Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been trying to find information about this strange disease on internet lately and there is one thing in particular that seems to be very different compared to what seems to be the case with my ill zonatas. In almost every report it's the shedding problem that seems to be the first sign and also the main problem with zonatas showing symtoms of this disease. Eventually some develope mobility problems too, but as it seems when reading the reports, that is not always the case.

Well, in my collection of San Pedro Mtn kings, at this time 7 individuals (one still unaffected), only 2 specimen have showed the skin symtoms, one very bad, but all ill animals have mobility problems. Some have just small problems moving around, others have serious problems. Their bodies turned upsidedown, strange curling up, moving backwards, no body control at all as it seems.

I wonder about this a lot. Is there perhaps several different kinds of the disease or are the symtoms showing in different order randomly?

I have quarantined all my zonatas and they are kept dry and at rather low temps (70-75F). The symtoms seem to have stopped escalating and I think a few of them even seem better. I have not been able to get the Betadine just yet, but as it seems just one of my agalmas have the bad skin condition.

This 3 y o female has not shown any skin problems, but she has some difficulties controlling her body.

This is one of the females having trouble with skin disorder, but she recently had a successfull shed after having been kept in a moist box for a few days and she now seems to be a little better.

This lower pic shows the other 2005 female having skin disorder problems, but she too has been able to shed after having been kept in a moist box for a few days.

It's kinda difficult to see the skin problem in that lower photo. I think it's great you're posting the pics, as I've never seen a pic or an animal that had this awful illness. Be it as it may, post more pics you think highlight the disease for us to learn from. What i think is clear from the top photo is the lack of strength in the posterior portion of the body -- it seems kinda weird/limp. I also got your e-mail the other day -- we'll work on it, but consider it done for 2009. Again, so sorry you're having to go through this. I hope this all comes through for you after your hard work and diligence. If what you've been doing is working, then keep on with it. Disinfectants such as Betadine or Nolvasan are always a good idea, and if they are still eating, use some Nutribac which helps replenish the good digestive bacteria in a reptiles' digestive system. It never hurts, particularly when reptiles have been on antibiotics or have been under alot of stress or have had digestive/regurgitation issues. I have recently obtained some of this product, but from a close friend I have heard it works extremely well. Please do keep us posted man -- best wishes.
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Jerry Kruse

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look to his friends." -- Japanese Proverb

Thanks Jerry, you're a good friend.
Well all of the six affected specimen have mobility issues to some extent, but I can definitely state that the disease seems to affect every specimen differently. The two pictured animals both have mobility problems, but the first one has much more severe problems than the other. Her skin problem was also much more severe, but as I said, both have shedded their skin successfully and after that their mobility problems seemed to decline a bit.

None of them wants to accept food, but I have got a friend who can provide me with frozen stillborn baby cornsnakes. I'll try to feed those to my agalmas since lizards are close to impossible to find here.

Hey man,

good morning. Are the snakes refusing food just recently or has this been for a long time? I'm asking for clarification as this is the time of year that they tend to go off feed until next spring. Either way, if you can get your hands on some of that Nutribac, it IS possible to (with the help of a confident friend) manually administer this product into the snakes. Again, it is not only an appetite stimulant, but also replaces the beneficial bacteria in the animals' digestive tract that is lost from stress or illness. If you need any further assistance with the manual feeding of this to the snakes, let me know. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's certainly not impossible as long as you have the correct instructions. All the best.
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Jerry Kruse

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look to his friends." -- Japanese Proverb

One of them has not eaten since the end of April, four of them have been off food for about 7 or 8 weeks now, but the female that has been affected most by skin disorder actually ate a rat pinkie a month ago.

To me...its obvious they have it... you can tell by the body...its a b*tch man..... the worse thing if your a fan of these guys.....

Peter, don't waste your time man.Sorry to tell you this but you need to just pick up your ball and move on to the next hole.What I am saying is you need to just freeze them all and move on.It really sucks but I will bet you anything you will loose them all and its just not worth the fight man.
I have seen guys hang on to there zonata collections one by one but in the end it doesn't matter what you give them or what you feed them etc....There is no cure and they really don't even know why they get/have it.
Some guys think that all zonata have it and that perfect conditions will surface it and when it does there is no hope bud.

I am very sorry for your loss.

L8r Shannon

Yeah, this really sucks. I know that the best thing to do is to euthanize them all, but I don't have the guts, nor the hart to do it, so I struggle on trying all good tips I get.

In a way this is just typical, the most beautiful snakes of all in my mind, also has the most fearsome disease tied to them.

Fortunately I have a few other species within the Lampropeltis complex that works just fine. All my triangulums (4 subspecies), my getulas (2 subspecies, 3 morphs) and pyro knoblochis are doing well, eating, growing, prospering. This makes my herp spirit grow further in spite of the zonata disease.

Yep, I do know how you feel Peter. In (99) I had some weird thing go through my collection and wipe out 157 snakes in 2 weeks.Once the vet figured out what I had I only lost one more snake after there first shot of baytril.It was just a sickness called klebcilla (sp?) and was treated easy with just a few shots.
I freaking lost many cutting edge and one of a kind animals.I probably lost close to 25k worth of animals and thats not counting any of the babies they would have produced.

It pretty much put me out of the pueblan business. I had over 100 campbelli and I lost about 80% of them.

Anyway, don't let it get to you to much man.Just start over and don't let them get to moist.

Picture is my candycane knoblochi that I hatched last month.

L8r