Posted by:
Elaphefan
at Sun Mar 13 12:54:51 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Elaphefan ]
Hey guys, I am sorry to say this but most of what has been said makes no sense. Some of the advice even sounds a little dangerous for the snake.
First, lets talk about Pedialyte. This is an electrolyte and glucose balanced liquid that is designed for fast absorption by our system. It is useful for persons with a high risk of dehydration, especially children with diarrhea. (For those of you who don’t know, diarrhea results when your large intestine fails to reabsorb liquids.) Pedialyte is taken orally. As far as I know, snakes, like humans, do not absorb sugars or electrolytes thru their skins. Soaking your snake in Pedialyte will only provide bacteria with nourishment. This could lead to artificially high levels of bacteria on the snakes skin and a risk of infection due to the high bacteria counts.
Diluting Pedialyte is not recommended. Doing this destroys the balanced concentrations of the sugars and electrolytes that make the liquid so easy for the body to absorb.
If you are afraid that your snake is dehydrated, give it fluids orally. I don’t think giving the snake Pedialyte will hurt him. If you suspect that your snake is very dehydrated, take it to a vet and have him give your snake sterile fluids under its skin.
I fail to see a connection between a singular instance of regurgitation caused by feeding a healthy snake oversized prey and high risk of dehydration. If the snake has fresh clean spring water to drink at all times, it should be just fine.
Links: http://www.pedialyte.com/faqresources/faq.cfm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question565.htm
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RE: And now for something completely different.And long. - Elaphefan, Sun Mar 13 12:54:51 2005