 Recent Herp Discussion | | | | | | | | Online Users: 149 | | 92 members and 57 guests | | AdrianPero, Adzo, andrew_555, aussie1, australiaforever, Australis, baxtor, BIGTOE, bitey, Bono888, BrownHash, carkat, CassM, chappo, Chris89, coneill74, curran87, Dan19, Danni, DanTheMan, Dave94, DDALDD, DennisS, Divan, dragon lady, Eastern Snake Neck, Ela21, FNQ_Snake, Forensick, fraser1980, gar1, GARTHNFAY, Glider, HAMSTER, Helikaon, Hetty, hobbo, hodges, hozy6, inthegrass, ItsDavid, Jason, jessb, johnnyeggbeater, Jozz, junglemad, Jungle_Freak, kakariki, koubee, Marlon, Marto167, mckellar007, meshe1969, michelleryan, Minka, mr.slave, mrillusion, mysnakesau, MzSel, No-two, nutkin, OzGecko, pythons18, reptile32, ryanharvey1993, Sdaji, ShaneBlack, Slytherin, snake_boy, sockbat, SpongeBobSqPants, springerduck, Sturdy, swampie, Tolly, tree, TURBO8, urodacus_au, varley, Violetilda, VixenBabe, vs380kw, wack_zach, wardy, wil, xshadowx, yeldarb | |  | | 
22-May-08, 04:26 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-08 Location: wangaratta Age/Gender: 25  | | |
Hi, last week my 15 month old bredli shed his skin for the first time since i bought him, then for a few days he hid underneath the newspaper at the bottom of his enclosure.
Once he came out everything was fine. Late last week we had him out for about 20 minutes and he was fine. Then last night we had him out for about half an hour, and he behaved himself very well.
When we put him back into his enclosure, he went straight under his hollow rock, only to come back out 2 minutes later and climb into his water. He has been completely submerged, except his head since 7.45pm last night. (8.5 hours).
This is the first time we have seen him in his water. Is this normal for a bredli to do this, and for so long???
Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
22-May-08, 04:45 AM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: Brisbane Queensland Gender:  | | | | water bredli
l hate to say this but l am thinking mites MAYBE a problem......l SUGGEST have a look in his water bowl for them [they look like wet pepper] a pest but easy to get rid of if they are the problem.....cheers solar 17 [baden] |
22-May-08, 07:18 AM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jun-07 Location: Newcastle Age/Gender: 25 | | | Hi rett. It's not something that I have observered frequently Bredli unless there is a problem. I have only ever once observed one of my bredli submerge itself in its water bowl and it was only for 30 minutes or so. On this particular occassion this bredli had some rat guts on its body when a defrosted rat popped open during feeding.
The only possible reasons that spring to mind are A) Mites or B) retained shed. Both are easy to treat yourself at home. If you are not comfortable diagnosing the problem or treating it yourself you should seek advice from a good reptile vet. I hope this helps.
I am of the opinion that it is not a good thing to allow a bredli to submerge itselt in its water continuously for long periods of time. I understand that bredli are particularly predisposed to scale rot and need to be kept quite dry. Maybe someone more knowledgable could comment. |
22-May-08, 08:03 AM
|  | Seller | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: Adelaide SA (Nth East) Age/Gender: 29 | | | | hi there, yes mites could definately be a problem, but don't be fooled because it is not the only cause. There is also the possibility of retained shed which has of course been mentioned and the possibilty that your enclosure is to warm. So it is adviseable to check the temps as I had some one talking to me about how thier snake died due to over heating.
Good luck hope you solve the problem.
__________________
2 coastals, 2 bredli, 3 childreni, 1 diamond x, 2 waters, 1 bhp and 2 eastern water dragons |
22-May-08, 08:50 AM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Feb-07 Location: northern vic Age/Gender: 41 | | | | If you have only had him for a short time i would suspect mites, if you have any other reps be carefull
not to cross contaminate them , Remove the python from the water bowl and gently pour the water
from the bowl through some kitchen paper towel and have a look to see if there are any black specks
left on the paper. |
22-May-08, 10:09 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-08 Location: Wollondilly NSW Gender: | | | | Has it been to the toilet since its last feed and how long ago was its last feed if it hasn't been to the toilet? It may be trying to absorb water through the cloaca as it may be constipated? Just a thought. |
22-May-08, 11:21 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-08 Location: wangaratta Age/Gender: 25 | | | | Thanks everyone. Yep, it certainly is mites. The wet pepper description fits perfectly. Thats exactly what it looks like in the water bowl. Add to this, you can actually see flea size black specks moving around on the poor fella.
Can anyone suggest the best way to treat them?
Thanks so much for helping me diagnose the problem.
