Tirel, Ghost Boa - Page 2

Albert Clark · 06-28-16, 07:08 AM

Wow bsg, sorry to see the dilemma with Tirel! Glad that she is on the mend. Did the vet mention a possible allergic reaction as well with the cellulitis? Just thinking about another possibility. Which could also come from anywhere. Good luck with her.

bigsnakegirl785 · 06-28-16, 12:23 PM

No, he didn't mention an allergic reaction but said it's possible maybe the air flow was a little low or the plastic vine causing problems when I brought it up. I'll ask him about the water like moshirimon mentioned and about an allergic reaction when I go in. So far no call, but they don't close until 8 pm.

So far she's still doing well, she doesn't seem to like that the vine is gone but I want to eliminate that as a possibility. She keeps crawling around like she's trying to find the best spot. She'll get it back when it's cleaned. lol

bigsnakegirl785 · 06-28-16, 04:00 PM

Well I brought up the possibilities of an allergic reaction and holding water and he said he didn't really see either being likely. He hasn't really heard of allergic reactions in snakes, and he agreed the water probably wasn't being likely either. They normally drool out some amount of the water out of their mouth, and her holding water in her throat for over 2 hours seems a bit unlikely. I first noticed the swelling at ~2:30 pm and didn't get home until sometime after 5-5:30 pm, and the swelling wasn't completely gone until awhile after I made the response at 7:30 pm, I think it was about 8-9 pm I saw her neck was 100% back to normal.

I've made a vet appointment for Friday to bring her back in. The testing office did say that the throat swab was great and to send the sample in, so he's sending that in today. We should have the results by Friday, so hopefully we'll know where to go from there. I won't be able to make any trips out to Asheville until Saturday or Sunday (I work soon after the appt Friday), and they're closed then. We'll have to play it by ear and see. Hopefully everything will be straight forward so we can get everything done quick and easy. If she doesn't turn up with an infection, I'll probably defer to the Asheville vet, and hope I can make Monday or Tuesday work somehow. If she does turn up with an infection, the current vet should be able to handle it.

**Andy_G** · 06-28-16, 04:03 PM

I've had a snake cut it's mouth on a cage decoration while eating somehow and it became inflamed like that for about a day...doesn't sound like that's the case here. Hope you find the issue out soon.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-01-16, 01:32 PM

Well the test results came back with Pseudomonoas aeruginosa. The bacteria was found to be sensitive to both Baytril and Fortaz, but since we've already started with Fortaz we'll continue with that. She's getting 10 injections every 3 days, and the vet says if she's showing no worrisome signs we should be fine to just put her back to normal husbandry.

I've increased her hot spot, it's going to take a bit of tweaking with the thermostat to get it to where I want it, but I'm aiming for 93-94F rather than 90-91F.

I cannot find much information on this bacteria at all on Google, but it seems to mostly be associated with mouth rot and RIs, and a lot of snakes seem to die. From what I've read it's not contagious, it's an opportunistic bacteria, but she'll still be in quarantine of course. It seems they often refuse food, but she took 2 meals readily, so the infection either started after her last meal or it wasn't affecting her, or this bacteria isn't the one causing the infection.

That said, she was making some clicking sounds at the vet's today, but I'm not sure if that's from the stress of 2 vet visits, the way she was sitting (she was curled tightly in a ball from the injection), or what. I'm just going to keep an eye on her and see how she develops.

Today she pooped for the first time since getting her, and it was disgusting. It was smelly and large and rather runny. Not sure if that's from the Fortaz or not. She's also starting to show signs of dehydration from the meds or possibly wetness exposure, as she's dumped her water dish 2 or 3 times now and pooped today. Her scales are bending and curling up all over. I've washed her off and I'm hoping she doesn't keep dumping her water dish so it can stay dry in there.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-07-16, 09:46 PM

Luckily the medicine doesn't seem to be slowing down her appetite at all! She took a weaned rat today like she hadn't eaten in months, and after looking at the bulge it left I think I'm going to go ahead and move her down to weaned rats. They leave a respectable bulge, but nothing outrageous.

Tomorrow she gets her next shot, which makes her 4th. Still no sign of any more swelling, and although I don't plan on handling her like I normally would, I should probably take her out this weekend and give her a once-over. If she has another gross poo I'll ask my vet about that, and if the medicine probably isn't causing it I may see about having a fecal done.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-13-16, 11:25 PM

Tirel has been doing well, no more swelling still, and she just showed the first signs of shedding a few days ago! Today, she's starting to darken up but hasn't gone milky yet (there's a hint though).

