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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran shelliebear's Avatar
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    Signs of illness?

    Hi all,
    Just got a new gopher snake, and he seems to be perfectly healthy; he ate two live rat pinkies the day after I got him (he's only about a foot long, baby size I think), and now 5 days later has gone to the bathroom--I only see fecal matter right now, no urates as of yet.
    A few questions as I am new to gopher snakes (and pituophis in general):
    His name is Sundown, and he's very, VERY calm. Is it normal for gophers to be like this? In his tank, he rarely moves, but he DID eat two rat pinkies, so wouldn't that mean he's reasonably healthy? When you pick him up, he squirms a good bit, but once you set him down somewhere he'll cruise around and find a spot he likes and curl up where he's content to sit for 10+ minutes at a time without moving much, unless you move and scare him.
    Is that normal? Should they be more active, like baby corns? Or are they typically very calm?
    He pooped today. It seems perfectly normal to me--looks like my corn snake's feces, nothing crawling in it or diarrhea, though I know parasites can be microscopic. That's a good sign, right?
    He's pretty chubby too. Much fatter than my baby corn snake, anyway! Is that typical of gopher snakes?
    What are signs of illness I should look for? Is too much calmness bad?
    I don't see any mites on him, but I haven't done a ridiculously thorough search yet so as not to stress him out.
    He has a water bowl in his tank, and he usually sits beside it against the glass, but I haven't seen him drink once! Is this normal for him to not have drank in 5-6 days (as far as I've seen)? He could have been taking sips on the sly.
    He doesn't use his hide much, mostly hides between the water bowl & glass. He doesn't move much.
    I know, "if you're in doubt go to a vet"--but I was hoping to know what to watch for in the first place.
    Thanks tons. I'm a worry wart.


    oh and yes, he is in quarantine. Unfortunately I do not have a separate room for quarantine but he is in his own tank, at least 5-8 feet from any other snake tanks, and we ALWAYS wash our hands thoroughly before touching another snake of ours. Can they carry an diseases that can be passed from gopher snake to corn snake or ball python, besides mites or something?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Also: his scales feel incredibly smooth, like velvet; he's soft and his eyes are clear. He doesn't wheeze or anything like that, though I did get a nice tail rattle out of him when I tried to feed him f/t! He wouldn't eat it, so I tried live and he happily took that. But the tail rattle made me laugh.
    2.3 normal ball pythons
    .1 ultramel motley het caramel corn snake
    1. butter motley het caramel+stripe corn snake
    1. fiance I had to rehome my kitty, and my dog got cancer and we put her down. RIP.(Did I forget anything??)

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran Lucas339's Avatar
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    how often are you feeding him? what temp is the room you are keeping him in?

    all of my bull snakes are fire crackers! they hiss tail rattle and strike. usually takes more than a year to calm them down but once they are clamed down they do act like you described. they are much larger than corn snakes as young and adults. i don't think he is ill. most of my adults act like you describe.

  3. #3
    BPnet Veteran shelliebear's Avatar
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    Ah! Ok. Well he seems to be moving more today, perhaps he was only a little stressed. Like I said I was able to get some tail rattling out of him but it took some rubbing his side with the f/t mouse to get him to do it.
    His temps vary with the heat of the day...our weather has been absolutely bipolar here. Wednesday was 55 degrees outside so it was about 75 in his tank, and today it's about 82 in his tank as all of a sudden it got HOT!
    But never colder than 75 degrees in his tank.
    I've only had him since last Saturday so I've only fed him once, on Sunday.
    Perhaps he is a year old juvie, then--he is almost as large if not larger than my 1.5 year old baby corn.
    Thanks for the info!
    2.3 normal ball pythons
    .1 ultramel motley het caramel corn snake
    1. butter motley het caramel+stripe corn snake
    1. fiance I had to rehome my kitty, and my dog got cancer and we put her down. RIP.(Did I forget anything??)

  4. #4
    BPnet Lifer Skiploder's Avatar
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    Five to eight feet away is not quarantine, and yes, there are a whole cloaca load of diseases that can be transmitted between snake species.

    82 is too hot. He needs a much cooler enclosure.

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    shelliebear (06-30-2012)

  6. #5
    BPnet Veteran shelliebear's Avatar
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    Er...Dang. Ok, I'll have to move him to a separate room then--would you say a different room entirely is acceptable quarantine? How many rooms away should he be? The coolest location I can think of is the living room where we have the A/C on to about 61-71 most of the hot days, and the door open on the cooler days.
    I really won't ever get another impulse snake again without doing my research. This was not the best idea, and now I'm being just plain irresponsible.
    I will move him to another room. Thanks for the honesty and info, Skip. Appreciated as always.
    2.3 normal ball pythons
    .1 ultramel motley het caramel corn snake
    1. butter motley het caramel+stripe corn snake
    1. fiance I had to rehome my kitty, and my dog got cancer and we put her down. RIP.(Did I forget anything??)

  7. #6
    BPnet Lifer Skiploder's Avatar
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    Re: Signs of illness?

    Quote Originally Posted by shelliebear View Post
    Er...Dang. Ok, I'll have to move him to a separate room then--would you say a different room entirely is acceptable quarantine? How many rooms away should he be? The coolest location I can think of is the living room where we have the A/C on to about 61-71 most of the hot days, and the door open on the cooler days.
    I really won't ever get another impulse snake again without doing my research. This was not the best idea, and now I'm being just plain irresponsible.
    I will move him to another room. Thanks for the honesty and info, Skip. Appreciated as always.

    Jeez Shellie, QT is a whole other issue.............another room is fine but there is a whole set of protocols you should follow - separate husbandry tools, blah, blah, blah. At one time we had a thread going on what everyone's protocols were - it might be a good idea to look it up.

    I keep a lot of pits. I provide the with a mild hot spot of about 85 degrees during the day with an ambient anywhere from 72 to 76. In past years I've skipped even providing them with a hot spot and they do fine. Gopher snakes do not need any help with humidity and be sure to provide good ventilation.

    Unlike balls, they will take smaller.more frequent meals and poop them back a tad faster (depending on temps). Their poop also smells a bit worse. Many are shy eaters and I would place a f/t item in a small bowl and leave him be overnight. He will probably take it.

    I've seen baby pits that were biting and rattling machines and others that were down right calm - it all depends on the individual snake. If you have yours in a glass cage, it would not be a bad idea to black out the back and sides with either felt or that black aquarium background. It will provide him with a bit more security.

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    Signs of illness

    You fed the little fella 2 pinky rats. That is a very sizable meal. Feed me a big meal and i just wanna take a nap. It pooped a few days later and now he is totally content, just wants to chill. This guy is doin just fine. 1 pinky rat would have been plenty. Keep up the good work. If he poops weekly, feed him weekly.

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