Sick coastal update

[OuZo]

For those of you that read my initial thread...Nymph the coastal's not doing too well :cry: . When we saw the vet about a month ago he said it was most likely one of 2 things: either a bad reaction to worms where her stomach swelled up in which case it should go down in about 2 months and she'd be fine. or it's lymphoma where she'd have cancerous cells riddled thruout her stomach and maybe intestines in which case she'd start regurgitating even the adult mice we're feeding her. well neither of those has happened and instead she's refusing to eat anything. it's been 2 weeks since she ate anything which i know isnt that long normally but she is sick and over the past few months she really has only been eating piddly amounts.

apart from that, just over the last few days i've noticed that she's sort of squirming her stomach area (just the swollen part) a lot more often which makes me think she's at least uncomfortable if not in pain. i've called the vet just now and we've decided to go ahead with the exploratory - so he'll open her up and see what he finds. he's gonna call me during the surgery if it's something nasty so we can make the decision to put her to sleep without having to wake her up :cry: . she's booked in on friday and we're dropping her off thursday night

 

[dee4]

Good luck.

 

[BROWNS]

Well all the best for your little coastal Zo, maybe he is full of parasites......have you checked if he's well hydrated or not,or did the vet.This is easily done by pinching the skin and seein how long it takes to spring back into shape if you know what i mean.The best way to work it out is to do a pinch test on one of your healthy snakes and compare it to the sick snake..hope that makes sense!!!

IT"The pinched skin" should return to normal elasticity very quickly as it will on any of your healthy snakes...

 

[serpenttongue]

Ouzo, have you read my post in Australian Snakes, entitled "Protozoa in Diamonds" ? My diamonds became sick in Sep 2004 and still are sick. Protozoa was found in the faeces. That was cleared with Flagyll. Then another scat covered in mucus revealed bacteria in the mucus. The vet said this was due to damage of the gut wall ( this was also confirmed by Bigguy) One diamond in particular is getting very sick. Its constantly sucking its gut in, moving it slowly from side to side, putting sharp bends and kinks in her gut and turning the gut on its side. The gut is in no way bloated but i wonder if our snakes have the same problem. I have heard there have been some virus outbreaks in Aussie collections. The vet has suggested to me that he cut a hole in her side and go in with his little camera for a look. This diamond is now also getting a swollen eye. I am losing a lot of sleep over this as i'm sure you are with yours and i think my vet is sick of the sight of me. I'm praying for miracle. I am interested to see what the vets finds with your snake, and i do hope it can be treated. Good luck with your carpet.

 

[Ricko]

yeah good luck with it all zoe and luke, what have upmarket pets done about it if you have contacted them??

 

[instar]

Best wishes Zoey and sepente tongue

 

[OuZo]

Its constantly sucking its gut in, moving it slowly from side to side, putting sharp bends and kinks in her gut and turning the gut on its side. The gut is in no way bloated but i wonder if our snakes have the same problem.

that sounds pretty similar st, when you say she's sucking her gut in do you mean from underneath? like her belly curves up towards her spine? i havent noticed that with mine but everything else sounds really similar. she'll put such sharp bends in her body that she's actually bent some of her scales so they turn outwards. she moves that one part like they move when they're gonna go to the loo but it doesnt continue down the body, just that section. she doesnt completely turn on her side but i've noticed she's often leaning partially that way, so her spine is to one side.

did you have these snakes for a while before they got sick? or did they get sick with the introduction of a new snake you bought? maybe you should hold off with the camera until we find out what's happening with my girl? it might help you out with a possible diagnosis of your little guys. i hope you get your miracle st

thanx browneye i havent checked if she's dehydrated but maybe i'll see what she's like tonight. i'm not sure if the vet did it but i'm hoping he took that into account before he suggested surgery :?

we havent contacted upmarket rick...if it's lymphoma then nobody could have picked it and it's nobody's fault...if she had worms then she must have had them before we got her which i guess falls upon them but then maybe we should have wormed her when we got her. we've had her for over a year now anyway :?

oh btw st, off topic but when i put up a thread when i got my first tag off my diamond, you had said that going by what i'd said i'd need to hook her out of the cage every time i got her out otherwise i'd keep getting bitten. well i had my doubts at the time (a bit of a "nah she'll be right" attitude!) but i just thought i'd let you know you were spot on. if i hook her to get her out i dont get bitten, if i get her out with my hands i do! she's so cheeky

 

[farmdog]

Zoe, oh and Luke I not good with the whole sympathy thing so I am just gonna say that I hope everything goes well with your baby ( um coastal ).

