Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, i should first start off by saying that I have had my boa for 10 years now and she has never thrown up any of her food, but 2 days ago she did. It was probably my fault. She hadn't eaten in over 2 months due to a lack of bunnies. So, i fed her 2 rabbits when i did fine some. That was Tuesday. She threw them back up Friday. She did this right before leaving for work so I stuck her in some water to soak while i went to work. Well, while i was at work, she had went to the bathroom in her soaking tub. It was more like a diarrhea. When i got home her body was covered from head to tail.I took her to the emergency clinic but they didn't know much about reptiles so they gave her an antibiotic shot and we went back home. The reptile specialist doesn't open til tomorrow morning. I have washed her off with some mild soap but her scales are starting to come off which I am worried about and also she is very flacid. She does flick her tongue once in a while but not anywhere close to normal. Can someone help me?

>>Well, i should first start off by saying that I have had my boa for 10 years now and she has never thrown up any of her food, but 2 days ago she did. It was probably my fault. She hadn't eaten in over 2 months due to a lack of bunnies. So, i fed her 2 rabbits when i did fine some. That was Tuesday. She threw them back up Friday. She did this right before leaving for work so I stuck her in some water to soak while i went to work. Well, while i was at work, she had went to the bathroom in her soaking tub. It was more like a diarrhea. When i got home her body was covered from head to tail.I took her to the emergency clinic but they didn't know much about reptiles so they gave her an antibiotic shot and we went back home. The reptile specialist doesn't open til tomorrow morning. I have washed her off with some mild soap but her scales are starting to come off which I am worried about and also she is very flacid. She does flick her tongue once in a while but not anywhere close to normal. Can someone help me?
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"If woody would of went to the police, none of this would have ever happened!"

Ok...hold on. Don't panic yet. This might not be as bad as it seems.

If she ate, she couldn't have been feeling too sick. The regurgitation could have been because she was too cold to digest properly.

The diarrhea...that could have been because she pottied in her water and the water softened it further.

However, her skin coming off is a very, very serious concern.

What kind of soap did you use?? If it were me, I would have just given her a rinse and soak...soap isn't made for snakeskin and you could dry it out or she could be allergic.

Are the scales coming off thin and clear, like scales from a shed skin? One time I had a corn snake get stuck under the seat of a computer chair, and he got covered in grease. It caused the outer layer of the scales to flake off, and the scales underneath were kind of dry looking. After he shed (pretty bad one), it was all better. If that's what it looks like, maybe the soap or something else got onto his skin that's causing them to come off.
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-audri
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I have an appointment for a "reptile" specialist in about 5 hours. But this morning she was flicking her tongue alot more. She also was getting back some muscle. However, the scales are still coming off. They had started coming off even before the soap (diluted Castile Soap). The scales are coming off a flake at a time along with the pigment. So no, they are not clear like a normal shed. She now has patches of scales with no pigment. She is like i said doing better. She is flicking her tongue a lot more. And as far as the temperature goes, she is being kept in an area around 83-90. Even then she moves down to the cooler end. So the temperature is not a problem. I'll let yall know what the doctor says.

...sounds like those rabbits had some bad mo-jo!! Probably a good candidate for amikacin ceftazidime to nip this in the bud. Dry cage (small water bowl for drinking only) and Betadine ointment or Neosporin/Polysporin ointment for any bad areas on skin. Scott J. Michaels DVM