need help with sick balls

[nimrodfiftyfour]

I work at a petshop and the ball pythons we have are exhibiting several worriesome signs. They have very loose and pungent feces which seem to consist of more liquid than solid and are also exhibiting uncontrolable tremors and lethargy. We had three like this, but one died this morning. Took them to our crappy vet here and he said, and I quote "they might live and they might not". That was his brilliant solution! Didn't give a diagnostic because he has no clue, never had a dog w/ this problem and snakes don't matter. Any help is much appreciated

[smeagel]

are they WC?

[alanhoo]

I wish I could.

[nimrodfiftyfour]

No, they are cb. I refuse to just accept "I don't know, lets see if they make it", but I can't find any info on anything like this on any of the sites I've checked. Its just frustrating

[smeagel]

I would go back to the breeder and see if he knos anything about it or if he can do something for you. How long have they been there? They might have internal parasites, but i'm no expert.

[nita]

I'm guessing by CB you mean Captive born, not captive bred. If they are indeed captive bred, talk to the breeder. Otherwise find a better vet who knows reptiles.

[Artemis]

Whatever the diagnosis they clearly arent healthy. I hope you arent still selling them to people at this time, without some sort of guarantee. Could be parasites, could be stress, could be Boid Disease, could be all three.

Sorry to hear about this. Hope they make it. If getting another vet to come and look at them is an option your company will not allow, then Id give them water, check their minimum husbandry requirements (ie temps and hides) and leave them alone as much as possible. If they are still kicking after 2 or 3 weeks, try to feed them.

BOL-

Artemis

[bloodbeard]

when i had a milk snake that wouldent eat (suspected gut infection), we gave it a bath, basicaly putting it in a fish tank with a stone just a couple of centimetres underwater for it to sit on and rest so it dident drown, this helped clear out its insides as it drank quite a bit. dunno know if it will help, but it could be worth a try. what do other pople think?

[Artemis]

I think that would be a bad idea blood. I know my BP HATES to be stuck in the water (though admittedly not all do) but the bottom line is it is better to avoid causing any additional stress to an already immunocompromised animal, and if no veterinary treatment is available its best to keep the animal stress free so its immune system can hopefully take care of things. With parasites, im not sure water is going to kill them off, anyways. It might thin them out a little, but speaking as a human who has had them, they tend to bounce back without some sort of antiparasitic treatment.

[nimrodfiftyfour]

I would love to get another vet, however there are two probs. with that. One- I work for Petco. Two-there is not a single reptile vet in the state. All have them have taken one or two minor courses in reptiles to fill thier requirments, and most of those classes are for "exotics", which is everything but dogs, cats, and farm animals. I have them on paper towel to compensate for the extremely runny droppings. They have a large water dish and temp is about 85degrees. To no surprise they aren't eating, but are looking a little better.
Also, as part of the petco environment, we can't contact the breeder about individual animals, because they don't know any better than we do. The company goes with whoever is cheapest, and then gets pissed at me when we get sick animals. Go figure.

[nimrodfiftyfour]

Oh, and there is no way I am allowing these to be sold. We are much more responsible than that, so no worries there :-).

[Jeff_Favelle]

"Temps about 85 degrees isn't going to cut it. Not even close. BP's REQUIRE a temperature range of 90-92F warm end, 80F cool end. There's no way that the snakes can get any better if they aren't kept properly in the first place. Ball Pythons are AMAZINGLY resilient and can bounce back from quite severe illnesses. However, to do that, they must have at least the right conditions that they have evolved for thousands of years to live in.

In reptile keeping, temperature is KING. Screw that up and you might as well not bother.

[nimrodfiftyfour]

That just makes me madder. The vet told us that by dropping the temp it would help in some way if it was an internal parasite. Sounded wierd to me, but hey, he's the one getting baid right? I will raise them back up tommorow. Thanks for your help, will keep you posted.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Reptiles USE temperatures to get rid of parasites. LOTS of snakes bask at 100F to get rid of disease and other nasties. Viruses and other bad doods HATE the heat. Fish do the same as well.

Lower temps is what CAUSES the problems in the first place. Not a cure. LOL! What an idiot vet. Report him, AND show him this thread.

[nimrodfiftyfour]

Will put a 100watt bulb over them tonight. Thanks guys.