Originally Posted by mopuim
I have an idea on exposure to something toxic. A while ago I made him some custom hides out of styrofoam and foam insulation. I coated it with grout and painted it with tempera paint (most recommended acrylic or stains). After that I coated it 3 times with polyurethane to seal it, and I made sure to seal it well. I found this DIY on several websites using the same or similar stuff and it had good reviews. I got him new hides about a year ago because I thought maybe he was stressed because the hides I made were pretty big and I thought he we feel more safe in something snug.
I've had a hunch about this for a while because I think his bacterial infection started after I put them in his cage, but I don't know how much long after he got sick. He didn't start biting himself at the beginning of the bacterial infection. Tempera paint is non-toxic, but the hides still smelled like the paint after it was coated and snakes may not react to it the same (and there was nothing I could find on the internet about it). I don't know if that could have done anything, but it's making me sick to my stomach that I did something as stupid as this and now he might have something irreversible that's causing him to suffer.
I don't know if that exposure could be the cause or not, but for future reference, never expose a snake to any sort of off-gassing/fumes that you can smell from paints/stains or other chemicals. Another thing that is known to cause neurological damage in snakes is if they're over-heated. Anyway, you can mention that to the vet- I don't know what if anything they can do to fix such things.
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