Rescue of a 7' Boa

[exwizard]

This friend of mine with what started out as a "big snake" question led me to go to her house to check this rescue out. Apparantly this snake is a Boa of some kind and has been living is a small clear plastic tote that has not been heated and inside her tote was an inch thick of her own feces. The water bowl had what they passed off as water but was brown muck. The only interraction she got was a rabbit tossed in every other month with no other interraction whatsoever. She also has an RI, not surprisingly, and will get meds for that in a couple of days. Now come to find out, she has mites and has been soaking in her new waterdish as best she can but this dish is not big enough to drown all the mites but she keeps trying. Ive never had to deal with mites before and other than try to get her a bigger waterdish, Im not sure what else I can do. Btw, of course she is under quarantine so that parts under control. Any ideas?

[Ivalynfyre]

After reading some threads on the forum, Prevent-a-mite is good. I think you only need to spray it once...?
I'm glad you got her out of those horrible conditions, I just don't know how people can take care of animals that badly - really they're barely doing anything.

[exwizard]

This snake now belongs to my friend who rescued her herself. Im just trying to help her get this snake healthy again. Thank you for the tip. Ive heard of provent-a-mite and will check that out for sure.

[snake man12]

Wow hats off to you.=]=]

[DavethePython]

Seems to be an awful lot of rescues going on as of late . Good to hear the boa is safe. Now let's hope you can bring him back to health. Another happy ending to another rescue would be great to hear.

[exwizard]

Thank you guys for your replies. She is doing what it takes to get this snake healthy and I will forward to her any and all pieces of advice to her to this end.

[Terranaut]

Do a PAM or Nix search on here as there are countless threads with the same info. Either will work. Glad she found this snake. Some people are good but man some suck. Make sure to up the temps a bit for the RI but not the humidity. Best of luck to your friend. Future member here maybe???

[exwizard]

:no:Do a PAM or Nix search on here as there are countless threads with the same info. Either will work. Glad she found this snake. Some people are good but man some suck. Make sure to up the temps a bit for the RI but not the humidity. Best of luck to your friend. Future member here maybe???

Maybe but I don't think she has internet. Also i appreciate the nix suggestion. I will foward this to her as well.

[Size'd'M]

Hey,
I'm not sure what products you can get to treat mites out there in the US. Here we tend to use Callingtons Mite Spray, if you can get that it is fantastic stuff and very safe :)
This is how I treat a snake with mites, first thing a ten minute soak in the bath to help drown a majority of mites then wipe the snake down thoroughly with a towel, a microfibre towel picks up the most mites. Temporarily house the boa in a tub with just kitchen towel - it is easy to keep changing and mites show up really well. The boa obviously needs a water bowl but check that it does not have to be removed for 24 hours when you spray the boa and enclosure as per instructions on your product. I spray the enclosure thoroughly then add the snake into it. I change the paper every time I see mites and repeat the bath and treatment weekly till I'm sure all the critters are gone. Remember that they will travel to other snakes and you can accidently take them home to your snakes on your clothes. Good Luck!

[exwizard]

Thank you guys for all your advice. The mite problem is now gone and as a result of todays vet visit, the RI will be treated 3x a week for 2 weeks with Gentamicin to take care of that. Im very optimistic of her future health a result of that visit. She will remain under quarantine for the immediate future just to make sure.

For those of you who are interested, she is a Central American Boa, 7' long and 11.4 lbs. and her temperment has vastly improved since my friend picked her up and it looks like I will have to snakesit this snake in addition to the other 2 Columbians she has in a couple of weeks until her life's situation gets better and she can take them all back.

[FangsAnarchy]

my two cents

Well we have had to deal with mites and found that Jurassi mite works best. You can get it at petsmart or online or at other reptile locations. I don't really like PAM as it is toxic to both snakes and people. I feel like its playing with fire. Its natural and works and is green. Anyway if you get it just take everything out of the enclosure, spray the snake as directed, take out the water dishes for 2 days and then you should have a mite free snake. Best of luck and kudos to your friend for saving a life.

