Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so let me first start out by saying that I do not have any other boas besides my Hogg Island. My only other snake is a corn snake who is across the room.

I purchased my Hogg from a reputable dealer and she has been checked by a herp vet (last Sat.) who gave her a fecal, checked her for mites, and examined her for IBD (he flipped her upside down a few times to make sure she knew which way was up), etc. I have been feeding her live mice and last night tried to get her to eat frozen/thawed which she was a bit confused by but ate anyways. This was after I teased her with it and gently bumped her in the face a few times with it. She got so agitated that she struck at it and began to gulp it down.

However, I am concerned at how she was acting yesterday during feeding. She seemed confused and ended up upside down a few times, with the dead mouse in her coils. She also seemed a bit wobbly when she extended the upper part of her body out (she likes to go up rather than forward it seems). I am soooooo worried that something might be wrong with her. She is eating and her poop is normal but I have read several books that say boas may take more than a year to exhibit signs of IBD.

Is this abnormal or am I freaking out b/c I am not accustomed to "normal" boa behavior? She is just a baby - about 18 inches. Maybe the already dead mouse was just confusing her and she couldn't figure out how to start eating it?

Thanks for any advice,
Nikki

The wobbling while extending out is fairly normal (I have several li'l ones that wobble on occasion when extending outward. I also have several that when feeding end up in all sorts of odd positions while hunting down the nose of the feeder. If your worried just pay attention to the behavior of your little one, and if you notice excessive lethargic behavior, lowered feeding drive and an appearance of disorientation by the animal take her back in for your vet to give her another examination.

Later
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

Exactly, the behavior by all accounts is " normal " if their is no wheezing or snot coming from the nose or drool from the mouth and your husbandry is good and the defecations are normal with no regurgitations, she is fine. If she was crawling on her back all the time or could not right herself, then that would be a sign of a neurological disorder. I.B.D. is blown completely out of proportion; " but we can discuss that on another day. " Remember, your vet cannot diagnose Inclusion Bodies without a full autopsy. Good Luck.......Johnson Herp

Nikki,

Don't mean to scare you but I had the same thing happen to my baby DH sunglow. It all started 3 weeks ago. He stopped eating ft or live. He would kill the live and coil around it but then would just leave it alone. He did this twice. Next he would stay coiled up most of the time with his head resting on the top of the pile.

Once I tried to move him he kept moving up like he was trying to stand. When he tries to turn his head he would do this spiraling motion. Eventually he would start crawling around ok. I had the vet do blood work and there was a few abnormal things there. I couldn't do a necropsy as he wasn't dead.

The doc gave him some shots and gave me some meds for him. Forgot the name of it. Got them somewhere around here. He seemed to get better for a day or two. This morning I found him motionless. Limp as a wet noodle. I thought for sure he was dead.

I saw no signs of life in him at all. I took him to the vet to have a necropsy done and just before they vet was about to go operate the boa came back to life and started to move around. Now he started to open his mouth so wide that it looked like his eyes were about to be swallowed.

I had him euthanized. I had enough of seeing him suffer. Anyway my vet will be sending over some liver samples and blood samples to Dr. Jacobson to run some test. Hopefully its not IBD. I was told by a few people that it could have been the provent-a-mite or reptile relief I used a month before.

I only use kraft paper that was pre-treated with provent-a-mite a couple days before earliar. Its used as substrate once every month or two as a preventative measure. I've kept neos on these before and never had a problem until now. Luckily I had this guy in quarentine ever since I got him, which was only two months ago. We'll find out for sure within a few days what the cause of death is.