Monty The Coastal Update

[rodentrancher]

Hi all, well I took Monty off to the vet this arvo. The vet seems to think that there is no signs of constipation, twisted bowel etc. I don't think he really knows why Monty is straining so much. Anyway, he took some blood for testing for infection, etc etc, gave him some Vitamin ADEC and Vitamin B shots. He also gave him half a Flagyl tablet crushed up in tinned cat food for good measure. I'll know the blood test results tomorrow. The vet was very interested in my "What's Wrong With My Snake" book, and is going to order one. I don't think he's had a lot to do with herps, but seems willing to learn eh? He's done a couple of operations on snakes from Bredl's Reptile Park here in Renmark, so guess he knows a little, at least. I also printed out the topic on Probiotics from the forum this morning, and he was very interested in that also. Gave him the phone numbers of a couple of the herp vets that have been suggested here, in case he has questions to ask. I have to give Monty another 1/2 Flagyl tablet in a fortnight. We'll see how he goes anyway. He's starting to become a pretty expensive snake - cost another $128 for the consultation and everything, but I'd rather see poor Monty feeling better. Cheers Cheryl

 

[Shaggy]

It's good to see that your local vet is so eager to learn about herps, great stuff. Hope Monty is feeling better soon.

 

[junglemad]

Worth every penny if you love them. Good luck with Monty Cheryl

 

[rodentrancher]

Thanks folks. By the way they have Monty classed as a "pocket pet" on their books. Lordy, I wouldn't like to be trying to fit him in my jeans pockets. :lol: He's 5 1/2 ft long.

 

[tweety2]

good luck with him, hope he is feeling better soon, keep the updates coming

 

[rodentrancher]

Monty still not looking good this morning. He was down on the floor again. Everything trashed. Looks like he's been thrashing around down there. His head was in one corner and his whole body was curved up and down the upright side of the enclosure. Poor Monty, he must be in pain. I'll see what the blood tests show this arvo. Chezza

 

[newtosnakes]

Oh, Cheryl, that is just terrible. Fingers are crossed that you can work out what is wrong with Monty and get him feeling better soon. It is sooo hard to see our babies in pain especially when you feel like there is nothing that you can do to help him.....

Best of luck and let us know of any updates

 

[MURRAY]

Doesn't sound like it's going to well. Keep up the good work and hope all turns out for the best. Good luck.

 

[rodentrancher]

Grrrr!!! No results from the blood tests as yet. Hopefully tomorrow? He's not moving from his basking spot up on the wall during the day. It seems Monty is only coming down overnight and thrashing around in his enclosure. Thanks for the well wishes.

 

[OuZo]

Hey Cheryl, I really hope Monty pulls through for you :cry:. It's so hard to see them like that isn't it...especially when you don't know what's wrong .

When you say he's straining what exactly do you mean? I'm just wondering how similar Monty's symptoms are to mine and Serpenttongue's snakes. My snake Nymph often does this weird stomach thing where he kinda twists it like he's going to go to the toilet (hard to describe but you know when you see them scrunch their body up to push out a poo ) but it doesn't move down the body, he just squirms the stomach part back and forth. The other thing we see is that weird neck thing that I think you saw the pics of in my thread...I think you said Monty wasn't doing that though which is good.

Hopefully the results are coming through today

 

[rodentrancher]

Just a quick note before getting ready for work at the Tavern. I had to go over to Berri this morning to pick up new specs so called into the vet clinic to see if results were back. The only vet on duty was in surgery so couldn't speak to him, but I asked the lady at the desk what the results said. She said that she wasn't qualified to understand all of it, but did say that there were no parasites present(well that's good isn't it?), but then she said that there was chronic inflamation of ???????(she didn't know). The vet is going to let me know by phone asap. Last night was the first night he hadn't come down from his basking platform and thrashed around and trashed everything. Maybe the Flagyl and the vitamins are starting to do their thing?? Ouzo, he just gets himself in this big curve up the wall of the enclosure, no twisting or anything else. When it is happening his hemipenes stick out until I get him up to his basking platform and he curls up again. I hardly slept a wink last night(passed out about 3.30am I think), I was so worried about the poor little bugga. Cheryl

 

[zulu]

re Monty

Really hope monty improves for you Cheryl ,flagyl may work hopefully!

