Help! Really concerned about our baby rosy boa

krstn · 01-07-14, 11:30 PM

Hi Folks, just joined this sight this evening. Lots of interesting info to be found here!

I'm hoping someone with experience with Rosy Boas can give me some feedback.

Here's the situation: I bought a baby Rosy Boa (born 8/24/13) for my daughter for Christmas. We received her on 12/17/13 in what appeared to be a healthy state. We left her alone for a good 10 days to let her get accustomed to her new surroundings, and she seemed to be pretty happy, moving about, curious, checking things out...We fed her her first thawed Pinky and everything went fine, we fed her her second pinky 7 days later and everything seemed fine...then day before yesterday, we fed her for the 3rd time and she went right for it as usual, but after eating the lump in her seemed weird, bigger or lumpier than before. It has been 48 hours and she hasn't moved from her hiding spot at all, and the lump is still there! I don't know if she has drank any water since we got her either. I've put the water in the enclosure 1 day a week, but have never seen her drink any...

Any ideas about what's wrong, or am I just being paranoid? I really feel like she isn't doing well, because she was so active before, but for the last 5 days she hasn't been showing any activity, and seems especially lethargic after the last feeding.

My daughter's Leopard Gecko passed away just before Thanksgiving and she was devastated. I don't want to see her go through that again! And I really love this little Rosy!

formica · 01-08-14, 04:21 AM

she may be about to shed, its not uncommon for a snake to be inactive for 2 weeks while in shed, you may notice her eyes cloud over at some point soon, then they will clear up, and a little while later she'll shed her skin, it should come off in one piece

check on her again in another 48hrs, but dont disturb her to much or pick her up, they can be sensitive when in shed, if you notice her eyes go cloudy, then you know she will shed soon, the eyes will clear up, and maybe a few days or a week later, you'll find her old skin

just to confirm that she is setup right, what are her enclosure temperatures, humidity, how are you measuring them and how is the enclosure being heated?

Starbuck · 01-08-14, 05:28 AM

once you answer formicas questions we can start to figure rings out a bit more; but i will throw this in: I have an adult rosy, and i provide her with water 24/7. If you have her in a screen top cage, it will be almost impossible for a simple water dish to create enough humidity to cause a problem. Additionally, if she is going into shed, she may need a boost in humidity in order to complete the shed cycle without problems.

krstn · 01-08-14, 10:31 AM

Thank you so much for replying to my post so quickly! She is in a a glass 20 gallon tank with care fresh and a hide at each end. The hot side of her tank is heated with a heat pad and remains at a pretty consistent 90 degrees and is regulated with a thermostat (probe beneath care fresh). The cool side fluctuates between 77 and 88 degrees (from night to day) and humidity is at 35% right now with the water dish left in for the last 24 hours. The enclosure does have a locking screen top.

Snakesitter · 01-08-14, 02:47 PM

A picture of the snake would also help us to help you.

TheFrogman · 01-08-14, 02:50 PM

I don't want to hijack this thread, by all means I hope KRSTN's baby is ok but Starbucks,
I just read that you shouldn't keep a water dish in your Rosy's enclosure at all, allowing them to drink from a water dish only once a week because If your Rosy drinks too much water it could cause a regurge?

True or False?

nyx · 01-08-14, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krstn

Hi Folks, just joined this sight this evening. Lots of interesting info to be found here!

I'm hoping someone with experience with Rosy Boas can give me some feedback.

Here's the situation: I bought a baby Rosy Boa (born 8/24/13) for my daughter for Christmas. We received her on 12/17/13 in what appeared to be a healthy state. We left her alone for a good 10 days to let her get accustomed to her new surroundings, and she seemed to be pretty happy, moving about, curious, checking things out...We fed her her first thawed Pinky and everything went fine, we fed her her second pinky 7 days later and everything seemed fine...then day before yesterday, we fed her for the 3rd time and she went right for it as usual, but after eating the lump in her seemed weird, bigger or lumpier than before. It has been 48 hours and she hasn't moved from her hiding spot at all, and the lump is still there! I don't know if she has drank any water since we got her either. I've put the water in the enclosure 1 day a week, but have never seen her drink any...

Any ideas about what's wrong, or am I just being paranoid? I really feel like she isn't doing well, because she was so active before, but for the last 5 days she hasn't been showing any activity, and seems especially lethargic after the last feeding.

My daughter's Leopard Gecko passed away just before Thanksgiving and she was devastated. I don't want to see her go through that again! And I really love this little Rosy!

If her temperatures are correct (and you know this because you've measured her temperatures with a digital thermometer), then I agree - she may be in shed. My rosy hatchlings will not budge during the shed cycle, and it is difficult to see the signs of ecdysis - the eyes are so small you may miss the clouding-over, etc. The scales often look dull, the belly may have a slight pinkish hue, but it's best to leave her alone rather than check for it.

