Went to the vet -- some things he recommended

[Starscream]

Hey, all. I'd like to preface this by saying I've had no issues with Mazikeen's husbandry, no signs of RI's, and she eats like a pig, so this was really just for a check up to make sure she didn't have RI's and maybe do a fecal (She's been holding poop for about 3 weeks now so that didn't happen lol).

He told me a lot of stuff I already knew -- very basic husbandry, which I understood after about a week of researching, like having the cold side around 79-83 and the hot around 85-88, having a hot spot of 88-92, having "bumped up" humidity during shed, etc. One thing he kept insisting adamantly was that I needed to drop the hot side 10-15 degrees at night, which seems super counter-intuitive to me. With the two different heat ranges on either side of the tub, it encourages movement and exercise and they get a sense of autonomy in picking what temperature they want to be at. When I said I had two different sides, he shot me down and immediately replied with, "They're not the smartest, so some stuff you kind of have to do for them or they hurt themselves." Which is just. Why would you let a reptile be in conditions in which they could hurt themselves?

On top of that, she's been deep in shed all weekend, and her humidity's been around 80%. The day before we went, she finally turned dark, so it was literally any day that she was supposed to shed. I told him this as a preface, but he still put enough pressure on her spine for the skin to break open unevenly in several places, and resulted in a bad shed the following day. The vet glared at me like it was my fault she was shedding in his hands and complained about how low my humidity must be. He also wanted me to add rocks to her enclosure.

With how much he was talking AT me instead of TO me, I felt like I didn't really get to explain my husbandry that well. I should have just whipped out my phone and showed him pictures, but hindsight is always 20/20.

I've never had experience with a reptile vet before, and I'm not really sure how things are supposed to go. I know he was feeling her belly for hard lumps, and handling her a bit roughly was necessary for that level of examination.

So, here's the question: is there supposed to be a drop in temperatures at night? From what I've seen on the forum and various other sources, that seems to be an older style of doing things that isn't endorsed anymore. Why is that?

[monks98]

We don't do it. Never have honestly. All our snakes are fine and live in racks.

As well was he a vet who specialized in reptiles or just one who "also saw them". We don't have option A where I live but we have option B and it's a mess.

Off topic have you tried a gentle warm soak to get her to poop? Sometimes we need to give a snake a 15 minute soak to loosen things up lol

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[Starscream]

We don't do it. Never have honestly. All our snakes are fine and live in racks.

As well was he a vet who specialized in reptiles or just one who "also saw them". We don't have option A where I live but we have option B and it's a mess.

Off topic have you tried a gentle warm soak to get her to poop? Sometimes we need to give a snake a 15 minute soak to loosen things up lol

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See, that's what I thought, so that's why I'm asking. I'm not really sure what to believe right now and it kind of frazzled me (I'm a pretty anxious person anyways so that's not really hard to do unfortunately lol).

None of the vets in my area have a special certification for reptiles, so he's probably just one that "sees them". Basically the only reason I went was to try to get a fecal or at least scheduled for when she did poop and the RI thing. :/

Not yet on the soak; she's not got a major sausage booty yet so I'm worried about it at this time. If she doesn't go soon I may have to try it though. Thanks for your insight!

[monks98]

If you are comfortable with it you can use a credit card or bank card to open the snakes mouth and look inside. There will be signs if RI if one is present. I have dealt with 2 RI's in our snake time. One snake made it the other didnt. The vet was next to no help in either case though he claimed he "knew" reptiles.

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[Starscream]

If you are comfortable with it you can use a credit card or bank card to open the snakes mouth and look inside. There will be signs if RI if one is present. I have dealt with 2 RI's in our snake time. One snake made it the other didnt. The vet was next to no help in either case though he claimed he "knew" reptiles.

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I've popped her mouth open two times with q-tips and didn't see anything -- like I said, this was just a check-up to see if all was well. He gave her an all-clear on that one, and cooed over her cute belly (it's super cute) and how pretty her teeth are, so at least there was that lol.

[dylan815]

Hey, all. I'd like to preface this by saying I've had no issues with Mazikeen's husbandry, no signs of RI's, and she eats like a pig, so this was really just for a check up to make sure she didn't have RI's and maybe do a fecal (She's been holding poop for about 3 weeks now so that didn't happen lol).

He told me a lot of stuff I already knew -- very basic husbandry, which I understood after about a week of researching, like having the cold side around 79-83 and the hot around 85-88, having a hot spot of 88-92, having "bumped up" humidity during shed, etc. One thing he kept insisting adamantly was that I needed to drop the hot side 10-15 degrees at night, which seems super counter-intuitive to me. With the two different heat ranges on either side of the tub, it encourages movement and exercise and they get a sense of autonomy in picking what temperature they want to be at. When I said I had two different sides, he shot me down and immediately replied with, "They're not the smartest, so some stuff you kind of have to do for them or they hurt themselves." Which is just. Why would you let a reptile be in conditions in which they could hurt themselves?

On top of that, she's been deep in shed all weekend, and her humidity's been around 80%. The day before we went, she finally turned dark, so it was literally any day that she was supposed to shed. I told him this as a preface, but he still put enough pressure on her spine for the skin to break open unevenly in several places, and resulted in a bad shed the following day. The vet glared at me like it was my fault she was shedding in his hands and complained about how low my humidity must be. He also wanted me to add rocks to her enclosure.

With how much he was talking AT me instead of TO me, I felt like I didn't really get to explain my husbandry that well. I should have just whipped out my phone and showed him pictures, but hindsight is always 20/20.

I've never had experience with a reptile vet before, and I'm not really sure how things are supposed to go. I know he was feeling her belly for hard lumps, and handling her a bit roughly was necessary for that level of examination.

So, here's the question: is there supposed to be a drop in temperatures at night? From what I've seen on the forum and various other sources, that seems to be an older style of doing things that isn't endorsed anymore. Why is that?

I would try to find someone else in your area. I would never put up with someone like the vet you described. Hopefully you can find someone else in you're area for "routine" checkups.

[ebbanflo]

Im a new owner and have no intention of changing my BPs heat gradient at night,

that reptile vet sounds scary

[tttaylorrr]

there is no need to drop temps at night. what would this practice even provide?

"well tttaylorrr, it mimics their natural environment!"
there's nothing "natural" about my snakes living in boxes in my bedroom with thermostats, heaters, fake plant and temperature gauges.

"They're not the smartest, so some stuff you kind of have to do for them or they hurt themselves."
how exactly does dropping temperatures help them? how does NOT doing so hurt them?
"Well what if they're too hot!?"
they know where their cool side is, and regulated temperatures make any "too hot" scenario non-existent.

stay far, far away from that vet.

[Starscream]

I would try to find someone else in your area. I would never put up with someone like the vet you described. Hopefully you can find someone else in you're area for "routine" checkups.

That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure if I was overreacting or if this was the norm or what. We're gonna start looking for another vet again, because both me and roommate have decided that this guy is definitely not for us. Thank you!

[dylan815]

there is no need to drop temps at night. what would this practice even provide?

"well tttaylorrr, it mimics their natural environment!"
there's nothing "natural" about my snakes living in boxes in my bedroom with thermostats, heaters, fake plant and temperature gauges.

"They're not the smartest, so some stuff you kind of have to do for them or they hurt themselves."
how exactly does dropping temperatures help them? how does NOT doing so hurt them?
"Well what if they're too hot!?"
they know where their cool side is, and regulated temperatures make any "too hot" scenario non-existent.

stay far, far away from that vet.

You're the best