 

[rodentrancher]

Spoke to Monty's vet by phone yesterday arvo. White cell blood count is a bit high, and a chronic inflammation is indicated. Not known where. Vet couldn't find any swelling when he examined him. No parasites present in the blood test. He says to just re dose Monty with Flagyl on the 13th. Why another dose of Flagyl if no parasites present(isn't that what Flagyl is for?). I'm starting to imagine all sorts of horrible things now like IBD, OMPV etc etc. Some sort of Neurological probs? :cry: :cry: Cheryl

 

[rodentrancher]

Sorry, I meant OPMV not OMPV. It was a tad late and I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. Worrying about Monty I guess. Cheryl

 

[OuZo]

Sounds similar again to Nymph's blood results Cheryl...his white blood cell count was high indicating infection somewhere (hence the antibiotics they put him on) and I can't remember if the results themselves indicated chronic inflammation but he has a very inflamed stomach wall which is what the swelling is. They also said there was muscle damage which the pathologist thought was due to the surgery but that was 6 months earlier so the vet doesn't think it's from that. You can't help but have all these horrible things go through your mind like IBD and OPMV etc...we've been there and it sucks . Have you discussed them with the vet? Once we realised it could be something like that (pretty confident that it isn't though) we started to use different feeding and cleaning utensils to our other animals. It might be a good idea to do this with Monty just in case? How long have you had Monty for now?

Good luck and keep us updated

 

[rodentrancher]

We got Monty from Fuscy about end of April I think Zoe. Might talk to the vet re a course of antibiotics. He's had some paraffin oil, but no poop yet. Vet can't feel any sort of swelling at all. Monty's had another warm bath, and a walk outside for a while. How long did they keep Nymph on the antibiotics? There's a reptile vet on Matt's(stockeh) website and he says sometimes antibiotics need to be given longer than 10 days. Baytril is a good broad spectrum antibiotic to give apparently. When I had Monty outside this arvo, he would crawl along ok for a while, then all of a sudden his head would go up, wave around on his neck for a few seconds, then flop over on the back of his head. Really weird eh? Cheryl

 

[Mcdowelli]

Once we realised it could be something like that (pretty confident that it isn't though) we started to use different feeding and cleaning utensils to our other animals.

Don't even bother to amuse yourself by thinking that you are going to contain a potential case of IBD or OPMV by doing only this. Please keep in mind that I am not saying that this is the case but personally I feel it is better to be safe than sorry.

If I were to be dealing with something similar to this, I would ensure that I was not only using separate feeding and cleaning tools, but also servicing this animal last, using disposable gloves whenever I would need to service the cage or remove the animal. I would not allow the snake to touch any part of my body apart from the gloves, and the snake would not be allowed to touch any furniture or the floor. When the cage was to be cleaned, the snake would be placed into a suitable holding tub which would be disinfected before and after use. Any waste from the cage, would be immediately placed into a garbage bag and disposed of. I would be using either F10 or Virkon disinfectant as a cage cleaner and to clean any holding tubs. I would supply water to the animal in some sort of disposable container or bowl, which would also be disposed of and replaced whenever the cage was to be serviced. When I had finished with the cage I would have a shower and all clothes that I was wearing would be put through the wash.

I know that these measures may seem abit extreme, and possibly in your case there may not be much point starting them so late, however I thought I would mention how I would deal with a similar situation. Please keep in mind that I am not saying that your snake has IBD or OPMV.

Alex

 

[OuZo]

Hey Cheryl, Nymph is still on the antibiotics (Baytril), tonight's dose was number 9 and he's on them for a total of 3 weeks. Hopefully things start looking up soon.

Hi Alex, yes it does seem very extreme lol, but probably the ideal way to isolate an animal. I really don't believe that he has anything which is highly infectious and part of my reasoning for thinking this is that he's been showing symptoms for over a year now (if he had some sort of virus who knows how much longer he's been carrying it) and none of the other snakes or lizards have any problems....and we were using all the same tools for such a long time before we even knew it could be something contagious. And I agree that it probably is pointless starting something like what you've described so late. Some of it seems a little impractical to me though (no offence) but to handle a snake and ensure they never touch any of your skin can be a little hard sometimes lol...unless I guess if you're saying that you have long sleeved shirts and pants on etc. I know this shouldn't be relevant also but he was the second snake we ever bought and I kinda like handling him and saying hello every now and then...we don't know how long we're going to have him after all . I know with things like suspected OPMV it's more practical or safer to put the animal to sleep straight away but I just don't want to give up on him like that before we even know what it is :?

 

[rodentrancher]

Hi Alex and Ouzo. I am using very strict hygiene with all snakes. Always have. Monty is not eating at the moment at all. He's constricted and killed 3 baby pigeons but hasn't followed through and eaten them at all. I wash my hands thoroughly. Monty had a bad night last night. He can't even climb up any more to his basking spot. He was writhing around on the floor of the enclosure most of the night. Alex we don't even know what is causing Monty's prob. this Vet here has NO DAMN IDEA! I just meant that all the symptoms made me think of all sorts of other scenarios like IBD and OPMV, that's all! Cheers Cheryl