Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased my San Deigo Gopher in november of 2007 at the F.I.R.E Expo in Orlando. She was already more than a year old when I got her, so now she is probably around 3 years. I moved to California in the begining of 2008. She has been perfectly fine for her whole life, and went through the normal fasting last winter. It was a couple of days ago that I noticed that something was wrong with her(however, she lost her appetite probably more than a month ago, but hasn't lost any muscle or has become lethargic). I picked her up and carried her downstairs and held her for a while, and she had little twitching in her head when she smelled the air. After a while of holding her, I put her back in her cage, and shortly after that, she just went berserk. She starts jumping, opening her mouth, hissing loudly, but the most scary part is the angles she put herself into, upside down and such. Now, it lasted for a bit, and she crawled back into her cave a little after. Now, today, I cleaned all my snakes cages, put new aspen, etc.... and I picked her up and held her for a bit, still has little twitching. Then I put her back in and she starts doing the same thing, only a bit more vigorous today. She just really went crazy. She has never had any behavioral problems in the past, and has never even musked. During the last time she went crazy, she excreted musk (which is no big deal). I was trying to research, and there isn't much on gopher snake problems, but I was thinking it could be some sort of respitory disease. However, I never hear her exhaling at all, except for when she went crazy the two times, so this is what really puzzles me. I have her in a 20 gl tank, with a pillow heater under it (yes this is bad, however it does get pretty hot, I can feel the heat right on top of the aspen). I'll be getting a UTH soon for her, and just put a heat lamp on. She has a fairly big water bowl, so she can soak/swim if she wants. Another thing, is that I have been puting a drop of water conditioner in the water bowls of my snakes as well.

I have seen excessive heat cause neurological issues with colubrids. I would definitely be concerned if the surface of the aspen was warm to the touch. Also, what type of water conditioner are you using, and what effect are you trying to achieve with it?

Kelly

Wow that is really awkward if it has to do with excessive heat, because I am sure it doesn't get any hotter than any UTH. However, I use a Rheostat for one of my other snakes that is on the other side of the room. I'll be picking one up tomorrow along with a UTH. The water conditioner is Zoomed brand that says it conditions aquatic water for turtles, but also says it can be used for water bowls for any reptiles. I got a ton of free sample packs at the Reptile Super Show down in San Diego earlier this year. I just thought it would be useful to use it because our water here is fairly hard. (maybe it won't do anything for the hard water, but it is supposed to clean the water a bit) Also, I've never seen her act up as long as I don't hold her then put her back into her cage. I observed her all day today and she seems fine. I'm scared to pick her up again because it's bound to happen again.

Definitely not certain if the heat is an issue, but just based the possibility on the fact that you stated the surface of the aspen was pretty hot. Typically the temps would need to be very high in order for the heat to penetrate through the aspen layer and cause the surface temp to be that high. Just one possibility, and a good reptile vet should check this one out.

Kelly

Well I never said it was hot on the top (just the pad), I said it was barely warm on the top. However, the pillow heater did take up about half the tank, which was a bad mistake on my part, but I have seen her chill by her water bowl for a cool down. She seems fine for now, got an UTH and I'm picking up a rheostat tomorrow. Time will tell I guess. Gophers in the wild usually hibernate around this time, but I've heard that if you live in SoCal (which I do) then they don't need to go into hibernation mode, as long as you keep the normal temperatures where they are (which I don't know if it's true or not, because she definitely went through the hibernation period last year and didnt eat for a few months ) Oh well, I'll try and make sure the temps in the cage are at 75-85 degrees.