what's the first sign...

of deterioration of health in regards to lack of eating? obviously weight loss for one. but my bp hasn't really resumed normal feeding since winter. he maybe is eating once a month. he is about 5 yrs old. i don't brumate him but he fasts on his own. the last time he ate was about a month ago. he is less plump but hasn't lost any significant weight. anyway, my concern is that i'm holding him right now and he seems less efficient in his climbing me. like falling off and a very very weak grip. don't know if i'm being paranoid but just wondering if anyone else has experienced that.

Having a good weight and monitoring that would be the best. What are you feeding and are your temps about 92 hot side and 82 cool side. If it seems that he's losing muscle tone, you may want to consider a vet trip. Has he been positively cleared of parasites, and maybe you may just want to recheck?

temps are maybe high 70's to low 90's cool side to warm side. maybe i will take him to the vet. he saw one when i first got him but maybe he should go back just incase. i was about to take my blue tongue for a check up so maybe i'll just make it a double appointment.
thanks for your advice.

Correct me if im wrong but i thought bp will only eat once a month once they reach full adult.

A bp should eat evey week, if feeding small rats. If you feed larger prey then they probably won't eat as often.

i wouldn't worry if it was once a month consistently. but it was not for four months previous to that. he's just not as fat as he used to be.
how does a snake develop parasites in captive care? because i know he didn't have anything when i got him. through rats? husbandry?

Exposure is the reason. If your BP did develop internal parasites it most likely came from its food (Mice,rats). If its external then it could be from contact with others herps as well as from the food. Either way if the concern is there get a check-up done by a vet.

Normally I wouldn't be too concerned about reexposure to parasites, but that's if you have a healthy thriving snake. It sounds like your snake it not. With possible weight loss and lack of muscle tone, I would strongly urge you to consider a trip to the vet. Maybe take your snake's next bm to the vet for a check, but I wouldn't just assume that your snake will bounce back. You need to make some changes in order to see changes in your snake. If you're unsure of what's wrong, then that's exactly why you should see a specialized herp vet.

Forrest, snakes do not contract parasites from mice/rats. There is the whole "species-specific" thing to keep in mind. Snakes do not get parasites from rodents because when they eat the rodent, the parasite ova are not in the proper stage of development to infect anything. Another thing is that rodent parasites cannot survive in the internal environment of the mid 80-degree body temp of snakes. As well as parasites from a snake cannot survive in the 102-105 degree body of a rodent. Plus, the digestive enzymes in the snake's body are much more powerful than that in a rodent's stomach, and would just destroy any ova that entered the GI tract.

Snakes contract parasites from their environment(the owner's husbandry), from dirty water sources, and they can also get them from their mom even before they are born(placental transfer). But anywho, as you can see, it's just not possible.

About the snake, when it is provided with suboptimal conditions, this will eventually result in a subotimal immune system and overall health. Try upping your cool side temps to the low to mid 80's(82-84) and leave him alone for a week to adjust. Then I would try offering smaller meals, such as a weaned rat or a few mice. If you can get his conditions correct in his enclosure, and get him eating consistently, that would be good. You "can" get a fecal done, but I doubt it would come of anything. If he was eating consistently, once a week, and STILL losing weight, then I would suspect parasites. But since he's not eating consistently at all, coupled with the improper conditions, that is why he is losing weight.

That is just my looooooonng $0.02 :)

Becky,
I think you may want to check this out, I did a little research of my own and this was the best site that I found. Here is great link to answer all your Parasite questions (or dieseases for that matter). http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/r...parasitic.html.

I'm sorry, but since that link is related to PetsMart, I doubt there is any truth in it... I have consulted my teacher, who is an exotics veterinarian, about this and he said it isn't possible because of species specificity. Some parasites are not so specific such as some protozoans, like giardia, trichomonas, coccidia, but those are more related to the environment cleanliness rather than what the snake eats.

I believe your professor (When in doubt ask the experts). But Petsmart name is there as a sponser ( just a Marketing stragedy). The supplied information on the link is based on actual herp vets (names are given) so I do believe there is truth to this link. Having owned quite a few herps throughout the years (never a health related problem to date)and after consulting my other herp contacts I think you are correct with the assumption that illness in this case is due to improper husbandry. Still there is always the remote possibility after much research (Becky you have created a research monster) that it could still be through contact, unfortunatley for both of us it is impossible to accuratley diagnose anything over the internet so I guess we will both have to wait for a response to find out what it is.