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While watching TV around 5:00 this evening I heard this weird noise coming from Kings cage. I looked, and the poor thing was acting like he was sufficating. Mouth wide open (and now filled with aspen substrate), throat all puffed up, thrashing back and forth, making an honest to goodness chocking noise, gasping for air. At first I thought he was trying to regurge or something... then realized this wasn't the case. I felt so sorry for him. He's about to shed and with his eyes all clouded up and the contortions he was going through... I wanted to put him outta his misery, but waited... trying to figure out how to kill a snake and all. Then he quit. Layed his head sorta side ways with some slow gasps. I figured these were his last breaths.... but about 30 minutes later he started moving about as if nothing had happened.

I called the reptile people and got the name of a reptile vet and rushed the snake in. I was amazed at what happened. I found out the lady vet was new at it and even seemed afraid to touch the danged thing. In fact... she DIDN'T touch it, except to (reluctantly) feel a scale with an old shed on it with the tip of her finger. At the end of the exam (?) she did try to prob open it's mouth with a metal dealy bob (as I held him) and caused his mouth to bleed (an old wound from hitting the side of the tank so hard). She went in to consult someone (as she put it) but think that someone was a computer (I could have done that for free) because she was the only reptile vet (?) there. She came back with the verdict that it must be Pneumonia and it would be treated for that. She gave him one shot that's supposed to last 72 hours and I'm supposed to give him two more at 72 hour intervals. $70 later and I feel as though I just took my snake to a kid (she was young) that never touched a snake before... in fact, my king was their first one. I hope he makes it.

Just needed to talk about it.... thanks for your shoulders/ears

I LOVE these forums....
MissHisssss

oh my , i am sooooo sorry for the snake and you.............

may i ask a question?
do you think it has anything to do with the aspen?
DJW
Thanks

No. This stuff started before I used aspen (I have other posts on this on snake elsewhere in this forum). It was in his mouth only because he had his mouth open while thrashing against the aspen.

Thanks for your kind words.

MissHisssss

i've on occasion , called a reptile specialist (long distance
because there are none qualified in my area-60 mile radius)
and some what munipulated treatment info out of them ,this may seem wrong but extreme conditions call for extreme reactions
if your a "people person" it's very simple.

everything WILL work out GOOD!

Yes, same here. There are no qualified herp vets within 2 hours of me and I've had to a)go with my instincts, b)go with my own and friends/fellow herpers experiences and advice, c)rely on what I learned from my mentor many years ago, and c)call a long distance herp vet and 'manipulate' treatment info from them.
Tap wood, but most of my illness cases have either turned out to be nothing or have been so serious that there would have been nothing a vet could have done anyways.
I hope he gets better for you, do you think by chance he got too cool when he escaped not long ago? Or maybe he could have gotten into some kind of toxic inhalent? Hard to tell. Best of luck tho.
Wish my female would come back soon.
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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

That really sucks. I'd get a new vet. I'm lucky to have a great reptile vet in my area. Seems strange that after all their "formal" training that all they come out of it knowing is how to neuter a cat. I really hope he gets better for you.

On another note: I'm not suggesting any course of action because I don't know. But you asked how to euthanize a snake. If you decide to do this (and again I'm not making any suggestions) I think the best method is freezing. Unlike mammals, a reptile will just "go to sleep" long before they get cold enough to start having painful tissue damage. You'll find him curled up the next morning in a very peaceful position. Unlike rodents which look like concentration camp victims if you freeze them alive. In my opinion, they feel no pain. I've done it. A few times. It sucks, but it is a relief to know they aren't suffering anymore.
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International Snakes Meetup
International Herpetology Meetup

Hi again... thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I don't know many people in my area with snakes, so I asked for advice on this here thing but was told to go to a vet. Then the vet let me down, in fact, I'm still upset about it, especially
that she came to the pnemounia conclusion even before trying to look in his mouth. With the way it bleeds on the front lip when it's touched makes me think that he hit his nose so hard on the aquarium with his (used to be) intense feeding response that maybe he broke his nose, or injured his mouth and now it's infected and going down his throat or something. It bled several weeks ago too, when the guy at the reptile shop gave it some medicine, so it's been going on for a while. Oh and, Snakecharmer.... all of this was going on long before his escape although his being out may not have helped matters any.

I hope these shots I'm giving him will help if his mouth is infected... or the pnemounia...if that's what he has. Thanks again ya all for your words and if any one has any more thoughts or suggestions, I'm all ears.

I LOVE these forums
MissHisssss

Any cage furnishings like driftwood or real plants? Could very well be an infection but also an allergic reaction. Make sure your cage is sterile at this point. Lose the aspen, use newspaper until he is better. You need to remove anything from the environment that could have an effect while treating this snake.

I will be making a hospital enclosure for him till he's better. And the poor guys going through a shed right now too. I hate handling them during this time, but it can't be helped right now.

I called the Vet clinic after I found out that the REAL reptile Vet was actually my favorite regular Vet that has treated my dogs for some 25 years. We'd just never talked reptiles before so I never knew. Anyway... so I talked to him about my snakes problem and how unhappy I was about the treatment of the other, so called, specialist... and he had me bring in the snake letting me go in before others that had arrived before me, and examined him free of charge, apologizing out the gazoo and the whole nine yards. So I've decided not to blow up the wing I helped pay for over the years... LOL.

We are still treating him for pnemounia, but the Vet agreed that he bruised his mouth pretty bad with banging against the side of his encloser during feeding. No mouth rot though, and all else looked good. By the way... he went absolutely nuts over how gorgeous this snake was. I could tell he hadn't seen many of them. I'll let you know how things turn out, and I appreciate everyones words and support.

I LOVE these forums
MissHisssss