Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My '08 platinum retic male is suddenly not doing well at all. For the last week or so, he's been pacing his cage and really rubbing the heck out of his face agsint the glass. Thank goodness it's glass or god knows what kind of damage he'd have done to himself.
A few minutes ago I found him limp in the cage. I actually thought he was dead. I almost had a heart attack.
I removed him from the cage and sort of semi-forced him to drink a little water. I didn't have to jam any down is throat or anything (not that I would have) I just put his head at the water level of a fresh bowl of water. He drank a little and seemed to perk up just a bit. I put him in a different cage and he seems slightly improved, but I'm afraid to leave the front of his cage.
Any ideas?

VinnyButch

PS, I don't think it can be the cage conditions, because my female is in the cage right next to his and living under the exact same conditions. Both animals temps are controlled by the same thermostat.

How old are are your retics, as it could be a breeding response to the female. What temps you keeping them at? How big is the Platnium and what size is the enclosure?

This would all be usefull info.

The retics are '08s, I guess about 3.5 ft long. Right now they are in 3 ft Vision Cages. The ambient temp is 80 and their basking area is 88.

thanks

Seems like everything should be ok with how you have them. Try crumpling up some newspaper and tossing it into the cage. That should help with the pacing( as we all know some retics like to do). I've had a couple males that size pace a lot and I tried this and it did the trick for them. As for the limpness it's kinda hard to say without actually seeing him and his reactions. But keep a close eye.

Vinny,
I don't want to sound too elementary but I suspect the thermostat's probe is in the other snake's cage and the cage your your titanium was in got too hot for it. You didn't mention having actual cage temperature readings from it's cage.

How's the snake doing now?

Hang in there!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Actually, I took the readings with a temp gun in the sick snake's cage.
Unortunately, he didn't last through the night. Belly up in the AM.
Has anyone had a snake not react well to Provent-a-Mite?
After thinking about this for a while, I remembered losing a Pine Snake in a very similar fashion a few years ago. People on other forums offered that the Provent was too fresh and killed the Pine. In this case it was dry for days before the paper was placed in the retic's cage. It's just that the whole scenario is so similar. The Pine died the first night, I'm thinking that perhaps the Retic lasted longer because of his bigger size.
Just a thought on my part.
Thanks for everyone's help.

Vinny

I'm sorry to hear it died, Vinny. I've never used Provent-a-mite but I've heard people say they've had success with it. If the cage was dry for days beforehand I don't see how it could've been the cause because I imagine that all vapors would've been gone by then, too.

Hang in there!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

So sorry to hear about your loss. That sucks!
You mentioned that the provent-a-mite was used days before the paper was added to the cage. On the directions on the can of Provent-a-mite it states to only use it in a cage with substrate, and not on an empty cage. Now, this is something that I wondered about a few weeks ago because I had a mild mite problem with one of my snakes. I used it sparingly in the cage without substrate & didn't have any bad effects. So I dont know. Just a thought that maybe it could have had something to do with that & I just got lucky. Maybe, by substrate they meant something other than a thin layer of paper. Next time (hopefully there isn't a next time) I will definitely only use it with a more substantial substrate in the cage!
Again, sorry for your loss!

Thanks for the condolences. I felt pretty bad about him. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but whenever a snake dies, I always feel so guilty. I assume I did something wrong husbandry-wise to cause the death.
Now I've got to figure out what plan B will be. Do I try to scrape together the cash for a new male, or sell/trade the female? An un-paired snake just doesn't work for me.

Vinny