Sick reptiles

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

andynic07

Very Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
3,861
Reaction score
13
Location
Marsden
I don't know if it is because I have been involved more in this forum and Facebook sites about reptiles this year or not but it seems to me like there has been a lot of reptiles get sick and die this winter. This is one post that I have copied from a reptile help site on Facebook.

UPDATE.....well first off so sorry to take so long in posting a update but its been a week from hell and a week of having a empty wallet but at least the snakes are better...yes i said snakes not snake..first up miss jungle as we all suspected RI was the the issue with her.currently on Fortum injection every 3rd day and vet has warned that she might be on it for a bit.........am happy to report this morning she is moving around a little more had a massive drink this morning then curled up under heat relaxed for the 1st time in a week.so stress releiving when i watch her not struggle to breathe or have to hold her head straiight up to breathe...now while i was watchingher last sunday my female diamond deceided to come out and show me her swollen jaw that i didnt know she had.after checking her mouth out and finding nothing out of the ordinary i released her back into her tank only to check her again on wednesday to discover a brown mark on her scales on the jaw line and to see another snake with RI.yip bubble time again so off we go to the vet yet again and sure enough she has the start of RI.So another snake requiring a jab every 3ed day.the swollenjaw/brown mark what i thought could be a cyst forming could now be cancer but as yet unsure.as as animals do my lovely diamond decided that since we gave her jabs she would leave us a rather smelly messy present and got me the assistant and vet when she decided to have a crap.which turned out to be loaded with worms of various tyoes which involved another injection folowed bu a tube to the stomach which then was connected to a syringe full off worming liquid which when finished totally had miss diamond wanting blood.as it turns out this diamond,sold to me as a tame domestic bred snake turns out to be a wild caught snake(dont worry mr seller i have your info expect a knock) so not impressed but i will deal with it.now fast forward 36 hours to lthursday nite which is feed nite for who ever will feed.to my surprise my diamond who is a machine when it comes to eatinghasnt appered and after opening his hide up and locating him what smacks me in the head as soon as i see him?.....BUBBLES BLOODY BUBBLES and more BUBBLES.now expecting this diamond to have a worm issue as he and miss diamond where together RI was the last thing i ecpected him to get.so once agin off to the vet and as suspected RI again and again another snake on injections every 3rd day.as suspect all so my poor male diamond was also loaded up with worms which was really a surprise but his poo never reflected he had a worm issue at all.having now finally clean and f10 all enclousers again i finally at 4am in the morning get to post this update.so as it stands 3 snakles in quarrentine and from what i can seeand hear all the others i ahve are fine and all are eating..i do have to say a massive thank you to the staff and vets at sth penrith vet clinic for all there help and a massive thank u to the vet Dr Jane Roffery for her time and fantastic help in getting my snakes on the right path to being healthly again.i must also add a big thank u to all off yu hear on fb for your help n comments as well as it too has been agreat help.need sleep so thats it for now as they say things happen in 3's and ive had all 3 so hopefully smooth sailing.cheers and agin thank u all :
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thats simply a case of bad husbandry, not a bad winter...
Yeah thats one case of reptiles dying but there has been a few on here as well and numerous other sites. I don't think there has really been that much of a winter this year but a lot of deaths. That is how it seems to me anyway.
 
More or even most of the dead reptiles lost by owners over this winter would still be here and alive if their owner weren't so scared to spend a few $ and take their sick animals to qualified reptile vets and if they spent less time seeking free vet advice from people here and didn't delay their animal's treatment by procastrinating for days or even weeks.

When a reptile is showing physical symptoms of an illness it's already extremely sick and has been sick for a long period of time, and quick treatment with proper antibiotics is time critical.
 
Thats right I've seen a few ppl on here asking for help instead of taking the animal to the vet. No offence to anyone here but you shouldn't take peoples advice off here as gospel and if your pet shows any sign or sickness you should take it straight to the vet. If anything just for peace of mind. I know the vet is expensive but if you can't afford to care for the animal properly you shouldn't own it in the first place. That post from facebook is about pythons and I thought pythons should always have the same temps no matter what season unless you are planning on breeding them so winter shouldn't really be the reason they are getting sick.
 
I've had a couple diamonds I've been cooling get first signs of RI all I did was crank the heat up both snakes came good straight away. First timeive had trouble but I wouldn't blame winter. I got mite go thru my collection four mths ago and in hindsight I shouldn't have cooled the pair, ill know for next time.
 
Thats right I've seen a few ppl on here asking for help instead of taking the animal to the vet. No offence to anyone here but you shouldn't take peoples advice off here as gospel and if your pet shows any sign or sickness you should take it straight to the vet. If anything just for peace of mind. I know the vet is expensive but if you can't afford to care for the animal properly you shouldn't own it in the first place. That post from facebook is about pythons and I thought pythons should always have the same temps no matter what season unless you are planning on breeding them so winter shouldn't really be the reason they are getting sick.

I sometimes see posters on these boards and on others posting very derogatory things about vets saying breeders/keepers know more. This is disturbing if it's a Noob to reptile keeping who has a sick animal on their hands and they are given misleading or even VERY POOR advise by these people that results in the reptiles treatment being unnecessarily delayed by days or even weeks , not to mention the suffering for the animal .

I agree, if you can't afford to care for your pets properly including taking them to vet if they need it, then don't get lizards or snakes, go and buy a pet rock (a rock with eyes glued onto it) instead.
 
Last edited:
Thats right mate, and sometimes the people that ask for advice might be not giving the full story or making it seem less urgent than it is. I like the fact that there is a lot of very experienced keepers and breeders on here and I think they have a lot of very good advice but unless they are looking at the animal face to face it is hard to be able to give 100% accurate advice. I think this place is great for reassurance when your pet is sick but for the sake of the animal I think the vet is the first place we need to be going when we think our animals are sick or showing signs of sickness.
 
Yeah thats one case of reptiles dying but there has been a few on here as well and numerous other sites. I don't think there has really been that much of a winter this year but a lot of deaths. That is how it seems to me anyway.

I read that post on the Facebook site only 3 hours ago and honestly thought the same as you andynic07! I spend about an hour reading through it and it was the same story, one after another
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top