Put the water dish in full-time unless you are in a humid area. You will probably never see her drink; I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever watched a snake drink, although my hatchling rosies will often drink droplets from their thawed prey before striking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrogman

I don't want to hijack this thread, by all means I hope KRSTN's baby is ok but Starbucks,
I just read that you shouldn't keep a water dish in your Rosy's enclosure at all, allowing them to drink from a water dish only once a week because If your Rosy drinks too much water it could cause a regurge?

True or False?

False, and I answered why in the separate thread you made.

Starbuck · 01-08-14, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyx

Put the water dish in full-time unless you are in a humid area. You will probably never see her drink; I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever watched a snake drink, although my hatchling rosies will often drink droplets from their thawed prey before striking.

False, and I answered why in the separate thread you made.

yup. my rosy hides under the water dish most of the time. I've never had an issue with regurges etc, or with skin problems. I don't think any animal should be deprived of water, regardless of where they are from (idk, maybe some really extreme animals like horny toads etc?), it is up to the human to provide is in such a way (or modify the caging) to prevent issues.

krstn · 01-09-14, 04:35 PM

Here are a few pictures of Cinder, she's looking a lot better, but I don't see any signs of clouding eyes or anything. Right now she's laying in the middle of her tank with just her head burrowed...is that normal? Maybe because I had to disturb her to check to make sure she was okay, I freaked her out?

nyx · 01-09-14, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krstn

Here are a few pictures of Cinder, she's looking a lot better, but I don't see any signs of clouding eyes or anything. Right now she's laying in the middle of her tank with just her head burrowed...is that normal? Maybe because I had to disturb her to check to make sure she was okay, I freaked her out?

There would be no way to tell without a significantly brighter picture, and maybe not even then, if she's entered the phase of shed cycle in which the eyes clear up prior to actually shedding the skin.

If she is lethargic due to shed, yes, she might just sit there instead of hiding herself. It's best to handle as little as possible during ecdysis, to avoid damaging the new skin forming under the old. Also, you didn't mention your temperature range. That would be good to know.

A suggestion? Switch Carefresh to shredded aspen (I find Carefresh to be inconceivably dusty).

krstn · 01-09-14, 04:48 PM

Here is a slightly better picture of her.

krstn · 01-09-14, 06:37 PM

Temps on the hot side between 89 and 91 degrees, regulated by a thermostat ( using heat pad on underside of tank). Cool side I use a reptile heat bull (the red kind) and temp there is between 78 and 85, using a digital temp/humidity gauge to monitor. Humidity is under 30 percent unless I leave the water in, in which case it goes up to about 36 percent. Is the care fresh unhealthy for her? I have a big bag of it, but will switch if it's better for her health.

Sharlynn93 · 01-09-14, 06:44 PM

I was using aspen for my garter and she was constantly sneezing...I replaced with carefresh and havent heard a sneeze since...if it were me, unless I actually see alot of dust in the bedding, I would just leave it be...just my opinion...

nyx · 01-09-14, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krstn

Temps on the hot side between 89 and 91 degrees, regulated by a thermostat ( using heat pad on underside of tank). Cool side I use a reptile heat bull (the red kind) and temp there is between 78 and 85, using a digital temp/humidity gauge to monitor. Humidity is under 30 percent unless I leave the water in, in which case it goes up to about 36 percent. Is the care fresh unhealthy for her? I have a big bag of it, but will switch if it's better for her health.

Heat seems fine, if a bit warmer than I use. If you need to use the bag of carefresh, use it up, but I would suggest not buying more. I have enjoyed using aspen chip or beta chip for rosy boas, as it is easily burrowed through and is a very dry substrate.

Just to be clear, I wouldn't worry about her and I would leave her be for a little while. I am surprised your temperatures and humidity are where they are given that you're using a bulb to heat the cool side; typically they are very warm and dry out the air. It must be a small one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharlynn93

I was using aspen for my garter and she was constantly sneezing...I replaced with carefresh and havent heard a sneeze since...if it were me, unless I actually see alot of dust in the bedding, I would just leave it be...just my opinion...

Carefresh is, anecdotally, not recommended for small animals due to the extreme amount of dust available in the litter. If your aspen was dusty, I may suggest trying a different brand or shape. For the record, I have used it for over a decade (before that, we used pine) in various shapes - chips, shredded, shavings - and have had no respiratory issues, no sneezing, no wheezing.

But aside from that, I would probably not use aspen or carefresh for a natricine.

Sharlynn93 · 01-09-14, 11:16 PM

all we have here available for aspen is the shredded (very dusty) or the large shavings, which are ok for my rodents (they all sneeze terribly with that too, though) but too many sharp edges in my opinion for snakes to slither through...I looked at the fine chipped stuff online, but it costs more to ship it that the litter does...and I'm not paying $8 for a tiny bag at petco that would only be enough for a 10 gallon...that's why I tried the carefresh...I found no dust at the bottom of her tank even after it being in there for 2 weeks...