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I have always liked Drymarchon since the first time I saw one but never really got myself to get one. I figured they would be a lot of work and I could not bear to take time away from my wonderfull anacondas. But after getting to take care of a large eastern indigo collection I figured I should not pass up a chance. I figured I would be spending some big cash when getting my first Drymarchon species because it would be an eastern indigo. But when I saw the skinniest most unhealthy looking beautiful little bt cribo I had to ask how she was eating. Pretty terrible I was told. He had himself a sale I said.

So I expect this little thing to come out of the dish with a fierce hood and hook herself onto my finger with those powerfull jaws. I didn't buy that kind of cribo I found out. This thing is so placid I am kind of upset. She is however alert...but alert and shy.

I get her set up and I feed her and the shy little thing is a great feeder...as long as you leave her a little ft rat and dont watch her. So she is like my girlfriend and does not like people watching her eat...its a girl thing I guess (I have a green anaconda who is the same way). I just hope she developes a feeding response soon.

So she gives me the wonderfull poop I know you all are familiar with and I get all excited and have a friend look at it. And he calls me up asking how much Albon and Panacure I have around. None, so I call up a local vet. who deals with exotics (actually they are the vet. for the zoo...important to note for later) and I tell them to set me up to give a snake some Albon and Panacure. They said they could do this and I will see the at 3:30 that day. And of coarse she has given me some more poop right before I go so I let them check it out. So they check her out and say she looks good and ask me if I know what kind of boa she is. I hope they are better at identifying parasites than snakes because they think the coccidia found was just small round worms so we should just do Panacure. I go with this and am hoping it works.

I am now noticing a lump on her side which appears to be going down but I have no idea what it is. Maybe I should get her re-evaluated on her physical...but I would like to get some ideas on here first before I take it back to a vet. who has her listed as a boa constrictor (I love how her meds. still say it even after I told them she is not a boa at all). I mean I don't expect a vet. to be able to identify every snake they see but I would think they have seen enough boas to know this snake does not fit the description. I know the zoo here has a few boas.

Good news is she is in her first shed for me and she actually ate a few minutes ago. I just couldn't watch her.

Thanks for reading and please give me some opinions on anything. I really love this snake.

So I expect this little thing to come out of the dish with a fierce hood and hook herself onto my finger with those powerfull jaws. I didn't buy that kind of cribo I found out. This thing is so placid I am kind of upset. She is however alert...but alert and shy.

*Sounds like you doing all the right things for her.

My advice is to enjoy her shy and meek attitude at feeding time while you still have it.
As she gets older her feeding response should pick then you’ll be wondering what happened to your little girl. You’ll need to have a shield and gloves at feeding time!

Good luck with your Boa…ahhh…Black Tail. Put some weight on her. Feed her as often as she will eat, she should pick right up.

2 – Cents…

Enjoy raising her up! Don't let cage get too warm and if you're in a dry climate mist her cage a little at least every couple of days.

Her cage temps. are pretty cool as I am having trouble keeping the room temps up for the rest of the snakes. She only has a flexwatt on one side with a hide available. right now she figured out how to get under the carpet so she uses neither hides on the warm or cool side unless I point her right toward them.

She is fun to work with and I do really enjoy her. She is eating great (though shy) and I have already put four small rats in her since I got her on 10-8. I have not weighed her yet but I certainly will after the second panacure treatment.

I look forward to being a little active in this forum.
Thanks for the replys.

Great to hear your snake is coming around! Keep an eye on that bump. It may go away and return in a different spot, sometimes looking like a worm, which is what it would be.
I have a w.c. YT Cribo that had bumps under her skin that were worm like. They'd be there one day and gone the next only to resurface in another spot. I lanced her skin and pulled one out. It was a whiteish round worm looking parasite, nasty! I pulled a few out from her skin and it seems there is one more, but I have yet to get him/her.
I was told that wormers won't kill them and I've seen these worms live through Ivermectin, Panacur, Flagyl. I did put a dab of Ivermectin on one worm that I pulled out and it died immedeately. Good luck with your BT. Post a picture if you have one.

That's an awesome story, and it's great that you've entered the drymarchon world I'm still a while away before I get enough time and room for one but the limited experience I've had with them brings me back to this forum.

Unfortunately just because a veterinarian is listed as the zoo vet, doesn't necessarily mean they have a lot of experience with herps. It's like that hear in Edmonton. Listing our zoo vet as a herp vet would be a crime against nature! Now I can't say that's the case with your "boa vet", it could be something simple as the receptionist doesn't know squat, or the clinic is responsible for the zoo, but not the doctor that you saw.

Can you post a picture of the lump? Is it in the skin or the abdomen; can you tell? The worms as described by the previous post should be done in by ivermectin (use with vet Rx only!) but there are always exceptions and in that case positive identification is necessary.

Ian

Those worms did not die off with the Ivermectin and I treat the w.c. on a regular basis even if they are ltc.
The vet said the only way to get them is to manually extract them. You could inject ivermectin directly into the site where the worm is, but you'd still have to extract the dead worm/s. It's different when the worms die under the skin than when the worms are in the intestinal cavity and can be expelled with fecal waste matter.

I may be wrong , but; it sounds more like any snake that has these bumps that move around and when removed look like worms are actually fly larva (maggot) for either bot fly's or screw fly's especially in a wild caught specimen. Just a thought.

There's a big difference in the look of a fly type maggot and a round worm type parasite. You will instantly know the difference when you deal with them first hand and then ask a vet that specializes in reptiles what they are. They were not fly maggots.

If you feed her small meals consistantly you should see a change in her behaviour as she grows and develops a feeding response. Drymarchon are usually not shy feeders and as adults often have to be beaten off to even get food INTO their enclosures.
Email me if you like and I'll answer ANY questions that I can. And by the way, congrats on having such a good posting name. Anacondas are one of my favorite snakes/boids.

Sincerely,

Fredrick Albury