Lil Al Capone - Page 3

Tiny Boidae · 03-31-16, 04:32 PM

I requested one when I left him at the vet, so I assume so. However, it wasn't discussed at all when they called me to give me the news. I'll double check that it's been done when I head in.

**Andy_G** · 03-31-16, 04:57 PM

I hope a culture was done. Baytril won't do a single thing if it's viral. Insist on it.

Tiny Boidae · 04-01-16, 08:44 AM

I got him back today and he's doing a lot better already. He'd gotten his first injection yesterday and he's due for another Sunday, and he's NOT happy with me.

I asked if it's been cultured and they had taken a culture yesterday, so I trust that he'll get better soon.

toddnbecka · 04-02-16, 12:09 AM

When we brought home our group of sub-adult DRMB's one of the males had a prolapsed hemipenis. He was taken to the vet for surgery since it had been out for about a month before we got him, and was 3/4 dead tissue. He had to have injections of antibiotics after the surgery, and though the vet also gave us pain medicine it had to be given orally, and I was too concerned about not getting it properly down his gullet after the first attempt to continue dosing him with it. Throughout the whole ordeal he never acted defensive or even tried to get away when given the shots.
The main thing is to get him healthy, I don't think he'll hold a grudge over the treatment.

Albert Clark · 04-02-16, 02:24 AM

OCongrats TB. Glad to see he is on the path to healing.

Tiny Boidae · 04-02-16, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddnbecka

When we brought home our group of sub-adult DRMB's one of the males had a prolapsed hemipenis. He was taken to the vet for surgery since it had been out for about a month before we got him, and was 3/4 dead tissue. He had to have injections of antibiotics after the surgery, and though the vet also gave us pain medicine it had to be given orally, and I was too concerned about not getting it properly down his gullet after the first attempt to continue dosing him with it. Throughout the whole ordeal he never acted defensive or even tried to get away when given the shots.
The main thing is to get him healthy, I don't think he'll hold a grudge over the treatment.

And I have full faith that he'll get better soon. I was jokingly making that comment about how he was miserable, because he was spazzing out in the travel container probably because he was stressing out over the trip and such.

I'm sorry you had to go through that with your male though. I'm glad everything worked out okay for him

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

OCongrats TB. Glad to see he is on the path to healing.

Thanks! I sure hope so. He's still clicking and he's a lot more nervous than he was before we took him to the vet. I was just changing his water and I hadn't noticed he had burrowed underneath it. I picked up the dish and he wigged out on me, striking and tail rattling and such. Like a whole different snake. I'm sure with time and antibiotics all of this will go back to normal, but for now he hasn't improved much. I'm debating about offering some food when I feed him Monday. It'll be the day after the 2nd round of injections, so I'm pretty sure I won't be at risk for a regurge when I inject him again on Wednesday. I'll probably see how he is that morning and decide from there.

Tiny Boidae · 04-04-16, 03:35 PM

Mini update:

I gave Al Capone his injection yesterday, and he took it a lot better than I expected. Didn't try to run or bite or musk. He flinched a little, but that was the extent of it. I also noticed that he's gone into shed yesterday too, so I gave him a little bit of a bath today (I like to give my snakes 2 baths when they begin to shed: one right when I notice they've gone into shed, and one when it looks like they're about to actually shed). He's still clicking, it was really bad when he was in the "bath" (It's just wet paper towels with a small bit of loose water), but before he went in there I didn't really hear a lot of clicking. I assume that's a good thing?
It's also feeding day here and I went around feeding the sand boas, and while I didn't expect him to eat I thought there was no harm in offering. I went to set the mouse down in his warm hide and right away his little head poked out from nowhere and was inspecting it. He didn't miss a beat at all, and it was down the gullet in a few minutes.
Oh and ONE more thing I thought I should add. He pooped today and it was pretty solid, not watery.

Tiny Boidae · 04-28-16, 04:22 PM

One month update:

It's been a month and a half since I've had him and I'd just thought to give everyone a little update so far. He'd gotten over his RI and is doing great. When I'd first gotten him, he was 74.3 grams, but now a month later he's added on a lot of weight and is now at 81.4 grams.

I waited until after he pooped to get a measurement, and sure enough he had today. I cleaned out his cage, and while I was doing that I weighed him and took him out for a photo shoot.

(As far as his cage goes, I took out the Eco Earth for now although I'll be replacing it in May probably. He's been driving me crazy about getting under the paper towel. I also put in some deer antlers that I found during a hiking trip, although he hasn't used them much as a climbing opportunity.)

He's also starting to develop a lot more orange, especially towards his tail. He's getting some white and black along his spine, although it's not a drastic change.

**Andy_G** · 04-28-16, 04:48 PM

Glad to see he is well on the mend!

**Tsubaki** · 04-29-16, 05:38 AM

He's looking good! deer antlers as decoration, haven't seen that before. great idea though!

Tiny Boidae · 04-29-16, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Glad to see he is well on the mend!

Thanks! He's doing a lot better now and growing like a weed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

He's looking good! deer antlers as decoration, haven't seen that before. great idea though!

Thank you! I do nature hiked regularly and since deer shed their antlers seasonally, I sometimes find discarded antlers on my hikes. I have a cooler full of em in my shed, and I just had a thought that they'd make an interesting decoration. He'll climb on them when he's trying to get out, but other than that he likes to try and curl up underneath the antler tucked away in the corner (they're not that heavy but they do have some weight to them which is good for him). They're also pretty rough towards the bottom which I thought he could use when he shed. I'll probably wrap it in some plastic vines to encourage him to use it more often.

macandchz · 04-29-16, 09:38 AM

keep us posted on how Lil Al is doing.

Albert Clark · 04-29-16, 01:12 PM

Wow! What a great story. He looks great too. Grats. I thought all the multicolored decorations in his enclosure was a birthday celebration for Al, lol.

Tiny Boidae · 04-29-16, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macandchz

keep us posted on how Lil Al is doing.

That's what this thread is for

Unless something major happens, I'll probably skip out on an update until his colors start to really break through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Wow! What a great story. He looks great too. Grats. I thought all the multicolored decorations in his enclosure was a birthday celebration for Al, lol.

Thanks! I always appreciate hearing from you. But no, lol. I ordered some cheap aquarium decorations off Ebay and because it was one of those things where you couldn't select a color, I got sent a blue and purple bonsai tree. I figured that it'd look weird if I filled it with natural looking vegetation though, so I went all out with the odd colors! Al Capone doesn't seem to mind the colors though. One of his several favorite hiding spots is hiding in the little red bush.

Tiny Boidae · 05-18-16, 02:27 PM

He's definitely getting purdy. A lot of red towards his tail but more orange and yellow towards his head. Not to mention his stripes are coming in and he's getting white and black blotches, and in some places I can even see a little bit of dark purple (although I don't think it'll ever be real noticeable). It baffles me that Baird's rat snakes aren't more common in the pet trade.

But I'd taken him outside today since the weather was nice and he's absolutely stunning in natural sunlight.

He'd shed Monday so he's all nice and bright! I've since decided to do a small update every time he sheds, which is about every month and a half now.

I'd also cleaned his cage while he was at it. He defecates like crazy and he already discovered the joy of going in his water dish (which he doesn't even soak in mind you, but it's happened twice).

I've also noticed that since I decorated the cage with a bunch of those little plants, he spends a lot more of his time out in the open "hiding". His favorite spot is in the big fern-looking plant in the corner, although he doesn't usually going into either of his actual hides which is nice.