Not good.. problems with crawl cay...

[ChaosCat]

I'm having a weird issue with my male Crawl Cay Boa. I've only had him since September and he's been fine until yesterday.

He hasn't been eating for the past 3 weeks, and I went to try to feed him again tonight, left the mouse in with him a few moments (have only gotten him to eat live lately) and then I noticed he was upside down! I immediately took the mouse out as well as his water dish and put him in my quarantine room. When he's not moving, he looks perfectly normal, but when he goes to move, his head cranes off to one side and he spins it around upside down. His tail waves around in the air like he's trying to grab something. His tongue doesn't seem to be working well, sometimes it flicks out, other times it just sits out. He doesn't seem aware of much when that happens. He has not been regurgitating, has been shedding fine, no weight loss, and when placed on his back, he rights himself immediately. There are no pest strips in my room, or other chemicals-and all the other babies on the same rack as this one are fine. He made it through last night, but still does the twisting thing with his head. I last tried to feed him about 3 days ago, and he killed his mouse, but didn't eat it.

Unfortunately I can't make it to my vet today-we got 10 inches of snow dumped on us last night and they closed the roads.

Every other snake I own seems to be ok so far. This really sucks, as he's one of my more expensive snakes. His sibling, a female, is twice as large as he is, and seems to be fine.

-cat

[Stockwell]

Several things will cause those neurologic/central nervous system symptoms, including IBD as well as other viral and bacterial infections...
It sounds very much like what boa keepers call "Star gazing"
and it's indeed bad news

Segregating the animal was a good idea
Here's a link....
http://www.anapsid.org/ibd.html

[ChaosCat]

He's not holding his head sideways, though. WHen at rest, his head is normal. His whole body is normal. The only time anything odd is noticable is when he tries to move.

-cat

[Linds]

They don't necessarily have to hold their head sideways or constantly be displaying symptoms even when immobile. It can be something so minor as the way they curl around themselves with their tails, swaying back and forth a little bit in their movements when unsupported, or not being able to right themselves properly when put on their backs. Neurological/nervous system problems can be displayed in many ways and stages of severity. Hopefully your roads clear up soon so you can get some bloodwork, fecal, and culture work done to determine the problem, and hopefully treat Best of luck :/

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

CHAOSCAT:

Well I see LINDS covered my response, lol.

Cya...

Tony

[BoaBoi]

A friend of mine had a Columbian BCI that did that, did some bloodwork and ended up having to put the snake down. Hopefully this isn't the case with your animal, but keep in mind it's a very strong possibility.

James~

[ChaosCat]

Per vets advice, we're trying a round of baytril, and if his symptoms do not improve, I'll have to put him down to see what caused his neuro issues.

So far, no improvement, its been two days, but he hasn't gotten worse, either. I'm also tube feeding him liquids to keep him hydrated.

None of my other herps are showing any odd signs yet.

-cat

[snakehunter]

flip him on his back, ibd victims take a long time to right themselves if do at all.

stargazing is a sign of a nearly impossible to cure virus/infection.

my bp started to exhibit stargazing, and past about ten to twenty minutes later, i know what your going through, its tough seeing your snake do things that you know are terminal, and irreversible.

[diablos]

I agree with you all on the star gazing,its definetly nurological,and a desease..not infectuous,just no cure..sometimes things happen for a reason..ive seen it before many times,,its sad to watch,,and makes you feel kinda like you did something wrong.its just the nature of the beast..im sorry for what is going on with your baby..i hope it will all turn out o.k for you..good luck

[Soul_Reaper]

I am sorry to hear about your snake, from what i heard, star gazing is a terrible disease with no treatments available.

I hope you get lucky.