This is a follow-up to my post from late February 2009 regarding the use of a new cage substrate with my collection….
I spent a good part of spring and summer treating afflicted animals in my collection. As per the veterinarian exam, I treated stressed animals (including the alterna depicted in the image below) with a tri-metha-sulfa drug. The drug was given orally once a day for 14 days. Animals were also soaked in water for 15-20 minutes after treatment. I treated approximately 20 animals, including the one in the image. Of those 20 animals, I lost another two, a rosy boa and an alterna….bringing the total losses to seven Gray-banded Kingsnakes (all female), six Sonoran Moutain Kingsnakes (three females, three males), and one rosy boa (a male). Of the remaining animals, all have regained a normal appearance; that is, all facial abrasions disappeared. The animal from the image is also shown in the post (I went ahead and showed before and after shots). As protocol, I maintained a moist box in each of the cages housing sick animals; one thing I noticed earlier is that animals having a moist box did not have the problems associated with the new substrate (perhaps they escaped the dessicating nature of the substrate).
Any substrate that is as dessicating as the substrate that I changed over to is a bad idea, especially if gypsum is added for enhanced odor control….I have learned my lesson!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
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G. Merker
