I bought a tree boa that looks like one of these: Candoia bibroni australis from a reptile show back in October. He was great at first. Was told he is about 2 yr old. Eating like normal, pooing, active. Hanging out on his branches. Hasn't shed for me yet though. Last few days noticed him curled up on the ground in the corner.I wanted to feed him an clean his cage so got him out, put him in another container so I could clean his cage. After all the cleaning I let him crawl around my arm a while. He wraped himself snuggly like he wanted to warm up. The more active he got I kept hearing a clicking / wheezing noise. Put him back in his cage to feed him an he's not interested in eating. I'm thinking he's got a respiratory infection starting? I put a higher wattage bulb on him for now an misted his cage to help with humidity. When I bought him the guy said he housed him with room temps..in the 70's so that's what I was doing. It did get chilly in the house the other night like 68 so now I think he's sick. OH, I also noticed his throat area was puffed up when I had him out. So does all this sound like he is sick now? Will raising the temp help? Anyone have any advise on what else I can do (besides take him to a vet.) Thanks.
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Sick boa?
Replies (1)
Besides taking him to a vet... check his mouth for mucous... this could be stomatitis -you'll find excess saliva in its mouth.
You can also check the trachea when it breathes... gently pry its mouth open with a credit card or pen and look down the trachea when it breathes... an ri will look red and irritated.
Oh, and definitely get the temps up!!!! High 80s during the day mid 70s at night for now. Here's a link to an article I wrote on Candoia: http://www.ircf.org/journal/no-2-volume-19/
I also have a book coming out on them in June. You can also check out HerpNation magazine... Dr. Josh Parker has a good article on Candoia (paulsoni) in it.
You should also post a pic so we can see the awesome boa you picked up! Candoia aren't too common yet.
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Chris Carille
Marist College, NY
Department of Biology
Chris Carille Photography - carillephoto.com
Garden of Eden Exotics - edenexotics.weebly.com
http://nyexotics.blogspot.com/
