Can the tentacle created by Gutsnake be affected by Animal Growth?

Question

In the Spell Compendium, there is a spell Gutsnake that creates a tentacle coming out of the caster's stomach. Then it states:

The tentacle created by the gutsnake spell is equivalent to a giant constrictor snake (MM 280) except that it is completely obedient to you and moves as you command.

Can this tentacle then receive the benefit of Animal Growth? On the one hand, it's a tentacle. On the other, if it is treated as a constrictor snake except for specific limitations, then I don't see why "Animal Growth" would not work.

Answer 1

Some will say, "It's a tentacle!" and others will say, "It's a snake!"…

I can imagine DMs being evenly divided on whether or not the tentacle that's created by the 5th-level Sor/Wiz spell gutsnake [trans] (Spell Compendium 108) is sufficiently an actual snake to be the subject of the 5th-level Sor/Wiz spell animal growth [trans] (Player's Handbook 198).

On the one hand, the gutsnake spell effect is clearly just a tentacle ("The tentacle created by the gutsnake spell…"), yet, on the other hand, the gutsnake spell's effect is clearly very much a snake ("…is equivalent to a giant constrictor snake… except that it is completely obedient to you and moves as you command"). Even the spell makes little distinction, bouncing freely between the terms snake and tentacle.

…but I say that either way the spell's terrible, so let the caster pick

While this DM believes those on the It's a tentacle! side are probably correct, because the gutsnake spell is normally a terrible 5th-level spell—certainly far worse than other 5th-level spells like magic jar, prying eyes, or teleport, for example—, this DM would let the first creature that cast the spell during the campaign decide how the spell's effect is affected by spells and effects that target animals.

This DM's casters just aren't going to use this spell—there are just so many better spells to use, y'know?—, so any PC that uses the spell gutsnake must have a plan for the gutsnake spell. This DM likes to see players realize their visions for their PCs, and if that vision includes the tentaclelike snake that extrudes from the PC's belly being snakelike enough to be the subject of spells that target animals—like the animal growth spell—, then this DM's cool with that and is interested in seeing how this ends.

However, this DM would warn the player that if the gutsnake spell's snakelike tentacle is an animal for the purposes of spells and effects then that can be used against the PC. The 1st-level druid spell charm animal [ench] (PH 208) is widely available at a reasonable price, for example.