[marcus0002]

Hi. I have had these 2 Athertons since August. It took a long time to get them feeding, turns out they don't like quail very much, they usually take rats no worries. The bigger one has ( I was told he's male) Eats 2 rats every two weeks no worries and is in good condition. He strikes most of the time and can be a handful.
The female on the other hand never strikes, and will only eat when you leave the rat in the enclosure with her. She hasn't stopped eating, but refuses most of the time. She hasn't eaten since the 30th of march, and before that eat every week of march straight after her shed. Before March she hadn't eaten or shed since December.

No is is getting noticeably slim and there is a bulge in her abdomen. I was thinking maybe an impaction but then she took a dump on my kitchen floor last week.

He behavior is normal, shes moves between her hot spot under the heat panel and the shelf below and the hides in the cold on the floor.

I'm thinking is there something to worry about? or is she just a fussy feeder? As I said she hasn't stoped eating, she just doesn't eat very often. She housed in the same enclosure as the big boy and he's eating fine.

Size comparison now

and in august

Their enclosure. It has sugercane mulch as substrate now.

the bulge on her

- - - Updated - - -

Feed and shed records for both since I bought them

Shed 5 August 2013
Offered One large rat each 9.8.13 refused
Large rat 17/8/13 refused
Large Rat 5/9/13 Refused
3 week old quail 1x male ate female refused 29/9/13
3 week old quail 1x male ate 30/9/13
Male first sign of shed 2/10/13
Male shed 8/10/13
Male 2 three week old quail 8/10/13
Male 2 three week old quail 15/10/13
Male 2 three week old quail 17/10/13
Female first sign of shed 22/10/13
Male 1 three week old quail 3 one week old quail
Female shed 28/10/13
Male 2 Adult quail female refused 29/10/13
Male 2 Adult quail female refused 3/11/13
Male 2 Adult quail female refused 10/11/13
Male 1 Adult quail left in enclosure wouldn't strike female refused 17/11/13
Male first sign of shed 17/11/13
Female 1 three week old quail + attempted but couldn't swallow 1 pigeon 24/11/13
1 large rat each 30/11/13
Male 2 large rats female refused 9/12/13
1 adult quail each 14/12/13
Male 1 large rat + one adult quail female refused 21/12/13
refused 1 adult quail each 28/12/13
Refused 1 adult quail each 4/1/14
Refused three week old quail each 11/1/14
Refused one 3 week old quail each 18/1/14
Male first sign of shed 3/3/14
Female first sign of shed 4/3/14
Both shed 13/3/14
2 medium rats each 13/3/14
2 medium rats each 23/3/14
1 medium rat each 30/3/14
Male 2 medium rats female refused 5/4/14
Male 2 medium rats female refused 3/5/14
Male 2 medium rats female refused 10/5/14

 

[Jacknife]

First of all separate them. A lot of the time the stress of being housed together will turn them off their food. Plus the fact the male is starting to get significantly bigger poses a high risk that one day it could turn on her and you'll only have one snake.

From the look of your setup there is only one heat source or basking spot which means they are competing for heat. The larger male will obviously dominate this spot.
Not getting enough heat means the female can't heat her body sufficiently to digest properly. This can lead to a slower metabolism and it wont be able to break down it's food in time and the food basically sits and rots in it's stomach which can lead to some very disastrous consequences very fast. The other problem with not enough heat is even if food is digested there isn't enough energy to pass it leading to impaction.
Either of these things can result in the bulges you see.
Your best bet is to immediately separate them and take your female off to a reptile vet for a check up to see whats going on and find out if those bulges are food/fecal related and not something worse like tumors.

 

[marcus0002]

Thanks for your reply Jacknife. I will look in to taking her to Ian Knight at deception bay tomorrow or whenever I can get a booking soonest.

