Sick bhp worried :-S

[Dukz13]

Ok so i have just recently purchased a snake (BHP)off a family friend because it was not eating and she didn't want the hassle (basically they didn't really care). So when i got her she was extremely thin and refused to eat i got to her eat about 2 weeks ago but apart from that she does not want a bar of any food. Now i just got home from work and noticed that she is looking very unwell she is doing twirly things like upside down and almost looks like she has no sense of direction. I have no food to try and give her till tomorrow so im not quite sure what to do. she feels very week..

i have had the temp at about 28-29 degrees in the tank
she has fake grass flooring
plenty of hides water etc

any help would be great

 

[Hamalicious]

Is she rubbing her face on the floor during these twirly things?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I would say... prepare yourself for the worst, it's probably dying. From any one of a number of causes... but if you have other snakes, I hope you quarantined it - some of the disoriented behaviours can be caused by highly contagious, but always fatal, viral diseases which can go through a collection like a dose of salts. Attempting to feed would be pointless at this stage, but you might want to bump up the temps to around 36C at the hotspot.

Jamie

 

[Morgan_dragon]

you need to turn the heat up in her tank at the hot end.....bhps like it nice and warm and it is also good to turn the heat up slightly on an unwell snake for a short period of time. They also need heat to digest their food so if it is to low then it will take her longer to process. Try setting it at about 32-33oC, if she stops laying under the heat and lays toward the middle of her tank then turn it down a degree or two.

I also wouldnt recommend trying to feed her while she is doing strange things.

A couple of mine also like to bury and dig through their substrate, any chance she could be doing something like that?

When you say she seems like she has lost all sense of direction is she moving about slowly or rashing around in her tank?

 

[Dukz13]

na no rubbing face on the floor. yea she is being held away from the other snakes. the poor thing looks very unwell. i have bumped up the temperature. Im hoping she can stick through the night so i can maybe try another feed or something i dunno.

na no rubbing face on the floor. yea she is being held away from the other snakes. the poor thing looks very unwell. i have bumped up the temperature. Im hoping she can stick through the night so i can maybe try another feed or something i dunno.

- - - Updated - - -

shes moving around the tank all over it but its almost like shes lost i tried picking her up she normally squeezes quite tight but not really at all

 

[longqi]

Completely agree with jamie But one thing that mat be worth trying is giving it a mouthful of powerade and water mixed 50/50 Doesnt have to be powerade Any of those type of drinks full of stuff works the same If that helps pep her up give her a bath in the same mixture it fed only 2 weeks ago usually those symptoms come near the end when they are are in a really bad way

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Make sure you wash your hands VERY thoroughly before you get anywhere near your other animals. If the behaviour is abnormal, it won't be interested in food, so don't even bother. If it is showing no interest in its surroundings or what's going on around it, it's either in pain or has a neurological condition, most likely the latter. The outlook is not good when these symptoms present themselves.

Jamie

 

[Dukz13]

well fingers crossed

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Yep, fingers crossed, I might be proved wrong, and I hope I am, but as longqi has said, the symptoms you describe are usually end-stage responses to serious illness.

J

 

[Tobe404]

I have a Murray Darling that I got off a couple of mates (I got two from the same breeder and my mates payed me money for one of them) that is showing similar symptoms but I thought he was getting better. He was eating and shed twice. He used to be snappy and aggressive but calmed down once I got some food into him. So I'm just not sure. He's been off his food since 8/8. I usually just lay the food item close to or on top of him and that has always worked

He has never struck his prey (soemtimes coiled), even when I had him (before my mates payed me for him) and he took a Pinky Rat.

I might try the powerade thing and see what happens (I have powerade 'powder' that you mix with water). Would this be okay?

Goodluck with your BHP Dukz.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Many pythons, even wild caught ones, don't strike and wrap their prey, when they're offered pre-killed or thawed food. That's not an indicator of poor health. Also, being off food since 8/8 is not necessarily a problem either. Disoriented behaviour, uncontrolled movements and being unresponsive to movement or activities around it, are far more worrying symptoms.

Jamie

 

[Tobe404]

I'm more worried about the endless pacing around in his click-clack (usually only at night though) and that he rubs himself upside down along the top... I'm just not sure.