 

[serpenttongue]

Ouzo, my sickest diamond is doing exactly what you say your carpets doing. My diamond has also bent her scales outwards from laying with a sharp bend in her. In fact, word for word you have written it exactly the way it is with my diamond. Even the way she moves her gut like when they go to the loo. She especially does this when she knows i'm looking at her. When she sucks her gut in, its from the sides, not from underneath. Problem is, all my diamonds are sick with this illness. These diamonds ive had for years. The sickest i've had for 11 years. I have no idea how i'll react, if or when i loose her.

Also, if you've seen my thread i mentioned, you'll see in the photo how they stretch their neck skin outwards. This only happens at cool temperatures. I wonder if yours would do this on a cool morning. But then i would imagine you're heating your carpet enclosure day and night.

 

[OuZo]

i remember seeing your thread but at the time i didn't make the connection between your snakes and mine cos i noticed the neck thing was quite obvious in your pics and i havent noticed my girl doing that. but like you said we are heating her day and night, especially now she's sick.

do you keep many other species? i'm just wondering if it's restricted to the diamonds in your collection for some reason or if you only keep diamonds? i havent noticed mine sucking her gut in but perhaps its because she cant cos of the swelling or at least we cant see it cos of that.

how are yours eating? that's how we initially noticed she was sick, she started regurgitating her meals and she has now become intolerant to even a 100g rat.

i really do hope your snakes get better. it's hard enuf when i've had my snake for a little over a year...i cant imagine what it would be like for you having had yours for 11 years :cry:

 

[Brodie]

Welcome too the realities of herp keeping.

I hope it all goes well for you guys.

I really dont hope you have too put it down, but it may be for the best

 

[africancichlidau]

Good luck to you both Ouzo and ST. I hope it all works out well for you both.

 

[jezza]

Oh Zoe thats so sad, we wish you and Nymph all the best, keep us updated. Jezza and Kris

 

[serpenttongue]

Ouzo, yes i have various other python species but it appears only the diamonds are sick. They are all still feeding but will regurgitate at low temps( like in the evening/early morning) If i put them inside with 24hr heating theres no regurgitation. Most likely because at higher temps their immune system fights the illness better.

 

[OuZo]

st, our little girl regurges regardless of temps. i initially thought that may have been it cos it happened to occur the first few times when a globe blew, but now she'll bring up anything which is 100g or bigger.

here's a few pics of her i took about a month ago showing how she sits kinda kinked and you can kinda see the lump . she looks a bit like she's eaten a rat but she hasnt

 

[Skorpious]

That really sucks guys . Good luck on friday Zoe.

 

[Linus]

Very sad for you zoe and serpenttongue. S.t...having kept your diamond for 11 years it must be completely heartbreaking for you. I really feel for the both of you and hope it goes well. Seeing any sick animal is my weakest link

This may be a silly question but could this be at all related to diamond python syndrome. Someone mentioned the other day that it can occurr in other morelia species?

Goodluck guys.

 

[beknluke]

Aww Hun!! Why didn't ya tell me??
Poor lil Nymph!! Oh I hope you don't get a bad phone call on Friday!!
Good luck

 

[OuZo]

well we dropped her off last night i gave her a cuddle and we took her favourite hide with her so she had something with her smell on it overnight. and of course i've had my blubber on the way home! don't know what time surgery is cos they have so many on that they're starting at 9am and we dont know which order they'll be in. every time the phone rings i'm crapping myself...:?

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

sorry bout this zoe,stay positive mate