Rescue of a 7' Boa

exwizard · 06-22-12, 04:27 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 04:37 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 04:40 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 05:00 PM

Wow hats off to you.=]=]

DavethePython · 06-22-12, 05:46 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 06:43 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 06:59 PM

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 · 06-22-12, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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???

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 · 06-23-12, 01:01 AM

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 · 06-30-12, 11:14 AM

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 · 06-30-12, 11:20 AM

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 · 06-30-12, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Thank you.

Terranaut · 06-30-12, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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

exwizard · 07-09-12, 05:59 PM

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 · 07-09-12, 06:17 PM

Congrats man!! Good work!!