what's wrong with him please?

[zouleous]

A few weeks ago I bought a baby cb Red Tail. I gave him 3 days to get used to his environment and then fed him. He ate great and I was pleased.

A week later I tried feeding him again. This time by morning the mouse is lying in his water dish after being regirgitated. After a few days I found mites on him and bought some Provent-a-mite and treated his enclosure. The mites seem to be gone, but he still won't keep food down. It's been almost 3 weeks since he kept his first one down. Last night I saw almost the whole thing. He went to get a drink...then got himself partly in his water dish and started tossing up 2 pinkies that were force fed to him earlier in the day as a last resort because he has gotten to the point where he shows no interest in eating.

Any ideas? thanks

Zouleous

[sophia]

Sounds like he might need worming, or it could be stress related. Tell us about your enclosure, the size, what's in it, what the temp is, is there a good heat gradient, etc...

It might still be a good idea to get some Panacur in this guy and try that and if he's still regurgitating, get him to a vet.

Tay

[zouleous]

What is worming? What is Panacur?

It's a new 20 gallon tank with a good size water dish and a branch to crawl on/hide under. The temperature is around 85F and closer to 80F at night. I'm using a 60 watt bulb on a timer above his tank and an undertank heater with variable heat adjustment.

I had a friend check out his enclosure and he says it's fine. By the way, the lamp and the heat pad are on the same side to create a good temp gradient.

The snake acts and looks healthy other than the fact he can't keep food down. I'm calling the vet in the morning to make an appointment.


Zouleous

[sophia]

Reptiles like most any other animal can get infested with worms. Panacur is a commonly used wormer, it's actually a horse wormer but is used commonly in the reptile trade and you can purchase it at any number of feed mills throughout the US there's also Flagyl. Pick up the book "What's Wrong With My Snake" by the Rossi's and they tell you how much and how to administer and for what symptoms.

I'm going to suggest that it may be simple stress since you stated that you tried feeding him three days after bringing him home, also after regurgitating they need a few days to allow for their digestive system to relax again, regurgitating for a snake is a huge episode and causes them pain and irritation that we can't as humans see, becase snakes don't exhibit pain well.

It would likely be best to let him rest and not handle him much if at all, for at least a week, most breeders suggest two or three weeks not handling and letting them settle at least one week in their new home before you try to feed them. I still however think the vet is just a good idea to ensure that the snake is free of parasites and in good overall health.

On that enclosure, is there anyway you could fit a small hide box in underneath the branch? I use baby wipes boxes and butter bowls etc... with a hole cut in the bottom side lined with wet paper towels as humidity boxes and I keep that in the heated side, then I try to provide a dry hide elsewhere and I usually do that with plants or small spaces between dishes and boxes they can crawl into where it's cool and hide. This might greatly reduce his stressing. I know that it's not as nice for us humans because we can't see the snakes, but the snakes sure appreciate it *G*, because really, they'd rather not see us.

Let me know how it goes at the vet and good luck!!!

Tay

[Jeff_Favelle]

Could be too warm. That would also explain why he was in the water dish. Check your temps again. Make sure that at night, there is a place that's around 75F that he can hang out at. That might fix things.

[zouleous]

I just made a hiding spot for him so we'll see if he likes that better.

I also called the breeder I bought him from today and he says to get Naturalzone Essential Probiotics since he's been regirgitating his food. He said that will help rebuild his natural enzymes and help him have an appetite and keep food down. I'm having problems finding this stuff online at a decent price. It's sold in mass quantities from other manufacturers to be used on all kinds of animals and humans too. Best thing I found was some for like $8 coming from Illinois. Gonna call pet stores tomorrow (they're all closed on monday) and see if they have any.

Thanks for the help and i'm still welcoming any other suggestions :P

Z

[sophia]

Good point Jeff, I know our girl doesn't like it where it's hot for very long periods either, she'll bask for usually no more than an hour and then it's right back to the cool spot where she lays for most of the day. I don't know anything about the product that your breeder mentioned to you, I'll have to look into that for more info.

Hope that this helps though, keep us posted Z

Tay

[zouleous]

Well right now he's actually burrowing in the substrate. I'm using Eco Earth. Which was reccomended from a friend that deals with a lot of snakes...he uses it on all his BPs and red tails.

Z

[sophia]

It sounds like he just may need a bit of rest and better heat gradient, like Jeff said above, they do need a cooling down space. I'd give him at least 3 to 4 more days before I tried feeding again and if you're still having the problem see a vet.

Tay

[zouleous]

Well I went to the vet and she treated him for worms. She also gave me Probiocin (probiotics) to help rebuild his digestional enzymes and give him an appetite. She also gave me Baytril. I'm supposed to give the Probiocin and Baytril once a day until I feed him again on Saturday. She also said to soak him in warm water every day.

When I got home I put him in the warm water and he took a dump. I changed the water...put him in it again and he went again. He ended up going 3 times.

I wonder if the water in his cage is too cold to help him go. I read not to put it over an undertank heater because if it gets on the glass it can create a crack. This leaves the water in his cage cold.

Z

oh btw...the vet visit cost me $61

[Big Mike]

I would put the water dish over the UTH. The glass should be OK. This should help keep the humidity up as well.

The thing to worry about is...really cold water on warm glass that would cause a sharp temp change in the glass, then is may have a posibility of cracking.

[sophia]

I have to agree with Big Mike here, and what I do is get the water room temperature before I fill the water dish. I always put the water either directly over or under the heat source, however if it is directly over, I use a large enough heat pad that the snakes can still have plenty of room to bask. Doing this increased the humidity in my enclosures by at leats 10% if not more.

Tay

[boa maniac]

Zouleous,
welcome to the wonderful world of boa keeping, i am sure that all of us who are avid boa keepers go thru the regugitation syndrom at one time or another, sometimes deworming helps. But the most important thing to remember is that everytime your boa regugitates it is losing vital body fluids and it must regain this before re-eating. it is best to give your boa at least a week of rest and lots of fresh water before you attempt to feed it again. then try to find it the smallest meal possible, maybe a mouse pinky if you have a neonite, just one at a time, makes sure you keep the heat at its apropriate temperature. allow the boa to properly digest its food, by all means absolutely do now handle it. then after about five days if the food has remained, repeat, one small food item, and lots of time out from handling, if you need to clean its enclosure do so with as little handling as possible, what always works for me when i have a new boa that regugitates i add deworming meds to its water and small food items, the smaller the better. i repeat this untill i feel my boa is able to handle larger items. by slowly increasing the size of the food item your boa should eventually over come this problem!! good luck, mike