Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a 15 year old working at a pet store that has the most reptile selection around our area. The thing is however some snakes of ours that had no heat even though i requested it all got HORRIBLE mite infections. One of the snakes that got the worst of it all was a BEAUTIFUL Argentina Boa that I was in love with. The snake used to be in a 30 gallon tank(the snake is about 6ft). The thing is the snake was doing great till the owner decided he wanted to keep the snake. He then put the snake in a rubbermaid with no heat or water. Since it was now in the back room with other of the owners "possessions" i didn't dare mess with it back there since i was never suppose to be holding it anyway. today however a fellow herper and i decided the snake needed to eat and get water. however when the other guy picked it up something was wrong with the snakes face. at this time the owner wanted me doing some stupid stuff, so i told the other guy to do a real good search for mites. When i came back sure enough there were mites all over the snake and there seems to be a respitory infection. We then looked at all the other snakes in the rubbermaids and sure enough they all had mites. So now the owner seemed to realize that he made a huge mistake and told us to bathe the snakes and put them in different cages. so after they were all bathed and in new cages i had to go home. My thoughts were however on the Argentina and how it was going to need to go to the vet. Several times i tryed to mention this to the owner but he would not listen to me. So this is when i decided i need to plan on trying to persuade him and my parents that i could be in this situation be the only one prepared to help this boa. So i am here today to maybe get some suggestions on what to do, and info on Argentinas(i know a lot about them already but you guys may know something i don't).

(Mostly the most important thing that you guys could help me with would be in depth care tips known from experience and picks of your argentinas and cages of any big boa).

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Its aweful and i hate to admit it but i was recently put in the same situation with the reptile store i work at. Its so bad that i can't even bare to look at the 3 nearly five foot retics who get one small rat every 2 weeks.. AHHHHHH it drives me crazy and one of the other employee's and I use to sneak around and feed the poor animals who never got enough food. Mites are everywhere and its just a horrible feeling to see these animals in the smallest container possible with the littlest amount of support just to keep them alive. I am constantly reminded of the poor conditions and upon returning home after work i am always left with a feeling of guilt cause i know by the time i return in to the store some other animal i love will be sick and covered in mites and not given the proper treatements all because of cost... SIGH.... i know how you feel.. The only good advice i have to give you is get some good mite spray and save some money for vet bills cause recuses like that will need it.. I am constantly trying to safe another animal from that store but i can't save them all and its hard to work there and have to watch them. Anyways my advice is to buy that animal get it out of the store and keep it away from any herps you have at home.. Treat him for 2 weeks or so for the mites and feed him as much as possible. Then get the temps up high to try and kill the RI but most likely you will need some Baytril to kill that.. Good luck and keep me updated i know the pain of seeing animals in pain and i wish you good luck with everything you need for him..

Sincerely,
Rose Hipskind
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www.srsnakes.com

yeah it definitly is hard working at the store sometimes but whats harder right now is that i am getting no support from my parents there actually saying i can't help the snake and bring it home. so i still trying to work that out. also i figured i would definitly want to get rid of the mites right away what i didn't excpect was when you said feed the snake before really getting the heat going to get the respitory infection to go away. i figured i would have to use baytril on the other hand. well i really hope to be able to help this snake just because of how beautiful it is and because it would give more experience to help other reptiles and to in the future have my own reptile hop or breed selective boas and selective australian pythons.

Oh well thank you for the kind words but when you take this guy home and get him all set up just set the temps higher then you normally would to get rid of the RI, i didnt mean to not put heat on this guy till after treatment or anything like that he definetly needs heat and asap.. then treat for mites and then feed... then vet... Prolly in that order unless he takes a turn for the worse.. then bump that vet visit up in priority... Just keep working with him and good luck convinceing the parents... im glad i dont have to do that bit with all my animals. Keep us updated~~!!~~

Sincerely,
Rose Hipskind
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www.srsnakes.com