Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am posting this for a friend who is having a problem with her Garter...It is an interesting enough problem that I'm sure you folks have seen it and could possibly remedy it. Here is her post in her own words....

"Hey all, first post here. And this is a bad entrence, but, I would like some help..with my garter snake, I had her around august or june.. She has mostly gotten over scale rot.. I had used NeoTopic at first, but it didn't do much, so three weeks ago a decided to switch to Mela Gel, which cleared it all up mostly.

Anyways for the last three days, she has been having this "spazz attack" and i'm needing help figuring out what would cause this.."

It's probably having spazz attacks because whatever was used to help the scale rot accidentally poisoned it.

That snake honestly looks like it needs to go in the freezer.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 3/2/06

Do a Google search for Melaleuca Oil Toxin and the only people who say it is safe are the folks selling it!

Paste these in your browser and enjoy.

http://www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html

http://messybeast.com/teatree.htm

http://www.arizonacert.org/medical-pros/herbs/commercial-herbs.pdf

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=761

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Regards, Bill McGighan

You need to put that animal to sleep. Freezer is best way as stated above. Its in pain for sure.

Link

Ps, Its nervous sytem is most likely destroyed. I'm sure you had the best intentions, but you should never experiment with human products on animals. Any vet will tell you this.

Half the time they don't know what they are talking about, they don't know nothing about snakes and some are afraid of snakes. Taking a snake to the vet is just dumb and could be a waste of money. Getting it "professionally" killed is dumb as well... Why spend money on getting it euthanized when either way it is going to die...?? Put it in the freezer it will be dead within 10 minutes.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 3/2/06

So find a vet that specializes in reptiles. You don't take snakes to just any vet and hope that they can use google better than you, that's stupid. Equally stupid is having a pet if you can't afford to take care of it. That includes driving it all the way to a vet that doesn't accidentally kill it.

Having a pet "professionally" killed is a matter of personal preference. I bet you can kill your snake quicker with a kitchen knife than with the freezer. Cut off its head and it will be dead in under 20 seconds and it stays just as dead as with any other method. You understand why people don't usually do it that way, right? Even if it is cheaper than putting it in the freezer.

Have you ever gotten frostbite? It hurts like hell and that's only with your ears! THere are much better ways to die.

If you can't find a vet that's familiar with reptiles you're not looking hard enough. Call around for referals- other vets, herp societies, petstores, - are begin your search at www.arav.com, a reptile vet group.

So... now you don't have an excuse to deprive your snakes of medical care

Ian

Herp,vet,connection.com

You can find a qualified herp vet in your area just like that.
We owe that much to our charges!!!
Mike

Yea, that snake looks dead. Or it would be greatful to be dead.
Poor thing suffered thought so with what ever treatment it received - do the opposite next time.

Dan

I agree with everyone here that the snake looks dead. I thought it was at first. I also agree, because of my experience with a loxocemus bicolor that was sick, that it's best to take them to a reptile vet who specializes in these animals. Calling a petstore for the name of the vet they use is a good idea. You can also call the zoo, or call a vet who does not see exotics for a recommendation of a great exotic vet, or post your state on here and someone is bound to have some idea of where you can go. It's hard owning animals if you don't have the funds to properly care for them but I don't think that is always the reason reptiles get poor care. I think sometimes, we as humans have the best of intentions and end up being more harmful in our ignorance than helpful. We are not God and neither are vets. We can only do what we think is best at the time and learn from our own and others mistakes. Hopefully this is a great lesson to everyone on researching cures before you use them, or if in doubt seek a good qualified vet. Or at the very least the help of more experienced herpers (who are not God either).