Swollen abdominal area, and complete lethargy

Question
I have a 14 year old Brindle Black Rat Snake in my classroom.  I'm pretty sure it's a female.  It remains fairly cool in the room, and the snake hides and won't feed from October until April.  She starting eating like clockwork this April, and then one day she ate two mice, left a mess in her cage the next day, and a student cleaned the cage.  She regurgitated the two mice, and then I noticed the mid rear section of the snake was still bloated.  The bloating has increased, as has the snakes lethargy. The snake periodically discharges a yellowish fluid. The nice flat bread loaf belly is rounded.  I don't want to lose the snake, but a vet is all but cost prohibitive.  Any help

Thanks

Mike

Answer
Well it sounds like the snake really does need to see a vet. The regurgitation can be caused by a number of factors: handling after feeding, temps too low, or internal parasites. Since you mentioned the bloating and the yellowish fluid, I would tend to suspect the latter. The only way to make it better is to see a qualified vet for medications.