Ugh.. I think she's sick

After reading this entire thread I'm surprised nobody has conjectured that the OP is just trolling like a madman? That's kind of my impression, or at least my hope.

Then again, the general lack of aptitude of the average person NEVER ceases to amaze me.

Poor snakes :(

There's no need for me to reveal who has been sending me private messages and apologizing for you. I'm sure they don't want to be berated too.

Anyone who knows me would attest that I'm always the first to admit when I'm wrong and so I will apologize for not explaining my intents more clearly. I never had this kind of trouble on a message board in my life (and I have been a member of many) so I went back and re-read every post and response I ever made on this board and I can see how things I said/typed may have been misinterpreted by others. I can't control how others choose to interpret what I write, but I will take responsibility for leaving room for interpretation.

The first place I see tempers flaring is when I said I was going back to the herp store and taking my snakes so they could see them and recommend prey size for me. I can see how to the people who had already said "feed them adult mice", this would have come across as a bit of an insult.

I have an analytical mind. It's what I do for a living. I can't change that. My trane of thought was that nobody here knew what her size was (weight or length or girth) so how could I trust with 100% certainty that I could take your word for it and feed my snake an adult mouse? I needed someone to eyeball the female and confirm what I was being told here. That was never meant to be an insult to your experience or knowledge. It is simply what I needed to do to be sure I was about to do the right thing. For Manasha, it wasn't, and I'm glad I never tried to give her an adult mouse. The vet said as much yesterday. She is just too small.

So everything seemed to go downhill after that and I wasn't sure why. Well, I think the above was the reason.

When I say things like "I thought I could trust the herp guy", that doesn't mean that I *still* trust the herp guy. That past tense (thought) means I no longer trust the herp guy. Maybe some people were looking for me to say "it's been done and here's a picture". But instead I said something more along the lines of "they're in the tank together for now, I'm waiting for the plexiglass to arrive". But that's not fast enough action for people who know I could just drive to Walmart and pick up a plastic tub.

In my mind, they can continue to live together for the 2 weeks it would take me to seperate them with acrylic instead of a plastic grill. Btw, it's not cardboard it's the plastic stuff you use to cover an overhead fluorescent light. Plastic but not solid.

I want to keep them in a glass/wood vivarium, not a plastic tub. So I'm focusing on making that happen, not spending money on a plastic bin and heating that I will stop using in 2 weeks.

I don't mind spending money on my pets for what they need including vet care, but I'm really not a fan of throwing it away either. To my buying plastic bins and heating while also spending money on an acrylic panel and UTH heating for the 75 is wasteful.

You may not agree, but it really is wrong when you punish someone for not doing exactly as you say at the pace you feel they should do it. I didn't explain all the circumstances surrounding my actions because I didn't think anyone needed to be bothered with it. Then when I did, start writing about everything else going on including my job, how it's between my house and the vets, my kids and how I was lugging them around yesterday, I'm told that I keep bringing up my personal life. Maybe I should have explained why I was bringing it all up?? I don't know anymore.

I'm taking the time to type this up for two reasons. #1) to try to make sense of all this because it just doesn't compute, and #2) I'm on a long and boring road trip at the moment and bored to death!!












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What is the girth and weight of your snake? Is she under 100grams?

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Originally Posted by Manasha-Bogo

There's no need for me to reveal who has been sending me private messages and apologizing for you.

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I agree. However, I would still like to know what kind of advice they gave you. As a lady of science, I honestly would like to learn other potential options.
:)


I didn't read your other thread(s), so I'm not going to comment on the mouse thing, herp guy, etc.

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But instead I said something more along the lines of "they're in the tank together for now, I'm waiting for the plexiglass to arrive". But that's not fast enough action for people who know I could just drive to Walmart and pick up a plastic tub.

In my mind, they can continue to live together for the 2 weeks it would take me to seperate them with acrylic instead of a plastic grill. Btw, it's not cardboard it's the plastic stuff you use to cover an overhead fluorescent light. Plastic but not solid.

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But isn't 2 weeks still enough time for a sickness to spread if it was contagious? Why take the risk?

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I want to keep them in a glass/wood vivarium, not a plastic tub. So I'm focusing on making that happen, not spending money on a plastic bin and heating that I will stop using in 2 weeks.

I don't mind spending money on my pets for what they need including vet care, but I'm really not a fan of throwing it away either. To my buying plastic bins and heating while also spending money on an acrylic panel and UTH heating for the 75 is wasteful.

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You can still keep them in a traditional vivarium. The tub is just temporary.


And it sounds like you're buying an UTH anyway so how would you be spending additional money for heating a tub? (And don't forget the thermostat. You can't run a UTH without one.)

You can use the UTH for the temporary set up. And tubs don't have to come from Walmart. You can get them anywhere (Riteaide, CVS, etc), but Walmart seems to be the cheapest($2-5) from my experience of shopping around for storage tubs.


