Strange behaviour while soaking

[Manasha-Bogo]

Think we need a background story here to get a better picture of what is going on. what do you mean she is weak? why was she at the vet in the first place? etc....

No need to soak before a shed. Keep your humidity up to around 60%-70% and give her a water bowl she can soak in if she chooses to. If in fact she does have a rough shed you can soak or do whatever is needed after the fact.

The over-handling and soaking is most definitley stressing her out.

Sorry, I should have provided a brief background for anyone who hasn't read my earlier posts.

Basically she is 6 months old. I got her 3 months ago along with a male (also 6 months old) from a herp store who told me I could house them together. For the last 3 months they had been living together in a large glass tank. He has grown; She has not. They both got mites last month and were treated with Provent-a-Mite (the tank, not them). The two weeks that it took to get the mite situation handled was too much for her. She became very anemic, and I took her to the vet last 10 days ago. The vet ran tests, dewormed her, gave her ivermectin for the mites, and started to tube feed her every 2 days while in their care. I brought her back home from the vets 3 days ago. They told me to soak her daily for 10 minutes. I did it yesterday and today. But her behavior makes my heart skip a beat.

I took her back to the vet today for another tube feeding and she'll be going back every saturday until either they tell me she doesn't need it anymore, or she strengthens up. She is weak and I can see it now. She always has been weak. (Hindsight, and all that...) but never this weak. She weighed 85 grams today at the vet before they fed her. She was 86 yesterday and 74 grams when I initially took her in 10 days ago.

So that's about it.

[Manasha-Bogo]

Is this the same vet that put oil on her to cure a mite infestation?

Yep. Point taken. they have many years experience, but I think they are old-school. Even with my rabbits issues I had to find newer treatment information on my own. sigh....

[The Serpent Merchant]

tube feeding? That is possibly the most stressful thing for a snake, is she really that thin to require such extreme measures? Remember BP's can go over a year without eating at all...

Personally I would be getting a second opinion if not a new vet.

[AJs Snake House]

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[John1982]

Sorry, I should have provided a brief background for anyone who hasn't read my earlier posts.

Basically she is 6 months old. I got her 3 months ago along with a male (also 6 months old) from a herp store who told me I could house them together. For the last 3 months they had been living together in a large glass tank. He has grown; She has not. They both got mites last month and were treated with Provent-a-Mite (the tank, not them). The two weeks that it took to get the mite situation handled was too much for her. She became very anemic, and I took her to the vet last 10 days ago. The vet ran tests, dewormed her, gave her ivermectin for the mites, and started to tube feed her every 2 days while in their care. I brought her back home from the vets 3 days ago. They told me to soak her daily for 10 minutes. I did it yesterday and today. But her behavior makes my heart skip a beat.

I took her back to the vet today for another tube feeding and she'll be going back every saturday until either they tell me she doesn't need it anymore, or she strengthens up. She is weak and I can see it now. She always has been weak. (Hindsight, and all that...) but never this weak. She weighed 85 grams today at the vet before they fed her. She was 86 yesterday and 74 grams when I initially took her in 10 days ago.

So that's about it.

Sounds like that vet is kicking her butt.. Do you have pictures of the girl before your first vet visit?

[Manasha-Bogo]

Sounds like that vet is kicking her butt.. Do you have pictures of the girl before your first vet visit?

I sure do...

I took pix of her before I put her back in her tub today.

I've shown this one here before. This is the day I discovered the mite infestation, 20 days ago.




And these two are from today right after the 2 minute soak.

[The Serpent Merchant]

That snake does not need to be tube fed, tube feeding is only going to make the problem worse by stressing out the snake.

I strongly suggest that you find a new vet.

[Manasha-Bogo]

Yea, if it were up to me, I would just leave her alone for 7-10 days and then try to feed her a small hopper and see if she will take it. But I am leery of relying on my own gutt feelings and instincts when it comes to snakes anymore. At least not until I learn more about how to care for them. I'm at the mercy of the vets and what you guys tell me to do.

I want to err on the side of caution tho. So if it is more cautious to keep tube feeding her a couple more weeks, then I'll do that. But if it's safer to leave her alone and eliminate stressors for a good while to give her a chance to re-coop, then I'll do that.

[jbean7916]

That snake does not need to be tube fed, tube feeding is only going to make the problem worse by stressing out the snake.

I strongly suggest that you find a new vet.

That snake is 5 mos olds and 86g. She needs some sort of intervention.

She was no longer taking food on her own right?

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[The Serpent Merchant]

That snake is 5 mos olds and 86g. She needs some sort of intervention.

She was no longer taking food on her own right?

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But tube feeding?

Has the OP tried assist feeding? Much less intrusive. I can't think of a single situation where tube feeding was the best option.