Nymph update - horrible "episode" this morning

[OuZo]

Inny now you've got everyone calling me Zoey lol :lol:

He's not any better yet...I'm watching for signs that his tummy is getting skinnier but it's only been not even a week yet I think. I'm not even sure how long it might take for things to calm down if we have removed the cause of an allergy...

 

[The Rock]

Get a kitten catherder from the vet, lubricate with a tiny bit of olive or grape seed oil, and mums the word. Need someone to hold snake straight and open mouth with small smooth rod side ways,ie large prob or some thing simular. Insert catherder down throat keeping well away from trechea. Feed catherder about 1/4--1/3 down animal and slowlly squirt flagal.
If feeding inject directly into very small prey item and only feed the one medicated item. no more food for at least 2 weeks to get best obsorbtion rate.
Rob

 

[OuZo]

Omg but that's so scary lol. I don't wanna break him :? . I guess the other option is to force feed him again and put the Flagyl in that :?

 

[Magpie]

Tubing is really quite easy Zoe.

 

[OuZo]

Really? I have this image of him flailing all over the place and us trying to pin him down or hold him straight or something :? . Do you find that they usually take it well or is it an individual thing?

 

[The Rock]

Trust me,- It is a hell of a lot easier on you and the animal to use a catherder than to force fed. Quite harmless infact.
Rob

 

[OuZo]

Orright well I'll try and scam a catheter from the vet I used to work at then

 

[Morelia_Hunter]

Hi there mate. Sorry to only give a reply now. I have seen all those symptoms with snakes that heve been dehydrated. The head shakes are caused by the dehydration. You can belive me or not. Have you seen him drink water lately? Is he regurgitating his food? When they regurgitate their food they lose lots of fluids that way. Same as people. You might just need to give it a mix of electrolites and water through a tube. I got these little tubes from overseas, they are perfectly rounded at the tip and have little holes along the sides. Very small, and they attach to a syringe. PM me if you would like to chat. I am in melbourne too.

 

[BROWNS]

You can do a simple hydration test by pinching the skin and observing how quicly it goes back to normal ver similar to us...pick a healthy snake you have and do the pinch test and compare it to your sick coastal...good luck zoester...

 

[OuZo]

Hey MH, I get the feeling we've already met lol . I wonder if he is dehydrated then...I never really see any of my snakes drink water and he has been regurgitating his food but not for a while cos he hasn't eaten in ages. Small food he will keep down (if force fed) but anything larger than an adult mouse comes back up. I should be able to get some electrolytes from the vet...I think they have one called Lectade or something but I don't know if it's ok for snakes :? . How much would you give and how often?

Thanx Browneye . I might try pinching everyone and see what happens. If I get tagged I'll come crying to you eh? lol

 

[Morelia_Hunter]

I just used some of the exo terra electrolite solution. Its called electrodise. Very good stuff. You need one of these tubes though. Bet you we can get it sorted. PM me and we can chat.

 

[foxysnake]

So how is Nymph these days??

 

[BROWNS]

Hey Zoey the catheter is the way to go and much less stressfull to the animal as opposed to assist or force feeding,if you can't scam the right ones i could send a couple and they're easily sterilised after use...hope Nymph's coming good,what's the prognosis at this stage?

 

[OuZo]

Well we just got back from MH's house not too long ago. He can probably explain it better if he comes on lol but basically he put the little catheter down his throat and squirted about 70ml or so down into his tummy. He was a very good boy...and so was Nymph :lol: . But anyway, it looks like maybe he is dehydrated cos it was REALLY hard to get the tube down without lubricating it first. MH also noticed that his tongue flicks were kinda strange but I dunno what that's about :? . So it's our turn on Sunday to try by ourselves and I gotta say it didn't look too hard but it always looks easy when a pro's doing it! So I guess now we just keep our fingers crossed!

And a BIG thanx to M for having us round and helping us out so much!

 

[rodentrancher]

Hey Zoe, hope that things will improve for your Nymph. Cheers Cheryl

 

[ThePaintedLady]

Just a few ideas...
I had this with a Beardie who was doing the same thing..
Fill your sink with warm water and put the snake in it supporting it's head..
Massage it's under belly and this will encourage it to go to the toilet..that will at least get one thing out of the way..

Calcium deficiencies can show symptoms of head shaking and thrashing around..There ia a product called "Reptile One-Reptacal"..this is a liquid Calcium which you dot on the snakes body and it gets absorbed quickly...Combine it with "Reptile One-Reptavite" and you will see improvement within 2 weeks..Both bottles cost about $14-

Just something else worth mentioning---The mice that you are feeding it..Have they been gassed down? If yes, Leave them in the freezer for about 1 month as this dissapates the gasses in the mouse....The gasses could be toxic....Also check the hygiene conditions that the mouse has been kept in whilst alive if you can...Has the person had pesticides around them or poor hygiene control as this can produce problems..
Remember-What you feed your prey feeds your snake...

Other things could be: Internal Parasite, Viral,Bacterial Infections, Dehydration (as previously mentioned), Tumours, Trauma, Toxins or Poisons and the list goes on...

WORST OPTION
Is that it could be a Neurological Disorder...
I have read that there is a disease called "Inclusion Body Disease" which results from an unknown virus that attacks the brain and spinal tissues..Symptoms include "Stargazing" and other strange postures that are maintained for extended periods of time. To date there is no known treatment..

If you have a copy of Reptile Australia-On page 42 of Volume 1-Issue 6 there is a report on Neurological Problems in Reptiles that could help you..

Hope this helps..If you have any more q's about where I got this info from-Don't hesitate to PM me...
OF COURSE I AM NOT A VET...AND SO THIS INFO SHOULD BE USED AS SUCH...

Let us know how it goes..
P.S-My Beardie recovered and hasn't done it since...




:wink:

 

[africancichlidau]

It's gonna be pretty hard for it to go to the toilet if it hasn't kept a feed down for 6 months I think they'd be real happy if it ate a "gassed down rat"

 

[OuZo]

Hey PG, Thanx for all the info! I think Afro's right in that one respect tho...he didn't seem to have any probs going to the loo while he was eating and he's still passing the urates (left a pressie in the nice clean cage this morning lol). Plus I don't think he's gonna have much else left in there since he hasn't had a proper feed in quite a while.

I've always been a bit worried about calcium supplementing cos apparently too much calcium can be just as bad as not enough! The head shaking is more just a lack of smoothness when he moves and the thrashing was only once but more movements like he was trying REALLY hard to regurgitate something :? . Does that still sound like a calcium deficiency?

The mice we get are kept in excellent conditions and I'm pretty sure they flick 'n brick em as opposed to gassing but don't quote me on that! But they're definitely not a prob cos we feed all our snakes from the same place and the other 6 are fine.

We did do faecal testing which came up negative and he was opened up so we know it's not a tumour. I have thought about a toxin but I can't think of how he would have come in contact with one (and also none of the others have and they were kept very close together). I get the feeling it's not something contagious cos we were using the same feeding tongs etc before we had any real clue he was sick right up til when we were told it could be crypto. BTW, to anyone who's offered advice, I don't mean to sit here and reject everything you say (cos I get the feeling it may come across that way!), I'm just trying to narrow the huge list down! I really do appreciate all advice and help everyone's given us throughout this whole saga

 

[africancichlidau]

Huh, well reject my advice then sob

 

[OuZo]

Huh, well reject my advice then sob

What ARE you going on about old man? :lol: