View Full Version : Possible Sick Snake
These are some pics i just took of my rainbow boa. The spot on the head appeared first and was small and has grown a little but not much over the last two weeks. the other spots under the eyes i just noticed today and the ones on the body appear every once and a while. also she is in shed i noticed today and is really dull. she has been eating fine and pooing fine also. the temps go from 80 on the cool side and 84.9 in the middle which is the basking spot. at night the temps drop to 77 on the cool side and 84.9 in the middle. the humidity goes from 70% to 95% i think it may be too wet but this breed is supposed to really like the high humidity. im really confused cuz everything really seems fine in the enclosure it is really clean and i check it every day for poo. and my snake is out every night and moving around. and there is always a dry spot in the tank for the snake if it needs it. anways let me know what you all think or if there is anything else you need to know.
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll51/kmef07/IMG_0345.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll51/kmef07/IMG_0344.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll51/kmef07/IMG_0341.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll51/kmef07/IMG_0337.jpg
oh ya the skin has looked like this before but never this much and never under the eyes it usually clears up after the shed. but also this time i saw a spot or two on the side of the underbelly.
The eyes look clear is he just starting shed or has he allready went blue and cleared up?
just started. i noticed it being really dull today and usually about 2-3 days later the eyes turn and then 3-4 days later it sheds. it is on time to shed now according to the log i keep of feeding and shedding. i am going to feed tonight so hopefully it will take it. im sure it will but im kinda freaked out about this problem im seeing.
Ok just fed it and it took the rat without any hesitation. then it crawled into its cave hide that is usually really humid and stays about 88 degrees all the time and is chilling in there.
they honestly just look like parts of the soon to shed skin that has bubbled up a little extra to me. But do they feel like blisters or just dry skin?
kinda dry they don't feel like bubbles. its just weird it usually gets some scales that look like that before shed but never this much. its crazy to think its dry the humidity in there is most of the time 88
Aaron_S
03-11-09, 01:01 PM
It could just be old shed, or pieces about to shed from the snake.
There's a chance, that they could also be blisters forming from a too humid/wet enclosure. I am no snake doctor, nor have I got any experience with the symptoms you are showing us, so someone else who may have the same issue can chime in and correct me.
well im going to go ahead and stop misting as much and mist only every three days or so. see if that helps but there is a fine line because brb's can become really dehydrated really quick if they don't have enough humidity. but i will defiantly keep an eye on it and everything as far as behavior seems to be good so im hoping this shed will help and make it better
I've only seen blisters from humidity once but they felt like blisters so if its feeling like dry skin it probably is.
well im stuck between a rock and a hard place. im either going to mist less often and contribute to the problem or im going to mist more and contribute to the problem that way. i mean the snake hides under some damp moss all day and at night slithers all over the place and then goes back to the moss. if it doesn't go under the moss it curls up in the corner where it is usually more cool and damp.
the one on it's head is defiantly hard and rough i touched it and my snake didn't react to the touch so it didnt seem to hurt it.
I would say stick with what ur doing wait for the shed and re eval the situation
ok good idea coy. Ill just wait a couple more days till after the shed and see what happens. i just don't want it to get too bad that i cant control it.
Chu'Wuti
03-12-09, 09:06 AM
Kyle, if these spots reappear after she sheds, you might want to have a herp-certified vet check for a fungal or bacterial infection of the skin. Wash/sterilize everything in the enclosure and the enclosure itself to eradicate any reinfection source if it does turn out to be an infection. Of course, you might could avoid the vet visit by doing the wash/sterilization first and home treatment with Betadine soaks and topical ointments; the problem is, if you treat for bacterial and its fungal or vice versa, your treatment won't help. I think waiting until after the shed is complete, then reassessing, is a good idea. Keep us posted. We'll hope it goes away!
ok so she shed last night and she was out all night like normal. i got a chance to see the spots and they were only one scale in a few spots instead of a cluster of scales that were discolored. also some of the places were gone but the scales looked a little scarred but they did look like they were a little better. i don't know what to think. the shed came off in one piece except for a quarter of an inch at the tail. so im kinda confused on what to think.
Chu'Wuti
03-17-09, 12:20 AM
During a shed cycle, raise the humidity a little more so she sheds completely. For now, soak her for awhile, then gently rub the stuck shed off if you can. If it doesn't want to come off, soak her some more. I've heard of snakes losing their tails due to stuck shed, though I have no confirmation that's really possible.
Re the spots . . . is there anything she could be getting against that could be causing small injuries? I'm glad they look better, but it's weird that you only recently noticed these and never saw an injury.
With the next shed, the spots might disappear completely. I keep my fingers crossed for you!
oh sorry i wasn't clear the whole thing came off but it came off in two pieces with the second piece being the last bit of the tail.
the spots aren't an injury because there are too many. i think it could just be something like mold. but im going to increase the amount of dry spots in the cage and i've been applying a hand sanitizer that is defiantly safe until i get something better in the next day or so. but they will hopefully be gone in the next shed cycle next month.
oh also im increasing the heat a little too so it will hopefully help to kill off whatever it is.
citysnakes
03-18-09, 11:52 AM
i think it may be too wet but this breed is supposed to really like the high humidity.
if his problems are due to an excess of water then its best to reduce the amount of water inside his enclosure. wetness and humidity are two different things so you have to figure out a way to keep up your humidity without soaking the entire enclosure.
adding an extra dry area may help but if the snake decides that hes not going to spend time in that dry area then its going to be useless. you need to reduce the moisture in total rather than only in a single area.
ok that works i did notice that the spot where my snake was spending most of it's time was kinda the cooler part of the tank where the substrate is moist all of the time and it was staying there for the whole day every day under damp moss. i thought it liked it so i was making sure the moss was kept moist. but that might have been the problem i am just not misting as much and im going to get a rubbermaid tonight and put it in there so it can stay more dry with a high humidity until it gets better. also i turned over the substrate so it would start to dry out more.
Thanks julian!!!
I agree dry out your cage some and maybe slightly lower humidity. It looks great but in the pics i saw it was pretty wet in there. I have a dry out period on my snakes that need humidity during part of the day.
citysnakes
03-19-09, 11:16 AM
sometimes a snake may choose security over physical regulation of some type so if you notice him spending too much time in his cool, damp hide it may just be thats where he feels the most secure.
it's weird cuz where i was refering to was in a corner out of the hides. i have 3 hides and it was in none of them but today it seemed to be the same and not getting any worse and it was out again all night last night and im just barely misting at all just enough to keep the humidity up.
ok so the spots seem to not be getting any worse and i've added neosporin and a little hydrogen peroxide to the regimine of getting the skin better. it sucks that it won't heal for a couple shed cycles cuz i want to make sure that it is doing all right but anyways let me know if you can think of anything else to do to maybe get the spots better. thanks a million for the suggestions so far. oh also the snake is acting normal is out all night still and doesn't seem to get aggitated when i handle it.
Aaron_S
03-22-09, 06:48 AM
I wouldn't use hydrogen peroxide on your snake. It just dries the area out. It would defeat the purpose of applying neosporin.
ok the hydrogen peroxide was to kill any mold or bacteria that may be in the area. she has one spot on her belly where the scale has turned kind of crusty white but not puss or anything. it has been that way since when this problem started a week or so ago i just forgot to write about it lol.
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