Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tonight just before we had to leave for a couple of hours my 02 female eastern came out of her hide box presumably to shed so, I misted her with a spray bottle. She seemed startled when the water hit her but, I didn't think anything of it because she always flinches when being sprayed.

When I got home, she had indeed shed so, I fed her a rat & for some reason decided to mist her again. Well, this time she really negatively reacted to the water and I noticed something else, there was an odor of bleach. How I missed that before, I do not know. I immediately asked my wife if she had put bleach in the water bottle & she said she had!!!#@!#$##@
Needless to say I went nuts! I don't understand why she would put bleach in THAT bottle when we have one that is labeled "bleach"!

I immediately washed her down & forced some water into her mouth but, she was having some obvious trouble breathing & was retching as if she would regurgitate. This all happened about 30 minutes ago. She has not regurged and seems to be breathing better now BUT, I am still very concerned!

Have any of you ever experienced anything like this before? Is there anything else I should do?

Thanks!

Eric

I believe salt nuetralizes the base in clorine. It *might* help to mix up a salt solution and mist the snake with that. I asume you rinsed the he!! out of the snake after misting with bleach.

I would do this:
Immediately towel off the snake, then soak the snake for a few minutes, change the water and soak it again. However, it might have done all the damage it's going to do.

I hope that any lung damage isn't so bad that pnuemonia sets in. If you can get past that, your snake might do ok.

Fingers crossed for you,

Doug T

eric, really tough, sooo sorry to hear that! you may definitely want to take her to a vet or at least make some phone calls. i don't think this is home remedy time!! hope she's ok!.....

Eric, we've all been there in one way or another. Doug's advice is right on, that's what I would have done. If you think the snake may have ingested the bleach, you might even try getting some activated charcoal into its stomach by putting some into a dead rodent if your snake is willing to feed (BUT only after getting the thumbs up from a vet as this can be somewhat controversial; works great in some cases); personally, I would just get the snake to a vet for a complete check up. Keep us posted. Rob

I took her out of her hide box to check on her this morning and she seems much better. She appears to breathing normally and has kept the rat down. I am much more at ease than I was last night but, I am still concerned. At this point I don't think a trip to the vet is necessary BUT, I will be watching her very closely for the next few days.

I have no idea how much bleach was in the water but, I don't believe it was too highly concentrated.

Eric

that snakes have a pretty high tolerance to bleach. Now where I heard this I don't remember, so perhaps I'm passing on bad info.

Still, I think the most pressing issue would be fluid in the lungs from damage to the lung tissue. If you're past that, I think you've passed the first/worst problem.

Keep us up to date... and hide the fresh water bottle

Doug T

Keep the wife outta the snake room Maybe not an option, but... I hope everything turns out OK.

Thane
Thanes Place

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Thane

Here's what I would do,... I would rinse the snake REPEATEDLY in water. Add a little salt to the water, it will neutralize the bleach, and it won't hurt the snake. I would go to the following web site, and find herp vet in my area. {which I reccomend everyone do anyway} Then I would do whatever that vet says. And I would do it right friggin NOW! The website is; www.arav.org It is the american reptile & amphibian veteranarians organization. Anyone who keeps herps should go to this site, and find a herp vet before they even bring home an animal. Good luck, we are all pulling for you, and the little one. Don't be too hard on the Mrs. And keep us posted. Also, I have a two gallon pump up hand held yard&garden sprayer for water. It's the only one like it in the house, and it can't be confused with anything else. Also, I do not allow ANYONE but me to touch ANY of my snake stuff. Later,
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".

I think she's ok. No labored breathing or gaping mouth but, i'm going to continue monitoring her.

Keeping Dayna out of the snake room would be pretty tough since it doubles as the master bed room!

Eric

I'll bet she's a clean as she's ever been in her life! And, I'll bet whatever she was doing just before that happened, she will never do again.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Considering the last thing she did before getting bleached was eat a rat, I hope you're wrong!

Eric

Oh...yeah, I hope I'm wrong, too. I probably am. I'm usually wrong. Oh...wait...if I'm usually wrong, then I might be wrong about being wrong...OK...I got it. I hope I'm right about being wrong...or is that wrong about usually being wrong..or..
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sounds like you're past the worst of it. I think you did all the right things to mitigate the situation. Indigos are fairly hardy and she should be ok. Just keep an eye on her.
I had a friend that was injured on a motorcycle and his mother had to move in and help him with everything. One day she tried to help him by spraying his cockroachs with water. You guessed it, it was bug spray and she killed his entire breeding colony of cockroachs. To make matters worse, before they died, she fed several to his 6' monitor and she also sprayed the monitor, still thinking it was water. Well the monitor lived for several more years. It just passed away at 8 years old.
Reptiles can take alot, just think of all that they go thru in the wild. I think your indigo will be ok too.
Keep us informed.
Chuck