Help! Diarrhea :(

[feranaja]

Hello people,

I haven't posted here in a while, some of you may rememebr I had a ton of questions about my first BP, Clementine. Well things ahve been goingw ell, she's been feeding about every 8- 10 days, she's less timid etc and I purchased a much larger tank for her, so I'm feeling good about it all. Anyway last week she took a large rat, which I purchased from my local mentor and breeder, and I was really pleased. When i first got her she would only take small mice and even then, only occasionally. Anyway this morning I woke up to find a big pile of liquid stool in the tank and the accompanying mess all over the hides, glass etc. Now I'm really worried. can anyone tell me what to do? I know I need to get her out and sterilize the tank, but should she go to the vet? Is this a health riske for me or any other household pets? Is it likely a bacterial issue? Please let me know what I need to do next and how to proceed.

Thanks so much,Catherine

[Artemis]

Has her food been frozen/thawed or is she eating live or stunned food? If not f/t- she may have picked up a case of intestinal parasites.

Its hard to say really- I always recommend a trip to the vet- take him a small sample of this stool and he can tell you more resolutely what is wrong!

Otherwise- id definitely KEEP a sample of that if you arent heading straight to the vet- and wait for some of the more seasoned gurus on here to reply to your post!

Good luck!

Art

[feranaja]

HI Artemis and thanks for the speedy reply. Yes, she is eating frozen/thawed food. Why does this make parasites more likely? Is it ok to just scoop some of the feces into a small ziplock? I am out of pill vials...
Catherine

[nita]

Actually Artemis wrote that if you are feeding live or fresh then there is a higher likely hood of contracting internal parasites from the food. Freezing usually takes care of that problem. I would agree and take a stool sample to the vet as well as taking the snake to the vet. What substrate are you keeping your snake on? I have noticed that there is a bigger mess to clean up when they are on paper towel than something like peat moss or such since the peat absorbs better if there were still good lumps in the feces I wouldnt' be too concerned.

[feranaja]

Hi Nita - thank you, now I see that! Makes much more sense. Clemmie is on Aspen at the moment. the breeder thinks its not a big deal and may well be a result of the increase in food. Clem was a poor eater until recently. I'm embarking on clean up as we speak... I will save some stool and call Dr. Auger, our local reptile vet.

Thanks again!
Catherine

[justinO]

wow, it seems like the only answer people ever give to problems is "take it to the vet"...... if i took mine every time they looked at me funny, i'd have to budget about $10,000 a year for vet bills.
Not to mention that most vets don't know what the hell they are doing when it comes to reptiles....

but anyway, I say it's a runny poo. Clean it up and her next one will probably be fine.

the only think i'd like to know is why they insist on smearing it everywhere..... heh

[Artemis]

Well Justin- you also have to remember that unless you can truly identify what the problem is for someones animal, it is irresponsible NOT to tell them to go to the vet. You dont want to tell people its not a big deal if you arent SURE that it isnt- it would be awful for their animals get worse or die because they got bad info. When in doubt- the vet is your best bet- and if you cant afford to take your animals to the vet then I personally dont think you should have any.

Art

[mykee]

I'm with Justin. In my experiences, the vet is not the best bet. MOST vets know ZERO about treating snakes, and in many cases doing more harm than good. In a diarhea case, I would leave the snake at home, and bring in some poop to have a fecal done, usually about $28. If the fecal is positive for anything, then do LOTS of research to find not just an 'exotics vet' but one who specializes in reptiles. Good luck.

[Artemis]

Mykee!!! Your supposed to get my back ~ Traitor!!!!

And also- you have lots of experience and can better gauge what you should do in any given situation.

Seriously though- if someone is really concerned about their animals health- and they don't know what they are dealing with, for lack of education and/or experience, then logically a trip to the vet is the most responsible course of action.

Maybe its just my area, which is weird since we are in the middle of BFE, but we have GOOD exotic pet vets here, and several of them, though i havent figured out why- I guess we rednecks dig our exotic pets.

But in fairness Feranaja, my hat does go off to mykee, as I consider him one of the aforementioned gurus, so I must digress.

Art

[mykee]

Artemis, I would normally agree with you, but with time comes experience, and you'll be able to tell what is vet-worthy and what is not. I've also had a few bad vet experiences early on and those have jaded my view on the whole "vets are helpful' theory. I"ll have your back next time. Promise. P.S. I'm no "Guru". Probably never will be. Thanks though.

[Bartman]

wow, it seems like the only answer people ever give to problems is "take it to the vet"...... if i took mine every time they looked at me funny, i'd have to budget about $10,000 a year for vet bills.

I couldnt agree with you more...