Bad shed continued

[KORBIN5895]

Did the vet say what was wrong?

[Deva]

She thought it was some kind of fungal infection but I don't think she really knows, is my impression.

The skin biopsy was the only way she could tell for sure. I elected not to proceed with that as it requires anesthesia and I don't know if the snake would ever be the same afterward. Maybe a wrong decision and I may still have to do it anyway, I don't know. Main point in all this is I really don't know that much about snakes to be called on to make a decision like that. This has been a rough week.

I am going to be doing soaks and some other treatment as advised.

She advised me to not use the repti-bark as I had been. She said shredded paper product is better. At the moment I just have paper towels on the bottom. That is a bit sad as this snake likes to burrow. I have access to plenty of shredded paper from work, but it has ink on it from printouts and I don't know if it should be used.

I also believe this vet did consult with another reptile vet.

[Chu'Wuti]

For now, I would recommend you stick with paper toweling. The nice thing about using plain white paper toweling is that any parasites that drop off onto it are highly visible, so paper toweling could potentially help you identify the problem.

If your workplace uses soy-based ink, the shredded paper is probably fine in the future, but it wouldn't be my top choice for substrate.

For now, see if you can get the snake to eat. You might try smaller-than-normal prey size, perhaps even pinkies, to get her appetite and digestive system jump-started.

Good luck.

[Deva]

yes, I am sticking with paper toweling for the time being. I don't know about the ink. I just put a pinkie in with her, no reaction yet.

[slowhite03]

I would put it over night, this way he's more likely to come out and eat it

[Chu'Wuti]

Originally Posted by slowhite03

I would put it over night, this way he's more likely to come out and eat it

That's a good suggestion as long as the prey item is F/T or prekilled. Many of my colubrids won't eat immediately but will eat if I leave a F/T prey item in with them. I wouldn't ever try this with a live meal, as the snake could easily end up being the prey, receiving injuries that could be scarring at the least and life-threatening at the worst.

[Deva]

My snake has always eaten frozen/thawed. She did not eat last night - I am not surprised, but will try again in a couple days. I am going back to pinkies rather than fuzzies, which is what she had been eating.

It is hard to convey to you guys how badly this snake has gone down in the last two months. Prior to that, she was so fast she almost got away from me when I was trying to do maintenance - to the point where now, it seems she can barely move. Her whole body is still very stiff, as if she was painted with a shellac or something hard. There are flakes of skin peeling off all over - except they don't exactly come off. She sometimes sits with her mouth slightly open as well. I asked the vet about this, and she said the mouth was swollen. There is no other sign of a problem with the mouth, to look at it, it is normal, no foaming or anything like that. In fact the only part of her that looks normal is her head, which is shiny black and her eyes also look good.

She has been on a course of anti-fungal and antibiotics for a week. The skin appears almost cracked in places - hence the antibiotic - and I give her a warm bath in water and wind her up in a cloth soaked with betadine once a day, as per the vet's instructions.

[Deva]

As a wind up to this story, my little snake, Ci-Ci, passed away Wednesday, July 31.

RIP Ci-Ci, cause of death unknown, but no more snakes for me:

[sweatshirt]

I'm really sorry to hear R.I.P.

[marvelfreak]

Sorry to hear Ci-Ci didn't make it.