Totally overwhelmed :(

[Salamander Rising]

Along with all the other stresses I've been dealing with in the last few months, I went to town last night for a very short trip and called my mom to see how my dad was getting along.

He's been in the hospital for leg pain related to his bad back and she told me he was now in a nursing home and to go see him.

So I did and then in the middle of idle chat, he blurts out that they found lung cancer while doing an MRI on his back.

[insert massive psychological shock, here]

So, I was away from home *much* longer than I intended.

What's this have to do with snakes?

Well, there's Bella the Boa who recently had an RI from her terrible mite infestation.

I was told to up her ambient temps and humidity and the only way I can do that in my old, cold, dry house is with my warm mist vaporizer in her condo.

Normally, it takes the thing several hours to get the temps/humidity up to where they should be and I let it run for about 2-3 hours and then shut it off for 6-8 hours.

I was not home to shut it off when it got 'just right' and oblivious hubby said "I thought it looked tropical in there." but didn't bother to call me to ask if that was 'bad' or turn off the humidifier.

When I came home, her ambient temp was 104 degrees!

I'm not sure how 'true' that reading was as applied to her actual physical temps because the digital therm/hygro is right beside the humidifier on her upper deck and the warm moist air bounces off the condo ceiling right down towards it but now I'm terrified Bella got overheated.
[she was on the lower deck on her 'cool side' of 81 degrees with the upper deck forming a 'roof' over her]

I was just out there stroking her head and neck like she loves and she was sort of really leaning and twisting her head into my hand sideways like a cat does when you pet it.

Is that something 'neurological' from the heat or was she just really digging the massage?

I hauled her out and sat with her around me for a bit and she was able to keep her head straight and try to get on top of the fridge and got her face through the handles quite handily which meant turning her sideways to get her face back out.

When I put her back, she crawled around her upper deck with her head flat like normal and slid herself back down to house floor without 'twisting funny'.

Since her RI has improved, she's been much more active, almost to where it looks like she wants out of her house all the time.
[she likes to be out]

She's been pushing her nose into the door cracks a lot and seems generally restless.

The last time she did that, she had mites but she doesn't have them now.

Is it breeding season for Boas?

Bob is a little edgy, too.

This really freak me as my herper friend does shows for the public and during the summer, his helpers let his 30+ year old Boa girl get very overheated and she had a 'head tilt' thing going on for a while but it fine, now.

She was overheated by the sun and ambient heat so I don't know if one is worse than the other.

Bella was in a 'sauna' for a while and I have no idea how long she was in those temps because it takes hours for the humidifier to get the temps above 88 or so due to the size of the condo. [2'x2'4']

I really love her hate and hate myself.

I worked so hard to cure her other problems and now I've possibly 'steamed' her?

I hope this rambling mess makes enough sense for somebody to offer some thoughts.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Neurological damages from overheating can be permanent or temporary only time will tell.

The higher the temp and the longer the exposure the more you are at risk for prolonged even permanent damage.

I had a snake overheat a long time ago and the animal recovered completely after a few months and hopefully yours will to if this is what is going on.

[Salamander Rising]

Neurological damages from overheating can be permanent or temporary only time will tell.

The higher the temp and the longer the exposure the more you are at risk for prolonged even permanent damage.

I had a snake overheat a long time ago and the animal recovered completely after a few months and hopefully yours will to if this is what is going on.

Thank you Deborah.

I hope she's okay.

She's very special to me.

[Evenstar]

Place her on her back. Does she have any trouble righting herself?? If she shows no apparent trouble at all righting herself and does so immediately (and in fact fights you in the first place) than I doubt there's any damage. I'm no vet and I can't see for myself how she's acting, but that's a pretty good tell you can try.

Boas are pretty resilient and a short period of time at a high temp may not have harmed her at all. And she may well be restless simply because the temps were high or because she may be wanting to breed.

Try not to beat yourself up about it. Life happens sometimes and you had some major life issues take priority. It happens to us all. I spent 12 days in the hospital right before Christmas and 2 more weeks immobile on the couch with appendicitis. My hubby took care of the critters for me. He did a good job, but he did miss a couple of poos here and there even though he tried. So the kids weren't kept as clean as I would have liked for a week or so. But it all got fixed once I was better and no one was any worse for wear. Even my sugar gliders got spoiled so they're fat now.......

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope everything turns out ok. Best wishes to you and your family!

[OsirisRa32]

First of all take a deep breath and count to 10.....

Don't sit around and over think things...humans tend to literally think themselves sick sometimes.

Take on one issue at a time...and as for neuro damage for the snake...just keep an eye on her for a while...and note weird behaviors.

And train hubby better about snake keeping

[Salamander Rising]

You are truly and angel....

She refuses to let me flip her over and she's too strong to wrestle with...LOL

I was gone for a few hours tonight and when I came home, there she was, watching out her door with her face smooshed against the glass.