[exwizard]

my two cents

Well we have had to deal with mites and found that Jurassi mite works best. You can get it at petsmart or online or at other reptile locations. I don't really like PAM as it is toxic to both snakes and people. I feel like its playing with fire. Its natural and works and is green. Anyway if you get it just take everything out of the enclosure, spray the snake as directed, take out the water dishes for 2 days and then you should have a mite free snake. Best of luck and kudos to your friend for saving a life.Thank you. :)

[Terranaut]

my two cents

Well we have had to deal with mites and found that Jurassi mite works best. You can get it at petsmart or online or at other reptile locations. I don't really like PAM as it is toxic to both snakes and people. I feel like its playing with fire. Its natural and works and is green. Anyway if you get it just take everything out of the enclosure, spray the snake as directed, take out the water dishes for 2 days and then you should have a mite free snake. Best of luck and kudos to your friend for saving a life.

I had no luck at all with jurassimite. Didn't do a thing for me.

[exwizard]

This is Big Momma, the 7' Central American Boa that was rescued over a month ago. She is now in my care until my friend is on more stable ground homewise. If she is able to move into a place that accepts her snakes as pets before I move, they will go back with her when I move. If not, they will move with me and stay with me until she is able to do so. Today the vet gave her a clean bill of health and her antibiotic regimen is now finished. In other words, no mites and no more RI. Life is good.

[MrBD1980]

Congrats man!! Good work!!

[exwizard]

Thank you. My aim all along was to help her get this snake healthy and to make sure she remains so.

[lumpbump]

Nice snake.

[exwizard]

Ok since this snake's story was touched on in another thread and since the person who rescued her is now a member here, I thought I'd like for her to tell it in her own words just what happened to this snake before she rescued her and what's happened since.

[Wildside]

So sad someone would treat such a gorgeous animal like that. She looks awesome now!

[rmfsnakes32]

Thank you all for your concern. As exwizard stated she came from horrible conditions and was not treated well. As of today she had to go back to the vet 3 weeks go the RI had not completely cleared up she will be done with shots within a week I'm praying this is the last of the illness she will have to deal with! She has been thru so much in the 3 1/2 years before I got her. The day she came into my care was the best thing that had happened to her! She was in a small rubbermaid tote with a few holes in it when I pulled the lid off I wanted to puke and cry her tub had at least an inch thick full of feces and sheds caked together, she had no heat no watee was very dehydrated and blowing bubbles out of her nose they told me she was hissing so they stopped paying attention to her. Indeed she was hissing some most of it was due to the RI and being able to hear her breathe. When I got her home I had to give her a bath she smelled a looked awful she went from a tiny tote to a 55 ga tank ( only temporary housing) she had cage aggression issues due to the only human contact she got was when they opened the tote and threw a bunny in every other month or so. To be honest I am surprised she lasted all that time in there! I hate reading about animal cruelty cases but this took the cake nobody ever talks about cruelty on reptiles just cats and dogs! I still get angry when I think about it! She is now healthy looking I can't hear her breathing no more snot in her mouth she still has not ate but hasn't lost any weight so vet is not concerned. She has made great strides in 2 mo she no longer shows signs of cage agression I can reach in and pick her up with ease she doesn't strike at the tank when people walk buy she just lays there and watches you she is very active and alert when out. I am very happy to have her and hope I have many more years to enjoy her I habe no intention of ever rehoming her she is part of our family. A big thank you to exwizard who has helped out by taking her in for a short time untill I find a permanent house! Once again thank you to all who have rescued a reptile ( or any pet )!

[lumpbump]

Good work you two. A buddy of mine took in a sick boa that someone he knows was totally neglecting. It looked very sick. That was the first time I've scene a sick boa constrictor as a result from just human neglect. I was shocked to see it since my collection has everything they need. This snake was just sitting there in a 5sick gallon plastic bucket with holes drilled into the top. Was barely breathing and in the hour I observed this sick snake did not once flick his tongue. Looked like it had not eaten in months. I told my buddy I didn't think it would live but he gave it a try. He gave him some baytril shots and I think he got it feeding a few weeks ago... gonna find out now. He lives 70 miles from me and I didn't check on the boa the last time I brought him some rats.
:bouncy: I like boas :bouncy:

[rmfsnakes32]

I love boas too! My favorite part of them is their powerfull head absolutely beautiful