I Think Dora is Star-Gazing. Help!

[DarkSmoke]

sounds like RI to me. It could kill her if not treated promptly.

What are the temps in her enclosure?
How are you monitering the temps?
hows the humidity?

I personally would take her to the vet asap.

But is there any treatment? as far as i read.. there is not treatment. im currently out of money. vets charge alot of money here. so im avoid a vet bill to just tell me its untreatable. the snake is looking upwards 24/7 like that star-gazing snakes pictures i saw. its like she's stuck in those positions. doesn't hide anymore. Thats why i came here, to see if its really true that there is not treatment to this.

[Ham]

First off there is no way for you to know for sure if it is IBD, it could just be a respiratory infection and the snake is struggling to breath. There is no way for us to tell you what the exact problem is... That is why a vet visit is required.

Do you have a warm spot of 90-92F, and a cool side of 80-82F? If not the snake has probably become ill because it is too cold...

If the cage is not setup with these temperatures you should make it so immediately.

[DarkSmoke]

She has a hot spot in her place. The temps i can't check them now because i lost my tempgun moving from my apartment to a new apartment. i had thermostat set at the correct tempretures and last i check the temps in the other apartment they were perfect altough its been a bit long. The thermostat is broken, but now its summer in malta and the weather is very hot here. last i asked they told me i should turn off the heatmat here in summer because of the very hot temps. the reason i fed a hamster... i feed my snake rats, i feed live its been like that for as long as she's alive, please i don't want to get in a frozen vs live argument. latley i lost my number of my rat suplier and here its not easy to find rats unlike mice so for once i fed her a hamster. but please, i don't want to go discussion on what i feed my snake. i know the risks and everything. What i want to know then, what should be my next step? vet visit?

[Ham]

I would check your temps, make sure they are correct, then get the snake to a vet. It sounds like a respiratory infection at the very least.

Maybe just take the snake to the vet first, but without a thermometer there is no way to tell if your temps are correct, just becuase its hot outside does not mean the temps are proper in the snakes cage. I live in Phoenix Arizona and it can hit 120F in the summer and I still need to keep an eye on my temps.

[dr del]

Hi,

RI's - fairly common and definately treatable.

IBD - fairly rare but not really treatable as far as I know.

Take your snake to a vet, ask for a culture from the throat to determine the best drug to use but get it started on a course of antibiotics in the meantime.

And don't feed it hamsters unless you can be certain of getting enough of them to make up its whole diet.

In your post you say your thermostat is set correctly but then you say it is broken - did you mean your thermometer is broken ?

If so buy another one - temps are really not the things you want to guess about when keeping reptiles.


dr del