And before I got him back he had a spell of about 2 months without food. Also he was in a bath that had bleech in it (they lost him for about six weeks and this is where they found him).

And he's only 7.5 months old. Surely too young to be in 'mating' mode.

Should I try the powerade thing anyway?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Ahh, sounds like it might be a temperature thing. The running of the head and forebody upside down along the top of the click-clack is not a problem - restless snakes do this all the time, and it is just that he/it may feel too exposed, and as they can see through the top, so they keep trying to get out. Try putting something on top of the tub so the snake feels more secure - if it's a youngster, they spend most of their time under cover, so exposure in a tub is stressful. Also, if it was out in ambient temperatures for a few weeks as you say, it has probably acclimated to winter and has again been disrupted by being heated again, when it's body tells it it should be in shut-down mode. I'd be inclined to reduce the temps for a few more weeks - mid to high twenties,and gradually increase them and offer food in a month or so.

I wouldn't add another stress by trying the powerade thing, because there's no real indication of a physical problem.

Jamie

 

[user 30368]

Say what!?!???!?! He was IN household bleach?????

 

[Tobe404]

Thanks for the advice. It's just a pain that my other two Pythons are machines when it comes to eating and this guy looks so small to them. Even to his sister.
Still seems odd that he was eating relatively fine up until the 8th of August.

 

[Silhou]

If it makes the night through get it into a vet that can handle reptiles immediately. Fingers crossed, hope it all works out

 

[Tobe404]

Say what!?!???!?! He was IN household bleach?????

That's just it. I don't know if he got any bleech on him or not. He was seimming in the bath that had bleech in it at some point. I have no idea what this would of done to him. But since I got him back he has calmed fown and has been eating for the most part until he suddenly stopped out of mo where on the 8th of August and I have changed nothing in his envuronment. I got him back on 3rd of June.

 

[Renenet]

Tobe,

I searched for a video of a snake with neurological symptoms. This was the best I could do with a quick search: Inclusion Body Disease (in a red tail boa) - YouTube. Afflicted snakes can't right themselves and their heads corkscrew like the one in this video. If your snake is doing this, that's a problem.

Pacing is a whole different thing and is perfectly fine. My stimmie does that all the time at night when the weather is warm and did it year-round when she was a hatchling. She also stretched up and explored the underside of the ceiling of her click-clack, testing every airhole with her little snout. I also wouldn't worry if the snake hasn't eaten since 8 August. It's not that long for a snake and it is winter, when they often go off their food.

EDIT: Pythoninfinite beat me to it.

 

[user 30368]

wowsers! i hope he didn't touch any bleach. That stuff burns my skin, so god only knows what it'd do to a snake.
Maybe see a reptile vet if he looks as sick as you say??
Best of luck with him - i really hope he pulls through for you.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Don't get wrapped up in the IBD/OPMV/Sunshine Virus thing - it's extremely unlikely to be anything like that. What you are seeing is a normal reaction of a snake which is a bit stressed, and I'd bet my left one that it will settle down soon enough.

The bleach question... if it was normal bleach (hypochlorite) such as is used in laundries and swimming pools, and in the concentrations suggested for normal use, it will have no harmful effects in the long-term. Chlorine bleaches are highly reactive, and deactivate very quickly on contact with organic substances, so any harmful effects would be almost immediate. The fact that the snake has fed for you since indicates very clearly to me that if has suffered no physical effects from exposure to bleach. I've rescued a number of snakes from swimming pools over the years, and they've all been fine.

The second paragraph of Renenet's post is what you should focus on. A vet will tell you nothing in the absence of any real symptoms, so don't bother with a visit. You've had it back for 3 months, it has fed for you, all will be well as the weather warms up, and if you provide a comfortable environment for it.

Some snakes pace their enclosures sometimes, some don't.

Jamie

wowsers! i hope he didn't touch any bleach. That stuff burns my skin, so god only knows what it'd do to a snake.
Maybe see a reptile vet if he looks as sick as you say??
Best of luck with him - i really hope he pulls through for you.

Oh for goodness sakes! The snake has been back with him for 3 months. The snake is not looking sick, and is not behaving as if it's sick... get a grip and get to know snakes a bit better before offering such silly advice...

J