So my snake family now numbers two (for now
) with the addition of a rescued 11 year old male BCI mix (Columbian x Hogg Island).
He's a kijiji snake who was in need of a good home and I'm experienced in dealing with animals in need of TLC (and have a good exotic vet who lets me do payment plans) so home he came.
Picked him up from some kid who couldn't/wouldn't pay for his vet bills and halfway home the mites started crawling out of the container he was in *shudder*. We pulled over, dumped the container and the bedding and put him in a clean pillowcase. Got home and sealed up the clothes I was wearing in a bag in a closet till I can wash them and sealed and threw out the pillowcase he came home in. He's currently in a glass tank on paper towel. The tank has tape around the top (not experienced with mites...but if it keeps pinheads in why not?). Hopefully that (and a heck of a lot of handwashing, separate supplies for him and our existing herps, hand sanitizer, closed doors) will keep the mites from spreading. I was sure he was clean...damn....I even had a second pair of eyes looking him over and she missed them. No signs of IBD though so thats good.
Poor little dude (he's about 6 feet or so) is in need of some serious TLC, has an abscess in his jaw, mites (yuuuck) and what sounds like an RI. He's in quarantine in the kitchen for the next three months.
These are from yesterday (he's in shed currently), he's brightened up a bit today and hasn't bit or struck at me yet though hissed a bit (knocks on wood) when I've had to handle him to clean his quarantine tank, wipe him down with disinfectant (wohoo leftover chlorhexidine), dry him off from his baths (with betadine) and apply mite-off to him and his enclosure.
Even in the last 24 hours the number of mites I find on the paper towel are going down drastically and nearly all of them are dead. Hoping moving him into a new enclosure that was pre-treated will keep them from breeding and becoming established and its just a matter of killing the adults.
I'm not quite used to how quick boas move and their body language so its been interesting! My ball python is so slow and chilled out in comparison.
He's going into the vet sometime this week to get everything looked at.
In about a week I'll offer him a f/t medium rat and see how he does (apparently that's what he was eating) Beautiful little guy and such a sweetie considering all he's been through, very happy to have him
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