Disorientation and Lack of Appetite??

Talked to an exotics vet yesterday. We got an xray to look for any calcification of kidneys or signs of bacterial infection in the bone. Nothing showed up besides constipation. Vet says that the hypercalcemia and the neurological issues are separate problems i guess. Right now we are on a regimen of warm baths twice a day (for defecation and rehydration) and antibiotics for possible bacterial meningitis. Waiting on the results of the IBD blood test. As of now our snake hasn't gotten any worse, but hasn't gotten any better. Will continue updating.

Neurological signs right now are individual eye movements (one eye is consistently looking down and sideways), not trying to flip himself over when put upside-down, and not moving his back half much when is tail is held. However, if you kind of scratch/tickle his back near his tail he does definitely react and move. One behavior that I don't know how to interpret is that when he is in the bath, he's tried to chew on the towel we use to keep his head elevated above water. When we lift his head up to avoid him getting his mouth snagged anywhere, he continues to adjust his jaw, or at least seemingly so.

According to the vet the main differential right now is IBD. I have two boas (kept separately) in the same room but moved the sick boy to the other side to try to get as much separation as possible. We haven't handled them at all and don't plan on it until we know more about what is going on. The only interactions we've had with them is spraying the terrariums and changing water, all after copious amounts of hand sanitizer and latex gloves.

Any comments/questions/ideas/suggestions are appreciated. Will keep updated as we go.

Hate to say this, but at this point considering the myriad of issues I would recommend euthenizing the poor snake. You could wait to see if the antibiotics help at all, but it sounds like quality of life isn't really there at this point.

Does her urate smell really bad/strong? I lost a boa to kidney & liver cancer last year and while she never displayed the neuro symptoms, one of the symptoms of failing kideys is that her pee smells really strong.

We didn't diagnose the cancer before she died, I had a necropsy done to rule out a viral disease. While I was devastated to lose her - she was my first boa - at least I knew she didn't have anything contagious.

No urate since he's gotten sick. And I am a full supporter of putting quality of life above all. I hate to say this because I like to think optimistically, but euthanization isn't out of the question. We'll see how the IBD results come back and/or if the antibiotics have any effect and take it from there. :(

Thank you so much. I'm hoping it's just mild heat stroke. The vet is thinking it is either bacterial meningitis or IBD as the main differential. I will bring up the other ideas to them. As an update: snake has gotten mildly worse.

Arenavirus (IBD) viral test came back negative. The next way to try to more accurately diagnose IBD is with a biopsy of the esophagus, but that is difficult for any snake under 4 pounds. Next course of action is to finish the antibiotics and hope for improvement.

For reference: the IBD blood test has a 20% chance of a false negative.

Arenavirus (IBD) viral test came back negative. The next way to try to more accurately diagnose IBD is with a biopsy of the esophagus, but that is difficult for any snake under 4 pounds. Next course of action is to finish the antibiotics and hope for improvement.

For reference: the IBD blood test has a 20% chance of a false negative.

In response to earlier suggestions, I asked the vet and this is what they said: "except for the neuro complex (which IBD is), none of the other would cause these signs. There is no history of heat stroke, and if it was a mild heat stroke he should be improving. A severe heat stroke would kill him in a few hours. Sinus infections would not cause neurological signs and cryptosporidium affects GI tract and causes weight loss."

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Originally Posted by LindseyVail

Arenavirus (IBD) viral test came back negative. The next way to try to more accurately diagnose IBD is with a biopsy of the esophagus, but that is difficult for any snake under 4 pounds. Next course of action is to finish the antibiotics and hope for improvement.

For reference: the IBD blood test has a 20% chance of a false negative.

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Thanks for the update! Keep us posted, we're rooting for you both.

Admin Note: The two threads with the same subject line about this topic have been merged together into one thread so that the discussion is all in one place.

Update on the lil sick snake: still bathing twice daily and administering antibiotics. He's acting the same, however, when put on his back he can flip himself over! Still no defecation. One symptom that's gotten slightly worse over time is when bathing, he is constantly adjusting his jaw. Any comments/input/questions are welcomed and very much appreciated.