I opened it to give her a head pat and she start gliding out and up my arm.

She had most of herself out and wrapped around my shoulders, gently hugging me and rubbing her face on mine.
[exactly like a cat does does...it's weird]

Then she glided off my other shoulder and back into her house.

Given how 'giggly' she gets when I rub her back and her sudden desire to come out and 'cuddle' me every chance she gets, I'm suspecting she's looking for love in all the wrong places.

I mean, I do dearly love her but not like that.



She seems okay, now.

The good news about dad is that it's very small, well defined spots in his upper lung and he's probably going to get "CyberKnife" surgery which is a totally awesome technology.
Google it.
It looks really "Star Trek".

I think he's gonna be fine and hanging around to drive me mad[der] for a long time.....

I'm glad you're okay now.
I fear getting sick more than anything because hubby is not a bit critter-savvy and I would worry myself to death if he was home alone tending my animals.
In 1993, while I was hospitalized with double pneumonia, on the third day, he asked me if it was normal for my dog Minny to not be eating, drinking or going to the bathroom.
!!! !!!

Less than 20 minutes later, I was home, still sick as death, having ripped all the IVs out and left the ICU.

So, I stay well for my animals' sakes...

[sure wish my Sunglow male would show up soon....I think Bella is trying to tell me something..and I also think Bob can "hear" her...or do they smell 'romance'?]

Here's Bella, waiting for mom to let her out.



Is that just The Face or what?

Place her on her back. Does she have any trouble righting herself?? If she shows no apparent trouble at all righting herself and does so immediately (and in fact fights you in the first place) than I doubt there's any damage. I'm no vet and I can't see for myself how she's acting, but that's a pretty good tell you can try.

Boas are pretty resilient and a short period of time at a high temp may not have harmed her at all. And she may well be restless simply because the temps were high or because she may be wanting to breed.

Try not to beat yourself up about it. Life happens sometimes and you had some major life issues take priority. It happens to us all. I spent 12 days in the hospital right before Christmas and 2 more weeks immobile on the couch with appendicitis. My hubby took care of the critters for me. He did a good job, but he did miss a couple of poos here and there even though he tried. So the kids weren't kept as clean as I would have liked for a week or so. But it all got fixed once I was better and no one was any worse for wear. Even my sugar gliders got spoiled so they're fat now.......

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope everything turns out ok. Best wishes to you and your family!

[Salamander Rising]

Wow...it's like you can read my mind.

I haul my dogs to the vet if their hair even 'looks funny'....

Hubby can barely manage dogs.

Snakes are way out of his league.

I'm LMAO, imagining him trying to feed the Boas, especially when Bob or Ruby get their 'wild thing' going and hit the rat so hard it knocks the hemostat halfway across the room.
[they only do that when hubby's watching...normally, they just casually pick up their rat and eat it. I think they're trying to psych him out]

First of all take a deep breath and count to 10.....

Don't sit around and over think things...humans tend to literally think themselves sick sometimes.

Take on one issue at a time...and as for neuro damage for the snake...just keep an eye on her for a while...and note weird behaviors.

And train hubby better about snake keeping

[Evenstar]

I love reading your posts Salamander!! You are hysterical!! As much as we love our snakes, no, we don't love them like that!!!!

Seriously, I am glad she appears to be doing better. I'm going to bet she just got a little stressed out from the heat and we are always going to "see things that aren't there" for a while when we find a problem. I know I'd be looking for any neurological sign at all if I came home and found 104 temps in one of my cages.....

I'm glad things are optimistic for your Dad. I'm very close with my own parents so I sure know how you feel. <3

[Salamander Rising]

Thanks...if I don't keep laughing, I might start screaming.



I was a total daddy's girl as a kid so yeah, I'm a bit attached to the old coot.

I love reading your posts Salamander!! You are hysterical!! As much as we love our snakes, no, we don't love them like that!!!!

Seriously, I am glad she appears to be doing better. I'm going to bet she just got a little stressed out from the heat and we are always going to "see things that aren't there" for a while when we find a problem. I know I'd be looking for any neurological sign at all if I came home and found 104 temps in one of my cages.....

I'm glad things are optimistic for your Dad. I'm very close with my own parents so I sure know how you feel. <3

[OsirisRa32]

Wow...it's like you can read my mind.

I haul my dogs to the vet if their hair even 'looks funny'....

Hubby can barely manage dogs.

Snakes are way out of his league.

I'm LMAO, imagining him trying to feed the Boas, especially when Bob or Ruby get their 'wild thing' going and hit the rat so hard it knocks the hemostat halfway across the room.
[they only do that when hubby's watching...normally, they just casually pick up their rat and eat it. I think they're trying to psych him out]

Perhaps for the untrainable hubby ( I assume he can read the written english language?)....leave a note that explains very specifically the things to do/ check if he ever sees certain devices reach a certain temperature?

I would assume for 99.99% of people even that would be doable?