Just acquired a rat mualed BP last night - Advice pls!

I went to check on the temps before I went to bed and took some pics. She sounds like she has an RI. :( I took some quick pics of her anyway. Note the mangled nose. When she raised her head, she shivered...I know they don't shiver like mammals, just the best description of what I saw. She did this twice. Also, I've observed little white bugs crawling on her and little reddish brown ones in the enclosure. Some in the water bath dish. I thought I read mites were black? The white ones def look like mites or the nymphs of the reddish brown things...the reddish brown ones look like bugs you would find in grain?

Hoping the vet can get me in soon.:snake:

I will name her when she is out of the woods.....I don't want to get too attached, and I'm not ENTIRELY sure of her sex....she has some pretty big spurs.

the bugs soung like mites, u should order some Provent-A-Mite and treat the enclosure. kills all the lil nasties that can be in there and the eggs. if ur snake has an RI you need to get to the vet for antibiotics or ur snake will eventually die. i relly hope ur vet can get u in. tell them she has an RI, they should make u an appt pretty quick. good luck

The white things are likely wood mites, annoying but not dangerous as far as I know. The grain looking bugs could also be from her bedding and enclosure unless you broke it down and sterilized it. You can order Provent-a-Mite online and it will kill any and all nasties in her enclosure.

Don't panic about the RI yet, keep her temps steady, her humidity stable and get her to your vet as soon as you can. It is possible she has one certainly, but not necessarily. It could just be stress and/or adjustment to the new surroundings.

The vet should be able to sex her for you, but I have to say, my biggest girl has monster spurs, like a cats claws! :O

Gale

Called the vet this morning and got an appointment for the 31st at 3:30PM wich us luck!:gj:

get that hole you can see muscle fibers at checked out first and foremost a huge wound like that needs cleaned or infection will set in

but that other stuff from how it sounds could be caused by being constantly being stressed. stressed animals get sick easier and to much stress can kill a snake (maybe not directly but very stressed sometimes refuse to eat) like you say this girl you can literally see where her prey has chewed on her to the point you can see muscle fibers (should of had them arrested for animal cruality) could of got charged for either watching the rat chew on the snake that long or for not taking it to the vet to get it proper medical treatment either way my local animal control would of taken the snake from them if they would of seen it in that kind of conditions being allowed to sit around with very visibly wrong stuff going on with the snake (think i would of punched them if i would of seen that)

when you take it to the vet tell the vet there name cause I'm sure any other pets they got are more then likely treated about the same.

just let her be for at least a few weeks guaranteed she was stressed to the max.

you will be surprised how quick that wound on her back will heal once it gets proper medical attention. i had a wild caught from back when they use to burn fields and caught all that come out alive (ones with huge burn scars) i had one that had a 4 inch long burn mark after a year you could only see the outline of the burn had pattern just a Lil faded looking from the rest after 2 years the outline was barely visible and couldn't tell a difference in color. if rember right shortly after 2 whole years i trader her off to a buddy who hatched some burm eggs for 2 babies

Well, vet says she's very skinny, has a respiratory infection and flagellate worm infestation. I must say, she was a real trooper through it all. he checked her for mites, clear. Took a fecal, flagellates. Weighed her, 1,466 grams. They were also pleased with her temperment, especially when I told him they had not handled her for 2 years or more. The shaking when she rears up he thinks is due to weekness. They wormed her, gave her an antibiotic injection and showed me how to do it when I got home. One injection every 72 hours. I was also given a salve for the bite wound in her mouth an antiseptic wash for all her wounds and a cream to apply to the several wounds on her body. All to be applied twice daily. We all thought the day was plenty sressful enough and decided to wait until the check up in 2 weeks to sex her...IF she's doing well. I got her home, let her be for a few hours, then took her out, soaked her to remove any extra debris and dried blood, and washed each and every wound with the anticeptic wash. I had her on a towel on my kitchen table. When I started to wash her wounds she got antsy....I just flopped a corner of towel over her head and she was fine...let me do my thing. lol I She protests, but not too badly when I hold her head still to put cream on top of her nose. After all that, she went into her nice, new clean enclosure and curled up on her basking spot (temp at 91F) yawned, sighed and seemed to be content.

Now I could be crazy, but I keep getting the sense that she is ravenously hungry....even before I went to the vet. Don't know why. I was going to by her a frozen mouse tomorrow. Vet suggested to give her a day or two then start presenting, simply because we REALLY need her to eat. Is the evening the best time to present?

Off to read the feeding and thawing stickies! lol

PS: The former owners called her Tazzy. I figured I just shorten it to Taz...pretty unisex :taz: lmao.

Evening is best. You can let the mouse thaw near her container, or on it, this is called pre scenting and the snake will usually smell the mouse and get very hungry! If f/t doesn't work, try live, just always supervise and don't leave in over night.

Poor lamb. I'm glad you know what is wrong now, and can treat her.

I bet she knew you were trying to help her, and that's why she was so good for you while you were doctoring her.

I feed my snakes about an hour after sundown, and it seems like they feed best about then.

Get her a good, big mouse. Leave it thaw at room temp near her enclosure, and I bet she'll be ready to go!

Gale

If she won't eat f/t, try live and try rats. They are higher in protein and a more complete meal. look around on craigslist in your area under the pets community section, if there is a rat breeder in the area, they will most likely post there. That is how we found our guy that we get rats from and he is also a BP breeder. He now has become a trusted friend and a great resource for information to help fill in any blanks. :D

It sounds like you found a good herp vet. I'm sure with the proper care and feeding she will get up to weight and become a wonderful pet for you. Keep us posted!!!! ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BLMinFL

They are higher in protein and a more complete meal.

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That statement is not true.

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