Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, thanks for those of you who responded to me before. Now that I have her home, I have a whole new set of concerns.

She's in a lot worse shape than what I originally thought. I knew she was skinny, and I knew she had been attacked by a rat a month or so ago, so I knew about the bites. I knew she had been living on the floor in a bedroom for two and a half months, so I knew she would be cold and somewhat lethargic and that her scales would probably be dry and flakey.

All those assumptions were true, and they didn't surprise me. What did take me by surprise was the condition of her mouth and face. Her nose is a little beat up, which could be from a lot of things, I suppose. But her lower jaw seems to be slightly swollen, more so on one side than the other. There's also this thick mucous in her mouth. When I picked her up, it had dried and for awhile she couldn't even open her mouth. The girl I took her from said that it had concerned her, too. She had taken her to a reptile vet, one who claims to specialize in birds and exotics, and he had told her that is was just congestion from allergens in the floor and that it would resolve itself if she changed the habitat. And that was it. But from looking at her, I'd say she either has mouth rot or some sort of respiratory infection.

I shouldn't have taken her, but she would have died. She may still die. If I was out shopping for a snake and saw this one, I would run away. But I knew I was getting into a rescue situation and there might be vet bills involved.

I called my vet right away. I have a great reptile vet who sees my iguana. She couldn't work me in tonight, though, so I made an appointment for Monday morning. Since the snake finally ate a mouse last night (don't ask me how, the way her mouth is) it's probably better that way, anyway.

Needless to say, I didn't pay for her. I had promised $75, but when I saw the condition she was in I said I would need the money for vet bills.

So I took her home and put her in her new terrarium. It isn't anything fancy... newspaper for a substrate and no real decorations... ultilarian, really, but it should make her happy until we can really get her something nice.

On one end, I have a hide set up. I built it out of a cardboard box, cutting it down to fit perfectly inside her home. It's about half as tall as the actual aquarium, so she can climb up onto it and use it as a shelf if she wants. That's her cool end.

I do have an undertank heater positioned under the hide. Before I put the hide in, it wasn't heating the air much at all. Now the temperature in the hide is about 85F... a little warm for the cool end. I'm playing with the idea of only turning the heating pad on at night, but since she's sick she might benefit from the extra heat? She can still get away from most of the heat by climbing on her box or sitting in her water or between her box and her water.

Midway, I have a kitty litter box full of water for her. She can get by it on the side if she wants.

On the far end, I have her basking lamp set up.

I have thermometers positions above the box and under the basking spot. The temperature above the box is 75F.

I know it's not perfect, but it's so much better than what she had. When I set her in, I put her on top of her cage. She went for the water first. She dipped her head in and worked her jaw, trying to unglue it. She did this several times, like she knew it would work. It eventually did. The inside of her mouth is light pink. Although it's the bottom of her jaw that's swollen, the mucous seems to be coming from the top of it.

Right now she's sitting half in her water, half in her basking spot, like she can't decide which she wants more. Poor thing.

I'm wondering how much better she'll be now that she has access to water, a hide, and heat. I'll bet she improves quite a bit this weekend. She's very weak... it's sad, because usually when you hold a constrictor you really get the sense of how powerful they are. This poor girl can barely hold her head up.

I'm planning on feeding her another mouse next weekend. She really should be getting small rats, and after this mouse is gone I will start buying them for her.

So that's the deal. Yes, I'm probably crazy for taking someone else's sick snake and rehabbing it. I'm really not rich enough to be able to do this, and we won't be eating very well this week. She's nothing special, really... no special breeding. She was probably bought in a petstore. I'm kind of doubting that she's even a red tail, as she was billed, and thinking she may be a Colombian (opinions are welcome!) But if she survives, it will be worth it.

Sorry this was so long.

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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

That is one wreched snake. I personally would charge your friend with animal crulety. That mouth looks horrible, I would say mouth rot, but I wouldnt be supprised at all if it has a respatory infection as well. As far as what it is I would bet the full value of the vet bill you are about to collect that its not a "true redtail" but its a columbian boa. I cant get over the condition of this animal, it is so skinny...

I posted the whole story below, but you might not have read it.

The snake was dumped on her by her ex-boyfriend... just left at her house one day. She's been trying to find a home for it since it came into her possession. She did take it to a vet, and she's been feeding it and trying to do right by it... but she's not a snake person. She's afraid to even pick her up. Granted, she should have given up on the idea of getting any money from her and taken her to a rescue weeks ago, but it's not like she went out and acquired this snake on purpose. She knows that the care of the snake was negligent (really, more ignorant than neglegent) which is why she was glad to see her go to me.

Not really a close friend of mine... just a coworker.

