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I have a sick L. alterna and need help figuring out what the problem is. The snake is about 4 years. The only symptoms seem to be slight listlessness, and a gaping mouth. The amount his mouth gapes varies from day do day, can ranges from a slight gape to a full-on permanent yawn. At times he holds the anterior third of his body straight up off the floor of the tank. This behavior is always associated with a full-on super-gape.

My girlfriend and I first noticed the mouth gaping about 6 weeks ago. I immediately took him out of the display tank and moved him to a ten gallon tank with paper towel substrate, several plastic hides and a water bowl for observation. I raised his temps to from 86°F/72°F to about 90°F on the hot end and 78°F on the cool end. After several days of watching him, we decided it was time to take him to the vet. We chose a local exotics vet that primarily deals with birds but takes reptiles too.

She floated a stool sample and inspected his throat. The stool sample came up negative, and his throat was totally normal looking – no red, no swelling, no mucus, etc. She said it could be an RI infection and put him on a broad spectrum antibiotic that we gave him subcutaneously for 14 days. He continued to act fairly normal except for the gaping. He continued to eat on his regular schedule, every 7 days. After this treatment, the gaping continued, and we took him back to the same vet. She took throat and cloaca swabs, which both turned up negative. She said that the problem may still be an RI infection and put him on the antibiotic Amikacin administered in a nebulizer chamber once a day for 30 minutes for 14 days. We completed this treatment on Sunday of last weekend.

The snake is still gaping. The vet said the next step would be Flagyl to treat for a possible anaerobe. What do you’ll think? Does this sound reasonable?

During these previous treatments, I continued to feed every 7 days, the snake eats, grows, and seems normal except for the gaping and listlessness.

Please offer advice and experiences. I am feeling desperate.

The first thing I would do is get this snake away from any other snakes that you have.

To me, that symptom is usually indicative of a RI, but it sounds like your vet is following that aggressively. Is there any wheezing/whistling associated? That would help confirm the RI. Hopefully that is what it will be and you will find the right regimen to clear it up.

The other possibility, which is rare in colubrids, is stargazing. Stargazing can be a symptom of several serious neurological diseases. For more info try reading -

Melissa Kaplan's discussion of stargazing

You can search online for other information. In boas where it is most common, it is associated with lack of appetite, regurgitation and other symptoms, but in other snakes the stargazing itself can by the only symptom.

I would be very concerned about this if you have any other snakes. Your alterna should be in a different room and you should be very conscious of avoiding cross contamination.

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Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

Thanks for the response. Yes, I am very concerned. I have removed the snake from our reptile room, and am very careful not to cross-comtaminate. Knock on wood.

I am really hoping it is just a really stubborn RI, but will inform my vet of possible star-gazing.

Thanks.
TA