Can you diagnose my BP

[HighVoltageRoyals]

Thanks for your responses. Answers to your questions are the following:
1. about a week and a half (i thought it had stopped)
2. i have had him since his birth (he has always been in great health and physically looks healthy right now)
3. Temp with lamp is about 80, temp at night is about 72
4. Temps controlled by timer switch (he has lived completely fine on this system throughout his life)
5. Temps are measured with gauge.
6. He only does that flipping out motion when I go to touch him or try to pick him up. When left alone he calms down but still moves actively around the cage. Seems like he cant just go hide and relax.
7. Have not been weighing him regularly, from how he looks/feels it doesn't seem like that.
8. He normally eats one medium rat a month.
9. I have not had any contact with any other animals. It doesn't look like he has mites ( i have checked all of the areas for that and see nothing)

- I assume that I can take him to a vet, but I do not know where to go or do i have the money to shell out. I love him but cannot accumulate $500+ in vet bills. :/ I live in Orange County

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your help.

Here's a list of vets in CA (you have to sift through the list a bit and find something close to you) that see reptiles:

http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptil...t-listing.aspx

Also, I would probably give All Creatures Care Cottage a call and see if they can see him. They're my standard vet but I haven't needed to take my snakes to the vet (knock wood) but I remember talking to them about if they see snakes and if I recall correctly, they do. I use these guys for everything else that I have had (bunnies, rats, dogs, cats, etc) and it wouldn't hurt to call and ask if you're close enough to them. They're pretty awesome and come highly recommended by me.

[surfingguitar]

back of the tank is not blacked out, but again it has never been a problem until recently. I am taking him to Dr. Greek tomorrow ( thanks Lolo). Its so sad - he is such a docile/friendly snake, and now he won't even let me pick him up.

[Annarose15]

One other thing, which isn't likely related to this problem, is your feeding schedule. You should be feeding him every 7-10 days, not monthly. BPs aren't like the larger constrictors that take large meals and go for weeks and months in between. I know it has "worked" for you so far, but he also may not have had any other choice. Just my two cents.

Oh, and the gooey stuff was likely urate. Snakes "poop" (even though it's more like the equivalent of our urine) when then are trying to escape something that frightens them very much.

[Homegrownscales]

My problem with the analog reader it they are usually quite off. Also except in that video the snake isn't on the top of the cage. So you need to find out what they are on the bottom. I understand that you guys have a system. I think there's things to change to make better for him bc when you have stressed, too hot or too cold snake you are making yourself prone to sickness and other issues.Seeing as though your worried about vet costs keeping him with above par temps and husbandry would prevent vet visits. This seems like a recent change, or environmental thing. Maybe he really has got to poop but temps could be the culprit of that and I've had snakes that really had to go and they weren't doing that. Dehydration also causes constipation but again ive never seen a snake do what yours is doing. So in my opinion you need to get the temps to recommend level, on the floor of the cage, see if that changes anything. Let him completely destress, and I'm
Happy to hear your going to rake this guy to the vet. At the same time I highly suggest fixing the little bugs in your system so you can prevent Anymore issue from arising.

[surfingguitar]

My problem with the analog reader it they are usually quite off. Also except in that video the snake isn't on the top of the cage. So you need to find out what they are on the bottom. I understand that you guys have a system. I think there's things to change to make better for him bc when you have stressed, too hot or too cold snake you are making yourself prone to sickness and other issues.Seeing as though your worried about vet costs keeping him with above par temps and husbandry would prevent vet visits. This seems like a recent change, or environmental thing. Maybe he really has got to poop but temps could be the culprit of that and I've had snakes that really had to go and they weren't doing that. Dehydration also causes constipation but again ive never seen a snake do what yours is doing. So in my opinion you need to get the temps to recommend level, on the floor of the cage, see if that changes anything. Let him completely destress, and I'm
Happy to hear your going to rake this guy to the vet. At the same time I highly suggest fixing the little bugs in your system so you can prevent Anymore issue from arising.

Thanks. I have never really thought of a different system, but when I get home from work today I am going to change everything. Can you recommend a thread or tips to revamp the entire enclosure i.e. - bedding, gauges, heating (does he need the lamp), hiding water etc....

