Help! Sick Snake!

[Artemis]

I have a sick snake and I dont know why. My temps are good, he is eating, has water... he has been in his hide most all week, I figured he was shedding.... didnt bother him...

they came out tonight and I went to go feed them, and OMG.... my female looks fine... but my male pastel looks HORRIBLE (and they are ofcourse in separate enclosures, before anyone asks)

He is sunken, his spine shows- in particular by his tail.... and he looks stiff and wrinkley like an overstarched shirt, I can actually see scales sticking out like feathers almost... I dont know how else to describe it. I am going to feed him now... but short of taking him to the vet, I dont know what to do.... help please!!

[Aaron_S]

It could very well be that your humidity is low and that look is given by the skin he has failed to shed.

[Artemis]

I keep it about 65%, and mist him every so often... but I will try increasing it... maybe soaking him... He didnt even THINK about eating tonight. Wasnt having it......

I am worried about him. Never had a sick snake before.

The problem is, googling around.. he could have a respitory infection, or a bacterial infection, or IBD... they symptoms for things seem pretty interchangeable.

The female is fine, ate like a champ tonight, looks great.

I increased his temps and covered more of the top of the enclosure to increase the humidity as well. I cleaned out his cage and gave him fresh paper towels and fresh water.....

If he doesnt look better by monday I better take him to the vet I guess.

[PDXErik]

(assuming a RTB or a ball python since you didn't specify)

Whenever I see "Help, my snake is sick!!" I always think, "A vet is not very expensive"

Vet. Do whatever the vet tells you to. We are all enthusiasts, but none of us are absolute experts (quiet, gonesnakee, ffollett, etc).

Diseases in herps can be present at all times but only show up during certain circumstances. Diagnosis can be difficult.

If you can, take a stool sample (POOP IN A JAR!! eww) as that is the easiest testable manner for detecting worms and intestinal infections.

VET

VET

VET

It is much more cost-effective than your poor buddy's life.

[Artemis]

Well unfortunately no sample to take at the moment, but I will take him in on Monday. It has to be something I cannot fix anyways, because they are getting identical treatment and the female is fine and he looks horrible.

Female ate her first f/t Small Rat last night. Yay!!

My poor little male though....

ETA- they are ball pythons!

[TailsW/Scales]

What exactly are your temps?
Hot spot?
Cool?
Ambient????

Have you tried soaking yet in luke warm water???

A lot of the times a URI can show itself with bubbles out of the nares and heat pits. Advanced infections show themselves as a clear mucus coming out of the nares and heat pits. Most URIs are cause by too little heat.

Out of curiosity how old is your male?
What's his gram weight prior to illness?
Captive bred born??

I am ansking these questions for a specific reason of course. :D

[Artemis]

What exactly are your temps?
Hot spot?
Cool?
Ambient????

Have you tried soaking yet in luke warm water???

A lot of the times a URI can show itself with bubbles out of the nares and heat pits. Advanced infections show themselves as a clear mucus coming out of the nares and heat pits. Most URIs are cause by too little heat.

Out of curiosity how old is your male?
What's his gram weight prior to illness?
Captive bred born??

I am ansking these questions for a specific reason of course. :D

Ofcourse :)

And no mucous.. I looked.... its the damndest thing.

He is juvenile... not sure of exact age but I belive he was spring 07. I dont know his gram weight unfortunately as I JUST got them a little while ago.... they are only on their 3rd feeding and so I just hadnt gotten around to it yet.

He is captive bred, I purchased him from Ozzy of Ozzy's Boids at the NARBC show here recently.

Havent tried soaking him..... think I should?

Oh, as far as parameters go... hot spot stays between 89 and 92, depending on if the ambient shifts a little bit, with about a 10 degree gradient on the other side...... Ambient in the house is about 73.

[PDXErik]

If you suspect IBD, get that thing in another room away from the others right away.

I believe those symptoms are fairly apparent (from what I've read). In the latter stages, you'll notice a difficulty in keeping balance and stargazing. Lots of things say that the attitude of the snake will be changing, too.

Let us know what the vet says, I'm betting a dollar on an URI.

Edit: I re-read the spine showing thing, I'm changing my bet to worms or an intestinal infection.

[Artemis]

If you suspect IBD, get that thing in another room away from the others right away.

I believe those symptoms are fairly apparent (from what I've read). In the latter stages, you'll notice a difficulty in keeping balance and stargazing. Lots of things say that the attitude of the snake will be changing, too.

Let us know what the vet says, I'm betting a dollar on an URI.

Edit: I re-read the spine showing thing, I'm changing my bet to worms or an intestinal infection.

I ended up not taking him to the vet.. he is doing great now. I think it was just one of the worst sheds I have ever seen, I can only assume he wasnt being kept in proper parameters before I got him... Now he has shed and is eating fine... looks a MILLION times better.... He still has some shed pieces and after a couple of days (he just ate tonight) I will soak him to help get the remaining shed off... His body shape normalized after his shed.. and he seems totally fine...

I dont know why, though, considering the female came from the same place, that she has never exhibited any issues. I will continue to keep a close eye on him and if he needs a vet I will definitely take him... but it seems since he finally shed he has done a total 180. Hopefully under my care he will continue to improve and start shedding all in one piece. The female has yet to shed so it is possible she will have the same problem. Only time will tell.

[PDXErik]

Good to hear!

I still contend (particularly with folk that are new to herps) that a general vet visit will not be very expensive. $65 for a general check up and overview isn't that bad. If you have specific questions to ask, it's included!

A crappy shed will throw an attitude off for a while, no doubt.

Dammit I love these guys. I swear, gonesnakee and mykee are reading this and they know WAY more than I do, I will become so good at these guys.

It's a total art. Learning and fluctuation.

And in the end, purely science, so it will boil down to nothing more than "paperwork" AND exciting new research.

It's like I'm working at something that's boring at work so that I can work at something exciting at home!

Is that good? That's kind of hijacking a thread, huh? I've been drinking, so that's my excuse for running on.

[Artemis]

Good to hear!

I still contend (particularly with folk that are new to herps) that a general vet visit will not be very expensive. $65 for a general check up and overview isn't that bad. If you have specific questions to ask, it's included!

A crappy shed will throw an attitude off for a while, no doubt.

Dammit I love these guys. I swear, gonesnakee and mykee are reading this and they know WAY more than I do, I will become so good at these guys.

It's a total art. Learning and fluctuation.

And in the end, purely science, so it will boil down to nothing more than "paperwork" AND exciting new research.

It's like I'm working at something that's boring at work so that I can work at something exciting at home!

Is that good? That's kind of hijacking a thread, huh? I've been drinking, so that's my excuse for running on.

Ha! I love a good drinking post as much as the next guy!! Or girl :)

[TailsW/Scales]

Great to hear he's doing a lot better.
That's the beauty to reptiles is no one snake is exactly the same on their care at times. Your little guy just may be the exception to the rule in that he may need a higher humidity (which can happen) throughout his life in order to shed properly. His body may not make enough of the lubricating liquid to shed properly hence the need higher humidity and soaking.


FYI: If the baby is a CBB snake 98% of the time they DO NOT have parasites. The other 2% is for little CBB who have been exposed to wc snakes that still have parasites.