Need some answers please

[kayleegrace]

This week was my spring break and I left my snake with a trusted friend. About a week before I left I offered him live prey. He wouldn't take it, so I tried every day that week, I also tried during the night and early in the morning, because some people told me to try that. It still didn't work so I decided that when I got back in another week he would surely be hungery. Well yesterday my friend called to ask how I was doing and I said good and quickley asked how my snake was doing. She said oh fine but he keeps pacing back and forth in his cage, I knew he was probably just "hunting." so I didn't panic then she told me that he had also been going through his substrate and eating anything clumpy. Now that I didn't know what to think I asked my brother what he thought because he has geckos and I was desperate. He said that his last gecko was very sick and before he died that is what he did. So now I'm a very worried. My best guess was that he was extremely hungery or he was going to die so I went for the hungery one since I wasn't able to do anything else. My friend offered him prey and he took it, it still took him sone time but he ate it.

I am relieved that he are but am a little scared about him eating the substrate. Please tell me anything you know. It would be greatly apreciated. I will let you know how he is.

P.S.
He is a bp around 1 1/2years
The substrate I use is coconut husk
And I am heading home today

[Aaron_S]

I really don't know what to say. I've honestly never heard of a snake actually eating it's substrate for really no reason at all. It's rather perplexing.

[infernalis]

I have seen it before, But usually just before death.

Last week one of my most valuable animals had a mouth full of carefresh, He swallowed about half of it, Then ate a pinkie, drank some water and has been acting normally ever since.

All previous times I have seen it, the substrate got shoveled in while the snake was crawling anxiously about with it's mouth gaping open at the time, dead by morning.

[Will0W783]

That is really strange- I have never heard of a snake actually going through its bedding and eating clumps out of it. I would say a vet visit is in order once you get home. IMO, better safe than sorry.

[emseeKAY]

that is pretty odd, i'd be worried about internal parasites causing it discomfort which is my best guess at why it's eating its substrate, just my two cents, but id get it to a vet quick. good luck!

[shaunyboy]

ive never heard of snakes eating substrate,dont soung good though.trip to the vet might give you some answers.could you please let us know how it goes.i wish you the best of luck.
cheers shaun

[kayleegrace]

I am extremely scared.... I really love my little guy. Can I just bring him to regular vet you think. I live in a very rural town and there isn't any specialists.

[shaunyboy]

phone around and ask you may get a surprise and find a vet whos passionate about reptiles in his spare time or keeps them himself.
cheers shaun

[Feebo]

It`s best to find a snake vet anyway or you can`t really take proper care of a snake, you should do that before you even buy a snake really. You`ll definitely need a reptile vet in the lifetime of any snake, it`s unavoidable. If you can`t take it to a vet, you shouldn`t have it. Off to the reptile vets with you.....

[Will0W783]

Go to the nearest pet store that sells snakes and ask if they can direct you to a vet that sees exotics and reptiles. If they can't, first don't ever buy a snake from them, and second start calling up all the vets in your phone book until you find one that sees snakes. Like Feebo said, you really need to have a reliable snake vet on hand. I will be seeing my vet tomorrow with my female GTP who's having pregnancy complications, so I can ask him if he knows of anyone in California.

[shaunyboy]

vet wise i'm really lucky.my vets a guy called romain pizza,he keeps reptiles as a hobby(spiders are his main thing).he was also raised in south africa so again has reptile experience from there.he's also the on call surgeon for london zoo and works 3 days per week at edinburgh zoo.he even has 2 different tv programmes on sky tv.on top of all that he trys to keep your bills to a minimum.his practise is only 5 miles from my house so i count myself as one of the lucky ones with this guy so close.he's doing key hole surgery on my jag this week for a suspected abcess on his lung.he sometimes takes pictures of his surgerys to use as slides for talks on reptiles.he does a monthly talk for up to 30 people (thats how many can fit in the shop) each month at our local reptile shop,again only 5 miles away from my house.i'd be so freaked out if he ever decided to move from my area.its really comforting knowing i have him so close by as a safety net for my rep's.the other thing i noticed about romain is when i get a letter from my vets it lists all the parteners and the letters after their name.2 vets with their qualifications to each line.romain has 2 lines of letters after his name more than double any of the other vets.as said all this equals peace of mind for me.the guy who owns the reptile shop in my area is a fully qualified herptologist (bad spelling).he was training to be a vet then decided to go with the herptology.you get year courses on reps that gives you certificates but this guy did over 4 years to gain his qualifications.i used to work for no wages on my spare days off,i got paid in experience which was worth more than money to me especially since the owner had kept snakes for 27 years.so all in all i count myself very lucky to have these people around me.
cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

Wow Shaun, sounds like you've got an awesome vet! He sounds like a keeper- it's always so wonderful when you have a herp vet you can really trust. Mine is great too- he does his own throat cultures and looks at slides under a microscope and he also keeps snakes. I am afraid to move too far once I graduate school because I doubt I'd find another vet this good in the states.

[shaunyboy]

it most certainly is great to have vets we can trust willow.it cuts out an awfull lot of worry and second guessing.i would be devestated if my vet moved from my area.there is one other vet he's 15 miles away.he's a good guy who will study up in his own time to rectify the problem.its not until you have the miss fortune of a sick reptile that you realise how good it is to have a proper reptile vet.it can make all the difference to the reps recovery.
cheers shaun