Also, what is the best method for disinfecting the enclosure? |
22-May-08, 11:49 AM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: Brisbane Queensland Gender: | | | | mite removal
there are probably several methods two of the more popular would be TOP OF DECENT spray [as used on air craft passengers] personally l prefer PERMOXIN which one of your local vets will probably stock [$22-25] but it will last you ages and ages and you should do any other reptiles near the infected one... if it were me l would vaccuum the enclosures concerned....the other thing you need to do is repeat this cycle in 12 days to break their gestation or life cycle.....cheers solar 17 [baden] |
22-May-08, 12:30 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-08 Location: wangaratta Age/Gender: 25 | | | Thanks everyone. I have just been to the pet shop where i bought the snake and bought some stuff. I bought some birdcage cleaner to disinfect the cage properly which i have just done.
Now im just about to spray the top of descent into the enclosure while my bredli waits patiently in a pillow case.
Tha man at the petshop said we got them because we got the sticks for the enclosure from the bush. He said we should of bought them from a pet shop. Does this sound correct, or is it just a sales pitch?
When i put him back in his enclosure, he will have absolutely nothing with him except a couple of sheets of newspaper on the bottom for a while until his water bowl and rockhide are properly cleaned. |
22-May-08, 12:34 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Feb-08 Location: maitland Age/Gender: 14 | | | | u can buy them from a pet shop or u can sanitize yours yourself we just brought sanitizer from a shop and done our logs our self
__________________
beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
|
22-May-08, 12:36 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jan-03 Location: Cairns | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by rett82  Thanks everyone. I have just been to the pet shop where i bought the snake and bought some stuff. I bought some birdcage cleaner to disinfect the cage properly which i have just done.
Now im just about to spray the top of descent into the enclosure while my bredli waits patiently in a pillow case.
Tha man at the petshop said we got them because we got the sticks for the enclosure from the bush. He said we should of bought them from a pet shop. Does this sound correct, or is it just a sales pitch?
When i put him back in his enclosure, he will have absolutely nothing with him except a couple of sheets of newspaper on the bottom for a while until his water bowl and rockhide are properly cleaned. |
Sounds like a good scam they have going, sell you a snake with mites then sell you extra stuff to treat the mites.
There is almost no way you would get mites from sticks, they cannot live away from a host for very long at all.
You will need to treat the snake as well as the cage, most people leave the snake in when spraying the TOD, just make sure you take the water bowl out.
__________________
Fool Injected Physhopath |
22-May-08, 12:42 PM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Jul-06 Location: Sydney Gender: | | | Bit of a read, but has pretty much all the info you need to know: Mites trouble by Junglemad
__________________ **click** me for wise words!
|
22-May-08, 12:43 PM
| | Seller | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: Adelaide SA (Nth East) Age/Gender: 29 | | | | if you get your branches from the bush it is easy to clean em your self. stick em in a plastic barrel and completey mist with t.o.d this will kill any mites that may be hiding in your branches. If you have a steam cleaner with a hose u can use that to sanitise tanks, branches, bowls, hides etc. If not soak them in a very mild bleach solution and leave them to dry completely before reusing.
__________________
2 coastals, 2 bredli, 3 childreni, 1 diamond x, 2 waters, 1 bhp and 2 eastern water dragons |
22-May-08, 12:58 PM
|  | Seller | Join Date: May-06 Location: Brizzy Age/Gender: 30 | | | | Soaking doesn't automatically mean mitse tho. Snakes do like a bit of a soak from time to time, and often hunt from the waters edge in the wild. It's also a great way to re-hydrate dry skin. Soaking IS one sign of mites, but it's not a hard and fast rule that a soaking snake must have mites.
__________________ Abboreal snakes eat birds  |
22-May-08, 01:01 PM
|  | Geek Subscriber | | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by solar 17 a pest but easy to get rid of if they are the problem.....cheers solar 17 [baden] | I don't know about that. Late last year I was unfortunate to make a couple of new acquisitions and ended up with two more snakes and a whole army of mites. I haven't found them easy to get rid of at all. Just when you think the last of them are gone, you find one or two... then treatment starts again. Good times. No, really.
All I can say is I'm glad I put those two new acquisitions in a room downstairs by themselves. No mites have made it into the rest of my collection, thankfully. I'm pretty anal about what goes in or out of that room now and as soon as the animals are touched, even if only removed by hook to clean the enclosures, those dealing with the animal and/or enclosures are ordered directly into the shower.
I took mine to a vet who gave me ivermectin to dilute and spray over the enclosures and frontline to apply to the animals. It seems to be doing the trick. At this stage I can see no mites at all and the animals in question are no longer soaking habitually. Recently I thought they were eradicated, however, only to find two (literally, two) mites, so treatment begun again. I will continue treatment for some time to be certain.
I would suggest removing absolutely everything which is not necessary from the enclosure. I would also suggest using a plastic, non-porous hide during treatment. If your bredli is housed in an enclosure made from something other than plastic or glass, I would remove it from that enclosure and place the bredli into a storage box for the duration of treatment.
Good luck with it, they can be a real pain in the **** to get rid of!  | | |
|