Personally, I don't think it would be much of a waste to get that tub. You can use that tub as a travel carrier for future vet visits or if you move. You can also use it to contain your snakes when you clean their enclosures. And if one has a bad shed, that can be used as a nice little soaking bath. And if your snake gets sick again, voila! Instant quarantine enclosure! :D
You can even use it to put your own stuff in in. There are lots of uses for a spare plastic storage tub. I know I reuse all my old tubs. Might as well right? lolol.

I mean...Since you're already spending the money on an UTH, the temporary tub is just an additional few bucks. (plus the thermostat)

Hi Satomi, thank you for your patient response. I realized as I read it that I was so uptight. I was expecting more negativity and felt relief wash over me when it didn't come. So thank you!!

Prior to getting the snakes, I had a bearded dragon that lived for 10 years and never got sick. He was the healthiest pet I had ever had. So I came into the snake world assuming that snakes were just as hearty. I never once had any emergencies with my previous reptile (which was my first reptile, ever, btw) that what I learned from that experience (albeit wrongfully) was that reptiles can handle a lot.

So that being said, the thought of having the snakes wait another 2 weeks when they had already been living in their current location for 3 months (eating well and with good temps) was not that big of a deal. Especially thinking that moving them would cause more stress than if I just let them be another 2 weeks.

I had never thought that a snake's health could go downhill so quickly as it did for my female. I'm learning the hard way this week that it can go from good to critical in the span of a couple days.

Btw, manasha is still with the vet in a controlled environment and I will leave her there until I am convinced that I have the proper habitat for her at home away and usolated from the male. I am not into breeding them and I'm not into expanding a reptile "collection" either (at least not yet). These guys are my pets and I think of them the same as I think of my dogs or birds. They mean a lot to me and I want them to be healthy and "happy" (as happy as a reptile is capable of being).

If I was to bring her home before the aqua/vivarium is ready, then I would most definitely get a tub with heating. It would be cheaper than keeping her at the vet's. But I think getting vet care right now is more important than bringing her home.

The vet called me today and explained the problem is severe anemia due to the mites. The mites are completely gone from the male, but the vet said the female still has them. They treat mites on snakes using frontline spray for cats in Europe. I don't know what the vet will do to treat mites still on manasha. The vet is more concerned with building her red blood cell count back up but I will ask about thi on Monday.

I told the vet something else must be going on to have fascilitated the mites from making her so ill. I said parasites. She said they would test for that when the snake finally poops.




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Hi,

Vets in europe are more likely to use callingtons nowadays.

We haven't quite caught up but we're getting there.

Hooray for Callingtons!!!

To Slim, DrDooLittle, and anyone else I may have butted heads with in the last few days,

I'd like to publicly apologize to you for whatever I may have said that was disrespectful and/or rude. I've put some thought into this tonight and realize how little it really matters to me whether I'm right or wrong. All that matters is that I have no ill blood with people (in person or online) and that my "kids" all be healthy and happy. That's all that I really want. And if apologizing so that I can continue to get good advice is what I have to do, then so be it.

Let me explain something about the illnesses my other pets now have.

Hookworm in my dog; already treated and dealt with. Must have come from other k9's at the dog park. Not all heartworm meds prevent hookworm and I'm looking into alternatives because this one (heartguard) didn't seem to do the job.

E. Cuniculi in both my rabbits. This is a protozoan infection that 50% to 80% of all domestic rabbits will test positive for. Only about 12% of these positives will ever be symptomatic. One of my rabbits isn't, the other might be. This is like a bunny HIV. There is no cure and for some rabbits it's a death sentence. There is nothing about quality of care that will make a difference with this disease except for one researcher's belief that dehydration might trigger symptoms. Considering that I refill 2 large bottles of water every other day because my female (the symptomatic one) drinks water like a race horse (and pees like one too).... Let's just say she has never gone without water. Her previous owners on the other hand, one can only guess.

So at this stage of my life, at the age of 40, with two young daughters and 10 pets of the animal-kind, I have never enjoyed their company and caring for them more at any other point. They are my passion right now. But I am cheap, always have been. But not when it comes to quality of food or medical care. With everything else, yes. Even to the point that it doesn't make sense. But I'm not too old to learn from my mistakes. :/

I appreciate everything, even the harsh words. I learn from those too.

And no, I am not a troll madman. Lol!!

To answer a question about what advice I was given in private messages. Nothing revolutionary. Just general tips on python housing, well wishes, and so on. But I was also assured this forum is a great place and those people confirmed it by reaching out to me. Every board has its ups and downs. I hope no other newcomers were put off by this awesome thread.

Enough rambling... Goodnight.


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Can't forget my other dog's tumors/cysts. I left that out. Doc wants $500 to have them biopsied. But the cysts aren't bothering him, he's had them for at least a year (small, subcutaneous, around the ribcage) and he is 15 years old anyway. I think we've decided to leave the dog alone unless or until he appears to be in pain from these things. But I will let that be my husband's decision as he seems to be a tad more attached to Bullet and sentimental about the thought of how old he is. Our house is a fun house, in more than one sense.


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