She has not been happy for the last two shots (not that I blame her). She's fine when I get her out, but as soon as I walk into the room, she starts striking at any movement. The other day she was calmer since we didn't have the A/C on when she came in, but she still put in a few strikes. I heard a little hiss come from the little girl while I was locking up her tub, too. All this time, I've seen videos of loud hissing boas, and her hisses are just so quiet. lol

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-16-16, 01:36 PM

Tirel decided to be helpful today. :P Today marks the 6th shot, so she doesn't have to put up with it for much longer. There was a period where her chin/lips were looking a bit discolored, but that's gone away. Hopefully she poops before her next shot is due, and she continues to do well. I think the redness in her tail area is gone, but it's hard to tell now that she's shedding (it was way redder than a pre-shed flush and in the wrong area), so that's good.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-21-16, 04:27 PM

She was especially bad this time, striking and hissing at the TV and her own shadow on the bed. Usually she calms down after a minute or two, but she wouldn't let up. I think that's just because she couldn't see so well. She ended up bucking under the needle pretty hard, causing me to accidentally tear some of her skin under the finger I was using to hold her down and feel for her spine. It was just the old layer, not her new skin, so there's that at least. I'll be keeping an eye on it and make sure she gets most of her shed off ok, she should be shedding by next weekend.

I really hope after her shots are done I can get her to calm down again, I feel really bad only taking her out to stick her, but handling her outside of that would just be overhandling and probably make it worse.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-21-16, 05:14 PM

Her previous swelling:

Versus her shed cycle swelling:

So, as you can see the two are very different, and that's why I didn't think it was a shed cycle when I first posted about her condition. I have seen many many shed cycles, start to finish, and I've never seen swelling of that degree.

Plus, again, in this photo you can see the swelling was so bad that her lip was being pulled open. Here, it was just that one side, but after a few minutes both sides of her mouth was open, with her lips pulled out.

I want to take her for another check up just in case, but hopefully she's in the clear. It's just so weird that it happened so quickly and then disappeared on its own.

**EL Ziggy** · 07-21-16, 06:51 PM

I'm glad she's doing better BSG.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-22-16, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

I'm glad she's doing better BSG.

Thanks, I'll be even more glad when her shots are over and she's ok. She bucked under the needle and tore the old skin under my finger, I really don't like handling my snakes in shed. I'm sure she'll have a few problem areas, but I'll just have to help her out when the time comes if she doesn't get it all off.

Once her shots are done, I'll give her a cooling off period and then begin regular handling. She'll also be due for another feeding once she sheds

dannybgoode · 07-23-16, 03:06 PM

Lovely addition BSG and sorry to hear she's had to go through this but at least she's in good hands.

Hopefully once the shots are through she'll calm down to the average chilled out boa temperament.

dannybgoode · 07-27-16, 03:55 AM

Nice snake BSG and yes she's a biggie for a 1yo. Auntie Rachel (who admittedly is a CA Bi) is way smaller - 27" or so and nowhere near ready for rats.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-27-16, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Nice snake BSG and yes she's a biggie for a 1yo. Auntie Rachel (who admittedly is a CA Bi) is way smaller - 27" or so and nowhere near ready for rats.

Yup, CAs generally are smaller. My other yearling was 36" last I measured her, and my oldest, Cloud, was 31" when he was a year. I raised Cloud on rats, but the other yearling Nymeria has been raised on mice, and although she's eating jumbo mice no problem now, weaned rats are a little too large for a regular meal at the moment. Tirel here is getting weaned rats for a bit until she gets big enough that I'm comfortable giving her smalls as a staple. It's not that I don't think they can get them down (getting them down and seeing the bulge is what helped me decide haha), it's just I don't believe large meals should be fed often or regularly.

Also, she shed a few days ago and was way less grumpy for her last shot! I think her shed cycle was just making her moody. She did still hiss when I picked her up and bit a paper towel roll I was carrying, but after that she was fine. Today she gets another shot and then there's only one left! I plan on putting her on EcoEarth/mulch mix once that's done, and probably getting a bigger, heavier bowl, too.