Now I can see that her upper lip is swollen. Definitely all the signs of mouth rot, at least, what I've read about it. Probably progressed, too. We'll see what the vet says. If she's too far gone, I'd imagine we'll put her to sleep. It's a shame... she's so young.

If she doesn't make it, I'm giving up on the idea of another rescue. I'll start looking for a baby. But I hope she makes it.
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

My husband got home, took one look at her, and decided she needed to see the vet tonight. We had to pay after hours emergency fees, but apparently it's a good thing we did.

As suspected, she has a respiratory infection and mouth rot. My vet says that mouth rot is usually the sign/result of an advanced respiratory infection, so the two go hand in hand. She does think that she'll survive, though.

In addition to the mouth rot, the RI, and her poor body condition, she's severely dehydrated. Again, this came as no suprise.

The vet swabbed the gooeys out of her mouth. Once it was easier for her to breathe, we could really hear her wheeze. She showed us the abcesses on the gums, and said that all that crap was in her lungs, too.

She's been hospitalized for the night. Vet wants her on fluids and will start her on an antibiotic - possibly two. She'll be sending us home with an injectible antibiotic (most likely Baytril) which my husband will administer... he works at a hospital and needles are more his thing than mine, though I will hold her for him.

She thinks that with a little TLC our little foundling boa could turn out to be a pretty nice looking snake. I suppose she's got youth in her favor.

It's a damn shame, really.

I haven't told the girl I got her from that I'm not paying her at all. I'm not looking forward to that. But if worst comes to worst, I could point out that animal cruelty, even neglect, is against the law. Whether she acquired the snake voluntarily or not, she chose not to take it straight to a rescue. I don't know of a lot of things that will cause a respiratory infection, but living on the floor on the carpet with the dust bunnies for two, nearly three months is bound to be one of them.

Vet also said that she's surprised that she ate yesterday. Hubby says it was probably excruciating.

I'm looking forward to posting 'after' pictures once we get her back into shape. Look for me about this time next year J/K. Actually, I'll probably stick around. You all have been very helpful.
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Good luck with her. And yes, do keep us posted.
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1.0 sinaloan milksnake
1.0 western hognose
1.0 colombian boa

I have been reading your posts. Now that it is home I have this to say.
I just went through a rescue myself. My girl was pawned off after being abandoned at a friends store. I want infor some crickets and ended up with a very sick 6' boa. The respiratory infection which you definately have was supposed to be $35 to cure took 10 injections of baytril I gave myself and cost $150. I also had daily soakings for the bad belly rot and eye cap treatments. Much work but I would not trade it for anything. She recovered fully and was given to me for a reason. I will make sure she has a good life.
For your rescue I would say this. At least it is pretty small. That means less amount of antiobiotic per shot = cheaper. MAKE SURE IT HAS PLENTY OF TEMPERATURE. THis elps get over the infection. I had 85 on the cool side and half of the enclosure was a steady 90 degrees. That was very important. Your snake is probably sick because it had no high temp to regulate it's body temp. Keep the enclosure very dry substrate (newspaper only). But make sure it always always has plenty of water to hydrate and drink in a decent sized bowl. Good luck. It is worth it.
Travis

That was very helpful.

We've been using this opportunity (while she's in the hospital) to really play with her setup and get the temps just right. On the cool side of her cage, her hide is 85F from the heating pad. She can climb on top where it's about 75-80F. We've got the basking spot up to 94f, but it took two lamps to get it there, so we're thinking of buying a bigger lamp and a higher wattage bulb.

Money money money, huh?

Thanks for the encouragement. She's going to be (already is) a very special snake.

We still haven't named her. Does anybody have any ideas?
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

sounds like you are about right. Make sure you keep those temps up a while even after she is better. You don't want a relapse. Mine has been curred for a few weeks and I still have her in a container that is too small for her normal life but allows for no chances of anything less than 87 to 90 degrees. We are almost done with the new 6 foot cage she will live in permanently. It has a third of the floor with a heat mat and two overhead heat lamps. This way she can find some spots around 80 but the average temp will be 80 with an upper range of 90 or 92. No more Respiratory infections. There is some concern that some have of the RI bugs being stronger after getting the baytril treatment and if there were another infection down the road it might not be so easy to get rid of.
Good luck
Travis
REMEMBER have a nice big bowl f water available at all times. We do not want a chance of dehydration from high temps. A warm bath every few days followed by a half hour soaking up some sun on a warm day will do really help.

Make sure you take plenty of "Before" pictures now, because down the road, that is going to be a pretty girl. From what I can see, her base color looks really clean.

Please post pics as she heals and turns into a beauty
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Linda Hedgpeth
lindafh@frontiernet.net
Sierra Serpents

"There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses have most of it".