Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone!

I have a very sweet, gentle and skittish Haitian Boa (epicrates striatus) which i've had for 21 years. I assume that she was a wild-caught young adult when i, ignorant of these things, bought her in a pet shop in 1997. She didn't eat for nearly a year, but finally started to accept live mice.

Her name is Monty, for irrelevant reasons related to an ex-girlfriend. She doesn't get nearly as much attention or care as she deserves, and i know that....... two decades and now having a toddler around...

All of that said, i'm worried that she may have stomatits, or possibly an upper resiratory tract infection. In the past, when temp regulation was poor, she'd get wheezy for a bit, but it has always cleared up. She's not wheezy now, but she's definitely off. She hasn't eaten since August, and while a finicky eater, this is unusual. Just last night she refused again.

She has one nostril which is clearly infected, or something. It is larger, and appears to have a plaque or something. A clear liquid builds up on it, and last night handling her, a small spot of blood appeared. Other than this, and refusal of food, she acts quite normal.

I took a few pictures, posted below, which may help.... but i didn't want to traumatize her (skittish) just to snap some pics. There are images of both sides of her head, for comparison.

THANK YOU in advance, for any help!

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It is always interesting to hear about a boid with such an age. Stomatitis is usually characterized by swollen and/or infected areas within the mouth, tooth area, or edges near the lip. I didn't see any evidence of that from the pictures around the edges, but obviously couldn't see the interior. The plaque you spoke of around the nares could indicate an RI, or could also be indicative of nasal or lung irritation caused by a low humidity environment, and just be a precursor to an RI. I have seen numerous boids that are endemic of humid environments show this thin, dried liquid material around the nares when the cage humidity is too low, and not actually have an RI. If this is the condition, it is easily resolved but increasing the humidity. Additionally, fully developed RI's in snakes typically manifest symptoms such as open mouth breathing or attempts to expel material from the lungs. What is the current setup within this cage to maintain elevated humidity? Thanks,

Kelly

Actually, if there is a cage deficiency, it is the humidity. I'm not really sure how to correct that, but i'll try. Ideal would be a once-an-hour automatic mister, but i've never seen such a thing.

Anyhow, i did have her to the vet today (http://www.seavs.com/ and they are FANTASTIC), and was told more or less the same thing...

ie, this is not stomatitis, and there isn't an RI. We explored her mouth a whole lot together, and more or less what this amounts to is an irritated nasal passage. I was give some topical silvadyne cream, and instructions to apply it every other day.

And fix the humidity.

The doc told me that 30-40 years wouldn't be too unusual for this snake, and otherwise she's in fine and great health. Weight is 1426g.

Anyhow, thanks a ton for your reply, and i hope this thread can help someone else!

To help the humidity you can place a large water dish (I use a 10 gallon aquarium for my boa's dish) over top of your undertank heating device or below your basking bulb. Using bulbs and ceramic heaters will dry out the tank faster than undertank heating methods. I use them, but have to mist regularly and I use a peat and sphagnum moss substrate to help hold in the humidity as well. Be sure that the cage doesn't remain damp however. Misting systems can be purchased and placed on timers if that is the way you want to go. You'll have to consider a drainage system though.

I hope this helps you out, I'm glad it's not a full blown RI

Ian