Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I got home from work today, my male hypo had some really bad diarrhea. When I went to take him out to clean his cage, he had his mouth open and was vomited up some clear mucus or something. I cleaned his cage and put him back and he seems to be fine. He has absolutely no mucus coming out his nostrils and it just doesn't seem like a respiratory infection to me. He was actually vomiting up the mucus. Could this just be a bad rat or something. Has anyone had this happen before. I plan on taking him to the vet tomorrow, but any opinions in the mean time would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

Introduce the boa to the vet for taking a smear out of the mouth. In the lab it will be examined. When pathogenic germs are in the stomach of the animal a treatment with antibiotics may be necessary.
Also, take care that it doesn't run dry. Vomiting causes a lot of loss of body fluid. This weakens the animal.
Maybe injections of a NaCl solution is also necessary.

All the best!
Boa constrictor

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Beware of Commies and Mutts!

You mentioned that it could be an infection of the stomach. What might cause this? He is housed alone and eats one frozen/thawed rat every two weeks. Just curious what might cause this.

Thanks for all your help,
Matt

There are always pathogenic germs in every being (no matter if it is a human being, a dog or a boa) and in every environment (except maybe a surgery room).
The number of germs in a being is subdued by the immune system.
If the immune system does not work properly for a short period of time (due to some reason) the germs can increase to a number that causes a disease.

The most dangerous thing in the environment (the enclosure in this matter) is the drinking water. Pseudomonas aeroginosa, a very pathogenic germ does thrive very well in the water. If you don't change the water daily it can cause an infection.
Boa constrictor

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Beware of Commies and Mutts!