Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Below are two pictures of my snake. Its been about 2 1/2 weeks since my snake has ate and his head and eyes have been like this for about a week. Has anyone seen a stubborn head shed cause a snakes mouth to be open? Anyone know an experience BRB vet in greater cleveland area? I dont want to take him to a newbie vet. He is presently in a 29 tall with mesh lid. I cut a piece of plexiglass to cover the top to try and keep the humidity up. There is a under the tank heater and a red basking bulb. Tank variant in temperature from 73 at cold end to 85 at warm end. I mist the tank twice a day. I keep the humidity above 50 mostly but have seen in drop below 30. The tank is in the basement and I live in Ohio so humidity is a problem. I have tried soaking him every other day for 10 minutes to 2 hours (he hates it).

Thanks,

Lou

Sounds like dehydration and could have led to RI.

Lose the heat lamp, INSULATE the cage and cover MOST if not ALL of the top.

Screen topped fishtanks are IMO the worst caging for little BRB's BUT, they can be made to work. Add to that keeping the cage in a cold location and it's a recipe for disaster.

For insulation I like Reflectix. With your problems I'd probably cover front/side and back leaving only one side for viewing.

UTH on a thermostat? or dimmer? Reason I ask is when you add the reflectix, heat escape will go down and if on a dimmer could overheat if you don't turn it down enough and closely monitor.

IMO a vet visit is in order!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I have Abbi in a 20 gallon, no light, covererd the top, a moss hide and moisten the cage as needed, she's thrived in this, i agree the lamp dries things out too quickly. She is due for an up grade anyways here soon.
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi,confessa,custody,Ms.Demeanor)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders

I was under the impression the basking bulb was needed. Changing that out now and snake going ot the vet later this week ill keep ya posted.

Thanks,

Lou

Lou,
...Please reread Dave's post for ALL the details. Getting rid of the basking light is just the start to making that tank into an acceptable cage for a BRB. These snakes do very well in captivity when you set them up in a cage with warm, not hot temperatures, minimal lighting and HIGH humidity. If you keep them too warm or too dry or stress them out they will have health problems.
Good luck,
Jeff

>>I was under the impression the basking bulb was needed. Changing that out now and snake going ot the vet later this week ill keep ya posted.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Lou

I should of mentioned I was planning on moving him to a larger cage. Something in the 4x2x2 variety, maybe a stackable or self built. i was going to wait until he was larger, but now I wont.

Lou

I had the same problem when I was setting up my BRB tank and cam here also. I would go with the Reflectix recommendation. It's not that expensive (you can even reuse it somewhere else in your home once you get a new cage) and it's worked perfectly when I was in the same situation. I have it covering most of my 29 gallon tank including the top screen, the humidity stays 70-80% without spraying, and the temps are good (sometimes too hot w/o a thermostat) just off of just a small UTH.
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Danne
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0.0.1 BRB "Monroe"
0.3 cats "Beast, Smokey & Thelma"
0.4.2 fish

I got the refletix stuff from home depot and vet visit tomorrow at 9am.

You know, a well known pet store around cleveland said to just give these species a light and spray it down as too they have been captive bred for so long.

Lou

Pet stores will tell you anything to sell an animal, especially pretending that they're easier to care for then they are. I've had Petco guys tell me I can keep 6 goldfish in a 2 gallon tank before, I've also had a guy tell me that if I wanted to keep a blood python small I should keep it cold and don't feed it much. As convinient as it sounds, you can't "breed" natural needs out of an animal, they've evolved over hundreds of years to need that specific humidity and heat, so a few generations in aquariums isn't changing anything.

It's great that you're making changes to the tank and going to a vet. Stick around the forums here, I learned most of what I know about snakes on these forums and on other reliable sites - these guys really know what they're talking about, and are in it for the furthuring of good snake husbandry rather than for money
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Danne
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0.0.1 BRB "Monroe"
0.3 cats "Beast, Smokey & Thelma"
0.4.2 fish

maybe some better pictures, that snakes mouth open & swollen like that looks to be more then a mere ri infection.

>>Below are two pictures of my snake. Its been about 2 1/2 weeks since my snake has ate and his head and eyes have been like this for about a week. Has anyone seen a stubborn head shed cause a snakes mouth to be open? Anyone know an experience BRB vet in greater cleveland area? I dont want to take him to a newbie vet. He is presently in a 29 tall with mesh lid. I cut a piece of plexiglass to cover the top to try and keep the humidity up. There is a under the tank heater and a red basking bulb. Tank variant in temperature from 73 at cold end to 85 at warm end. I mist the tank twice a day. I keep the humidity above 50 mostly but have seen in drop below 30. The tank is in the basement and I live in Ohio so humidity is a problem. I have tried soaking him every other day for 10 minutes to 2 hours (he hates it).
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Lou
>>
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

I once fell from a 50' tree with many branches that slowed my decent and landed directly on my back on a large rock...

My best friend said...Dude are you ok ?...

I said...Give me 5 minutes...

"No sir...I didn't like it..." R&S.

LOL