Couple of questions.
The previous owner had them housed together in this same enclosure (I bought them as a package) and had no problems. Would the stress of moving to a new area make her change her habits and comfort level round the male? I'm just thinking what could have triggered the problem when they had no probs living with each other before.

I do see her and the male huddled together on the shelf under the heat panel every day but she moves off. I was thinking she moved down a shelf because she had got to hot but it could be because the male is pushing her off?

She did take a dump the other day. Could there still be an impaction if she is defecating?

I have my enclosures hooked to timers as well as thermostats. The heat is switched off from 8pm until 8am. Ambient temp overnight here at the moment is around 20c. I have had no other issues with any of my other snakes. Could she just be a bit more sensitive to the cold than the others and I should have the heat on 24 hrs for her?

Thanks for your help.

 

[notechistiger]

I actually have a coastal male in the exact same situation. Has always been a bit of a picky eater, but recently hasn't eaten at all, has lost a lot of weight (to the point where cooling is not an option). Has a small mass about where your snake has hers, but his is far smaller. The mass is moveable, but he's been passing waste which leads me to believe it's either because he's thin enough that I'm seeing stuff easier or possibly tumors. He's getting the heat 24/7 treatment in a nice small tub at the moment as he is a little sensitive to the cold. Whether or not he eats this weekend determines if he goes to the vet this week or the next haha.

 

[MesseNoire]

Thanks for your reply Jacknife. I will look in to taking her to Ian Knight at deception bay tomorrow or whenever I can get a booking soonest.

Couple of questions.
The previous owner had them housed together in this same enclosure (I bought them as a package) and had no problems. Would the stress of moving to a new area make her change her habits and comfort level round the male? I'm just thinking what could have triggered the problem when they had no probs living with each other before.

I do see her and the male huddled together on the shelf under the heat panel every day but she moves off. I was thinking she moved down a shelf because she had got to hot but it could be because the male is pushing her off?

She did take a dump the other day. Could there still be an impaction if she is defecating?

I have my enclosures hooked to timers as well as thermostats. The heat is switched off from 8pm until 8am. Ambient temp overnight here at the moment is around 20c. I have had no other issues with any of my other snakes. Could she just be a bit more sensitive to the cold than the others and I should have the heat on 24 hrs for her?

Thanks for your help.

Just because they haven't had issues like fighting doesn't mean that there wasn't any problems. There is no way that keeping snakes together will benefit either of them, it only benefits the keeper.
You need to separate them and take them to a reptile vet (which you're doing already and that's great )

 

[marcus0002]

I got his name wrong. It's Clayton Knight not Ian Knight. He opens at 0830 I'll ring and book an appointment then

Edit booked in for 1020 tomorrow morning. Cost $110 for reptile consult.

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- - - Updated - - -

Went to Clayton Knight today. The lump in her is cancer tumors. Lumps were hard and all muscle mass is wasting away as it eats intro her spine. Chances of being able to fix it are slim to nil. As a result I left her with the vet to be euthanized today. Nothing really else you can do about it or prevent it unfortunately.
The upshoot is cancer is not contagious and all my other snakes are fine. Also explains why she has always been an unenthusiastic feeder for me.

 

[notechistiger]

Thanks for the update, marcus. Sorry for the loss!

 

[00Scales00]

Oh that's sad. Sorry to hear

 

[WomaBoy]

Sorry about the loss! That is so sad

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[GlenyseT]

Very sorry for your loss Marcus. Very sad


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[marcus0002]

Around December she weighed 6.5kg. When weighed at the vets today she was just over 3 kg. So what little she was eating was going straight to the tumors. She had got very weak as well, struggled to hold my hand with her tail like she used to.
I honestly don't think she would have lasted 6 months at the rate she was wasting away. I only noticed the swelling in the last week and I get my snakes out most days so gives you an idea of how fast it can grow inside them.

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[Leasdraco]

Sorry to hear you lost your snake mate

 

[Jacknife]

Sorry to hear mate.

 

[marcus0002]

Thanks for the replies