Not very active after PAM treatment

[MyKuLoO]

So my carpet recently got over mites after an treatment with Provent-a-Mite. After following the directions and everything I noticed that from that day on (about a week now) that my snake just hangs out in the corner curled up. I fed her 2 mice that day and she ate well, although she did miss both on the initial strike (live mice). I haven't seen her move, drink, or attempt to soak at all. When I take her out of the tank she moves in my hands and reacts to me reaching into the tank.

Could this possibly be PAM poisoning? I had heard of neurological problems being a possibility. No awkward head movements or going upside down.

I do notice that her underbelly is slightly white like when she is about to shed, but her eyes appear clear.

What is going on?

[marvelfreak]

Did you let the cage air out good after treating with the PAM before putting her back in? Do you have any pictures? Sounds like she just in shed.

[shaunyboy]

imo nothings going on,your worrying too much mate


most my carpets choose a spot and don't move much leading up to a shed

there would be neurological symptoms if she had been poisoned

she won't be soaking because she no longer has to try and drown the mites to give herself some relief

in all the years ive kept carpet pythons in to double figures, ive only ever witnessed a carpet drinking a handful of times;they do it at night after dark

re mice
i would get her on to rats right away...

sometimes the older a carpet gets the harder it can be to get them to cross over from mice to rats,and it takes a lot of mice per feed to satisfy an adult carpet

re live feeding
morally i have nothing against live feeding,but i do consider it unsafe for the snake,a prey item can cause a fair bit damage should it bite the snake before death,frozen thawed is a much safer way of doing things

cheers shaun

[MyKuLoO]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

imo nothings going on,your worrying too much mate


most my carpets choose a spot and don't move much leading up to a shed

there would be neurological symptoms if she had been poisoned

she won't be soaking because she no longer has to try and drown the mites to give herself some relief

in all the years ive kept carpet pythons in to double figures, ive only ever witnessed a carpet drinking a handful of times;they do it at night after dark

re mice
i would get her on to rats right away...

sometimes the older a carpet gets the harder it can be to get them to cross over from mice to rats,and it takes a lot of mice per feed to satisfy an adult carpet

re live feeding
morally i have nothing against live feeding,but i do consider it unsafe for the snake,a prey item can cause a fair bit damage should it bite the snake before death,frozen thawed is a much safer way of doing things

cheers shaun

Thanks for all the in put she is indeed in shed now. This morning I noticed her eyes became cloudy so definitely about to shed.

Re: mice vs. rats - i've tried ever method I know of to get her on rats but she just wont touch them. Braining the mouse and rubbing it on the rat, keeping them together, skipping feeding for 2 week then trying a rat. nothing she just ignores them

Re: live feeding vs. f/t - I'm kind of limited in how I can store frozen mice, can't keep it in the family fridge and that's the only 1 we have. I used to pre-kill before feeding but 3 out of 4 times she wont touch it if its been killed. I've tried "break the neck" killing and a few times accidentally cutting the carotid with my tongs (which made a bloody mess). She would just smell it but ignore them.

Any other tips? I also want to switch to rats ASAP.

[shaunyboy]

you have to be patient when crossing them over...

NEVER offer another mouse

heat a rat up and heat a mouse up

burst the mouse wide open and rub blood and guts all over the rat,then i brain the rat,give it another quick heat especially the head,then offer

it took me 4 month to cross a 6 months old female Diamond Python i bought over from mice to rats

once they get hungry 9 out of 10 will take the rat,then once they take a heavily scented rat,every 3 or 4 feeds scent the rats a little less,until it takes unscented

you have to be more stubborn than the snake

re live feeding
the usual way is offering fresh killed,once they take them,they usually go over to frozen thawed

cheers shaun

[MyKuLoO]

Well this is weird...the cloudiness has kind of gone away and it didn't shed, I just thought it would. It is noticeable that around the head and neck area she seems to have lost weight there are skin folds. I'm going to feed her again tomorrow but i'm not sure what is going on. Still not moving much.

