hello i'm new to the site and a new owner.. need help

CR0426 · 11-24-09, 12:19 AM

hey everyone, my boyfriend and i have recently become snake owners,,, we own a soloman island tree boa(9 months old, VADER), which we have had for 4 months now who is the coolest snake ever, and we also own a columbian red tail boa(7 months old, TRINITI) she is pretty cool too.... after owning TRINITI for about 3 months now she has gotten very sick. when we first brought her home she was already eating live small mice, and ate the first one we gave her with out and problems... the next feeding she had was 2 weeks later and she regurgitated after 48 hours, and has regurgitated any other feeders live, frozen,but she will not eat pinkies at all no matter what tricks we try... Her Herp is at between 80 and 85 degrees with a basking temp of 85-92 degrees, she has plenty of water and a clean tank and is in her own herp....She has recently been vommiting which looks like she is throwing up internal tissues, and she is going to the bathroom fine... she has been a very friendly snkae up until about a week and a half ago when she snapped at me and has done so several times since. She is also doing this wierd not moving at all belly up thing... we took her to the vet a few weeks ago and they said to let her rest, so we have, we are all out of ideas.. i also recentely realized that she has a pinkish spot on her belly, which i checked and its not hard... IF ANY ONE HAS ANY ADVICE PLEASE HELP, I DON'T WANT TRINITI TO DIE... THANK YOU AHEAD OF TIME.....
CR

Will0W783 · 11-24-09, 08:51 AM

Their bellies do turn pink right before they shed, but I don't know if it is related. The thing I would be worried about is IBD with the symptoms you described. Any neurological problems, like twisting around, stargazing, inability to hold head up properly?

Will0W783 · 11-24-09, 08:52 AM

One other thing, I would quarantine her ASAP. Put her in a different room from your other snake and make sure you change your clothes right after handling her so you aren't transferring anything to your other snake.

citysnakes · 11-24-09, 09:50 AM

definitely quarantine her in a room away from your healthy snake right away. always work with or handle your healthy snake before the sick one and always properly disinfect before you go back and forth between either of them.

its great to hear that you took the boa to the vet but if all they told you was that she needs to rest then you need to find a new, reptile vet asap. you need to take a sample of that vomit and any feces to a new vet tell them the situation and have them run tests. i would also take fecal samples from your healthy snake as well because if they werent properly quarantined from day one then your healthy one may get or already be just as sick as the boa.

the vomiting and belly up thing could be parasitic and/or anything else you can think of and already sounds very serious so get on this asap and keep us updated.

Will0W783 · 11-24-09, 11:37 AM

I agree completely Julian. Hopefully she can save this snake. It sounds pretty rough though- I will say that since snakes eat whole prey, vomiting up stuff that looks like internal tissues could be internal tissues from the partially-digested prey item. I had my Peruvian rainbow boa barf once 5 days after he ate because it got too hot in the room that day- it was horrible- it was stringy, bloody, intestines everywhere, looked like road kill and smelled like sick death. Fortunately he was ok and it never happened again, but oh man, that was awful and scary at first until I realized what the vomit was.
Generally, regurgitation refers to spewing back up an undigested or mostly undigested prey item. You can recognize the regurg as the item the snake ate and it is mostly intact. Regurgitation is most often caused by temperature problems or parasites or even the snake feeling insecure and voiding its body to make a faster escape should it be necessary.
Vomiting refers to expelling digested matter- it can be watery, bloody, chunky, loose, or any combo of the above. Usually it will be not be a mostly intact prey matter but instead will be the remains and digestive juices and pieces of food. Vomiting is more serious usually and as Julian said can be parasites, bacterial infection, or IBD.

Does she vomit even when she hasn't been fed?

Also, as Julian said, I would definitely get her to a different herp vet.

ineedsoap16 · 11-24-09, 07:00 PM

Kim on a side note, if I'm correct you've mentioned you have a good vet in Philly. Normally I am hesitant about herp vets but I would like to have a good one in mind if I ever have a real problem. I live in DE and Wincrest Animal Hosp is 10 mins away(they were mentioned recently in a Reptile magazine list), but I've not heard anything good/bad, any feedback is appreciated.

kellen · 11-24-09, 07:59 PM

As already said, get her quarantined ASAP. Don't try to feed her for at least two weeks, as it will need time for her digestive fluids to recuperate. Vets is a good idea, preferably a specialist herp vet, and ask for a liver biopsy to test for inclusion bodies. How do you check your temps and do you use a thermostat? Do you use any air fresheners or aerosols in the same room as them? If you can, get some gatorade or other still energy drink, with electrolytes in it and pour it in a ventilated tub and soak the snake in it with the lid on, she should drink it, if not, she will absorb some through the vent.

I hope she turns out ok for you!

CR0426 · 11-25-09, 03:11 AM

i regret to inform you all that early this morning as i was getting ready to take Trinity to a new vet i found she had passed. Her body was completely upside down all except her head, she was also rock and and freezing cold. it was a very sad moment for my boyfriend and i, and we had a proper burial for her as the vet. did not want to perform any tests or a necropsy. I did have our soloman island Boa(VADER) checked out today and the vet said he looks very healthy not to be concerned but to keep an eye on him over the next few weeks, thank you all for your advice, it was much appreciated. i will keep you posted on VADER

kellen · 11-25-09, 09:01 AM

Sorry to hear that. It's never nice to lose a pet.
I don't want to sound heartless, but in the mean time, it would be a good idea not to have any contact with other peoples' collections, or release or bring any animals into your own collection. Also, destroying her enclosure to be on the safe side would be a good idea.
If it had been me, I would've wanted a PM done to possibly rule out IBD and crypto.

citysnakes · 11-25-09, 09:35 AM

sorry to hear about your boa.

you should disinfect and/or throw out everything that any snake has come in contact with and quarantine Vader and take him to a new vet with a fecal sample to rule out parasites. if your boas death was parasitic then its possible that one snake contaminated the other at some point. keep him quarantined for at least three months and dont bring home and new additions for at least that time. you need to be safe or else you may just keep bringing home mysteriously dying animals.