[Homegrownscales]

Sure! I'm on tapatalk right now and for some reason I can't link the The two threads that are stickies. But if you go into Bp husbandry section there's at the top two threads one is called "bp caresheet". And the other is "tank set up my way". I believe they are called. Both are written by members and right on time. The stickies in the husbandry section are excellent and you can learn exactly how to set things up. But In a run down. The tank needs two sections a hot side a d cool side. Hot side need to be 90-92 on the glass. And cold side 80. Since bps are terrestrial the ambient temp is pretty usless since they thermoregulate off of belly heat. So the best thing to do is get a uth that is no more than 2/3 the size of the tank or 1/2 and 1/2 works well too and a dimmer or a decently priced thermostat. There's one called Hydrofarm that you can order online and that will run you like 50 right around. A dimmer you get at the hardware store and they make some that you plug lamps right into. You'll have to fiddle with it a bit and check on it bc it's not a tstat. But it could work as a safety temporary system so the uth doesn't burn him. The tstat turns the uth off and on according to what temp you have it set on. Next important piece of equipment is a digital thermometer. An inside/outside one. You can secure the probe on the glass with hotglue so you know the exact temps on the glass. If you do get a thermostat secure them together with the glue on the hot side. Now then you'll know the accurate temp on the floor of the hot side. And generally If the hot side is accurate your cool side will be as well. Either way the hs is the most important part. Humidity is another important part. This helps the shed ,poop etc. Your comment in your intial post about him retaining his eye caps shows that the humidity was a little off and that's something we should correct. You can put a towel folded up on the screen to help retain humidity. Or others have used plexiglass. Spray heavily 2x daily so that it's nice and moist but dries out over time, you may have to do this
More or less but this is what used to work for me when I had tanks but your area weather plays a big part In that. If it's sopping wet all the time do it less if its bone dry and dries out quickly go more or find a different way of retaining humidity. Geneslly if you get a gauge it should never drop below 60%. Digital again is the best.
Now feeding,
I choose to feed smaller but more frequent feedings. This helps prevent fasting as well as big meals can be hard to digest if temps are incorrect. That's probably why the once a month had been working. But it can lead to problems like sepsis if he's holding on to digested food for too long. Anyways I generally feed weaned or 6-10 week old rats. To my balls. I have balls of various sizes from big big girls to hatchlings to small males and yearlings. So it depends on their size for the weekly feeding. For a male of his size I think like a small rat would be a good meal for him. One that's been weaned for a few weeks but not even close to adult yet. I'd put a rat like that at 7-8 weeks old. If he'll take that weekly or even bi weekly your saving yourself a hell of alot of issues and worry. Sometimes males can go on a fast for up to 10 months when they are fed big infrequent meals. If you switch that up you have less of an issue. The last suggestion I have is to get a grams scale. They are pretty cheap. Mine is a kitchen scale I got at rite aid for 10$. And a notebook. Weigh him monthly, and write down every feeding, shed, and defecation. This way if he stops eating you can weigh him a bit more frequently and see if he's losing weight or if its just a normal fast. You can see if or when a problem started occurring, and if you ever have to bring him to the vet you bring it with you and actually have a compete history. So this is super long and hopefully your eyes haven't sucked back Into your head from reading ro much.

[shelliebear]

What type of substrate do you keep him on:?

[Skittles1101]

Thanks. I have never really thought of a different system, but when I get home from work today I am going to change everything. Can you recommend a thread or tips to revamp the entire enclosure i.e. - bedding, gauges, heating (does he need the lamp), hiding water etc....

Also I don't know if you use a UTH (I kinda scanned through the thread) but I read my temps with a temp gun, it's 100% worth the cost of $25-35 for a decent one. I have the PE-2 from tempguns.com. Unfortunately analogs are not accurate at all, and you can be more confident with your husbandry if you know the temps in his cage. I wish you the best of luck, poor little guy

[surfingguitar]

thank you for your tips . I only want the best for him and I hope that the vet can diagnose and or fix that problem. It's just crazy - i have owned him since he was a baby back in 99 with no problems whatsoever. Now suddenly things have changed. I hope I can provide him another 20+ healthy years.

Also what bedding do you suggest? He always knocks the carefresh into the water bowl and makes a mess as of now. I would like to just use house carpet....cutting a new piece with each cleaning....would this be ok?

[BPelizabeth]

Ok watched about 5 secs of the video. Couldn't watch it anymore. Do a couple of things for me.

Take a q tip side ways and open his mouth. It might take someone else holding him to help you with this.

1. Do you see any substrate stuck in his mouth
2. Do you see any bubbles - this could mean a respitory infection

Take his lip and pull it back on the side....do you see any black spots? Look at his eyes from the side...is there still retained eyecaps. You can tell usually as it is indented.

Take a look at him carefully up and down to see if there is any substrate stuck in his scales. This is going to be like going over him with a fine tooth comb and he is NOT going to like it....but it needs to be done. You can also use a magnafying glass to look more closely.

After you do this let me know what you find.....



I doubt this is an issue with his temps as they have been like this for so long. But then again I am not a vet. I would certainly invest in a under the tank heater and a thermostat and a temp gun after all this though. Having him for as long as you have.....it is just a great investment and better for your baby.