[NewHerp293]

Sometimes that will happen and it takes a couple days to actually shed. Seems weird but i believe its pretty normal

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by MyKuLoO

Well this is weird...the cloudiness has kind of gone away and it didn't shed, I just thought it would. It is noticeable that around the head and neck area she seems to have lost weight there are skin folds. I'm going to feed her again tomorrow but i'm not sure what is going on. Still not moving much.

re eyes
that's what happens during the shedding process mate.....

first their eyes cloud over and blue up,then they clear back up and look pretty normal...

then anything from 2 to 10 days later they shed

you will have a fresh shed soon


re skin folds
DON'T feed her again,the skin folds are the skin that's about to shed

re still not moving around much
she is about to shed and is at the end of the whole shedding process,thats why she's still not moving around like you normally see her

after they shed most of mine sit up the hot end in the same spot and don't move much,if at all for 7 to 14 days,she will pick a spot that suits her needs best and move very little after her shed


cheers shaun

[MyKuLoO]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

re eyes
that's what happens during the shedding process mate.....

first their eyes cloud over and blue up,then they clear back up and look pretty normal...

then anything from 2 to 10 days later they shed

you will have a fresh shed soon


re skin folds
DON'T feed her again,the skin folds are the skin that's about to shed

re still not moving around much
she is about to shed and is at the end of the whole shedding process,thats why she's still not moving around like you normally see her

after they shed most of mine sit up the hot end in the same spot and don't move much,if at all for 7 to 14 days,she will pick a spot that suits her needs best and move very little after her shed


cheers shaun

Yeah you were right. She had a great shed, almost all 1 piece except for about 3 cm on her tail. but that's coming off too. She was very active afterwards and had a massive bowel movement.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by MyKuLoO

Yeah you were right. She had a great shed, almost all 1 piece except for about 3 cm on her tail. but that's coming off too. She was very active afterwards and had a massive bowel movement.

always make sure that the eye caps and the tip of the tail sheds correctly mate

especially the tip of the tail,sometimes if the end few centimeters of shed does not come off it restricts the blood flow eo the tail tip,this can cause the tip to die and drop off

if the tail tip does not shed,just give the snake a quick soak in the bath,then peel or pick the shed off carefully with your finger nails,break the shed skin length wise from head to tail tip direction

i'm happy to hear you've now relaxed a little and the shed went well

a lot of the time they will poo in the shed,making it a lot easier to clean things up


cheers shaun

[MyKuLoO]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

always make sure that the eye caps and the tip of the tail sheds correctly mate

especially the tip of the tail,sometimes if the end few centimeters of shed does not come off it restricts the blood flow eo the tail tip,this can cause the tip to die and drop off

if the tail tip does not shed,just give the snake a quick soak in the bath,then peel or pick the shed off carefully with your finger nails,break the shed skin length wise from head to tail tip direction

i'm happy to hear you've now relaxed a little and the shed went well

a lot of the time they will poo in the shed,making it a lot easier to clean things up


cheers shaun

Ya I was worried that the tail tip didn't come off with the large piece but I wanted to give it a day or 2 cause my snake was actively rubbing its tail around and managed to break most of it. Just now I used some warm water and my hand and I was able to invert the skin and get it to slip off.

How do I get stuck eye caps off? sounds like it would be painful

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by MyKuLoO

Ya I was worried that the tail tip didn't come off with the large piece but I wanted to give it a day or 2 cause my snake was actively rubbing its tail around and managed to break most of it. Just now I used some warm water and my hand and I was able to invert the skin and get it to slip off.

How do I get stuck eye caps off? sounds like it would be painful

re eye caps
it's best to use a water based lubricant,like KY Jelly or Viscotears that's used for dry human eyes

you put a blob of the lubricant on the stuck eye cap,then it rehydrates the stuck cap allowing it to come off...

NEVER rub at eye caps as you can scratch the eye lenses


cheers shaun