My neighbor called me today about some unusual symptoms on her calabar burrowing python.
Two days before the problem began, her reptile room had a heating problem, and reached 99 degrees general air temp (plus enlcosure heating). She checked the collection, fixed their heat, soaked everyone, and slowly brought them all back to normal. At this time, the calabar, although warm, was acting fine.
Two days later, temp normal, she picked up her calabar (which normally curls into a tight ball) only to find it 50% limp. At first, she thought the snake was dead, but it was moving slightly. There was what appeared as a caking of soil in its mouth and on one side (although it is fed out of enclosure and wasn't fed reciently). She thought she might be dehydrated and just not have soaked itself, but a bath did nothing. The snake couldn't even keep its head above the water. Oddly, she was able to open its mouth without effort (for the first time- calabars are strong snakes!) She rinsed the "soil" out only to find that it was clumping and whitish, with blood underneath and all thoughout her gums on that side.
Throughout the night and today, she has got progressively weaker. At this point she feels like a toy rubber snake, and all of her gums near the teeth are bleeding. What's wrong? IBM? Symptoms from overheating? Personally I am at a loss. She's got a vet appointment with the reptile specialist, but we're not sure the snake will make it that long. The emergency clinic usually is not so good with reptiles. Any ideas???
Snake's Background and keeping:
She's had this long term captive for about 2 years, and the owner previous to her "said" they had it since she was very young. Previous to this dilema, it fed regularly on only live mice and small rats. Her setup is a 20L filled with a substrate of coconut bark 1 1/2 deep(switched from a deeper potting soil/cypress mulch mix 6 months ago), a large shallow water dish, and a nicely sized hide box. Her temperature is normally in a very humid high 80s, provided by a pad and overall room heat.
