Vet check up questions

[jncoclub]

I believe that my snakes are doing well and are healthy, but I keep reading that you all take your snakes to the vet just for regular check ups. Last year when I lived in FL I was great friends with the Exotic Reptile shop owners (one was a vet dr.) where we got our snakes- so if I had any questions or anything, I took the snakes to them. Now that I’m in CT I want to start taking them for regular check ups just to keep them healthy. Questions:
- How often should they go?
- What do they do/look for in check ups? Do they do any labs tests? What sort?
- Should I bring poop samples?
- If I take all four at the same time, am I entitled to any sort of discount?
- Estimated costs? Anticipated extra costs?
- Is any time of year better than another?
- Anything else you can share with me?
Does anyone have links to find a good snake vet in the south eastern Connecticut area or surrounding areas?
THANKS!
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[reverendsterlin]

I get a fecal done for each every year, the Crotalus are given a blood test at purchase or birth(some viral disease is found in local populations with contagion a possibility). A good exam upon purchase of new animals that is pretty through. Other than that unless I see or think there is a problem they don't go in. I think I only pay like $15 per fecal because I have so many done at once but I think when I only had a couple I was paying like $30 per. I prefer taking an animal in during the summer, that way I know my feeding records show good #'s, taking one in pregnant, or males during breeding season, or during winter fasting would give skewed info on how they are eating.

[Pixie]

I brought all of my herps for a check-up a little while ago. Although it isn't necessary when your animals are in good health, I wanted to have them looked over by a vet and have files opened for all my animals.

A basic exam doesn't comprise of much. A close visual examination of the animal from head to tail, an examination of the mouth, eyes & nostrils. Then the animals is weighed and fecals are done (highly suggested) if you brought some poo with you. All is noted: sex, age, weight, length if possible. I like that my vet has seen all my pets and has a file on each, if there is ever a problem, there is a reference for the vet to start with.

I think the most important thing is to have fecals done on your animals. It's surprising how many have internal parasites!

As for cost when I first called, I was quoted 44$ for the first animals and 27$ for each afterwards. Considering I had a dozed to bring in, I was a bit shocked!!! When they found out that I had so many animals, I was given a good rate, basically the hourly fee for the vet which turned out to be around 100$ after taxes. Quite a saving!!! Ended up costing me less than 10$ per animal :)

My vet suggests an initial check up and then visits every 2 to 3 years when all is well. Obviously if something is up, I bring in my pet right away.

I don't feel that check ups when all is well are absolutely necessary, nice if you can do it. Fecals are necessary and as long as you are very observant of your pets and give them medical attention when needed, that's what's really important.

Pixie

[jncoclub]

So it's safe to say that since they were in very good hands in the begining, and they appear to be very healthy and are in very good hands now (mine :)) that there really is no need to go? I would rather wait and take them all in at the same time for just a thorough checkup, but I would prefer to wait until my BP shed to make sure her retained eyecaps come off. Otherwise that may be a second visit rather quickly. So I'll wait for the shed then flip the bill for a family vet visit.
Has anyone taken their snakes to the vet thnking that they were quite healthy and found something quite wrong? What did you find?

[unBOAlievable]

I have never went to the veterinarian and found something wrong with my snake but I have went and found something wrong with the veterinarian. Make sure you find a very knowledgable reptile veterinarian. Plane o veterinarian does not cut it when it comes to your reptiles life.

I went through slews of vets that thought they were reptile veterinarians but knew less about reptile health than me. I now have a very good veterinarian wich helps me out greatly.

Other than fecal's taking your reptiles to the vet is an overkill if it is not showing signs of illness.
Working with reptiles it is up to you to study and learn the signs that your reptile is ill because no one will know the snakes behavure better than you.

If you could tell if a reptile was going to get sick by a basic checkup then I am sure a lot of us would have saved a lot of money over the years and bought a lot less reptiles.

[eyespy]

I take in rescues and so I have vet friends that come to my house regularly and do bloodwork on all my animals. So I've seen plenty of herps that have liver or kidney disease that was picked up through bloodwork long before symptoms would have shown up. Low blood calcium is often picked up in bloodwork before MBD symptoms show up as well but that's not such an issue with snakes and you probably don't have to worry about that.

Many of these problems are genetic in origin and a result of inbreeding so a baseline vet check with bloodwork is always a good idea to pick up on that sort of thing. Not all vets do bloodwork on herps though and if they don't have extensive reptile experience it isn't worth them doing it as they won't have the knowledge to really interpret the results.