Redtail boa rescue need help

[rumpleminze711]

Hey everyone. We rescued a red tail boa Saturday night and he is in really sorry shape. He has mouse bites all over him from the two mice who were sharing a tank with him for a month, and a respiratory infection from the cedar chips he's been living on. He has something strange on his eye, it is like a light tan colored spot in the middle, over his pupil. It takes up about a third of his eye. He is going to the vet as soon as possible, but I really want to know what this eye thing is beforehand so I can let the vet know. Does anyone have any ideas? Any advice in general about helping this guy would be greatly appreciated ... we've never had a red tail before. Also... he's very, VERY aggressive. What's your opinion, should we leave him alone to avoid further stress, or handle him so humans eventually won't stress him out?

[Red]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

The eye sounds like a retained shed you should have the vet check that out... also the rat bites need some neo spoen(don't use the neo plus because it has a pain med init...) on them so that they can start to heal.. a 50% soulution of water and poroxid will need to be used to clean the bites... then the neo...
Also normaly you would not want to touch this snake but it hasto be helped....
Also you need lower humidity then 60%(which is normal-60% that is...) I would say around 30-40 would be good.... This is for the repatory infection....
Also only use paper towls or new's paper so that if you can get him to go poo before the vet you will need some to take to the vet so they can do a smear and see if this boa has any internal parasites... which I bet it does....
I hope I could help.....
Eric aka....Red

[eViL_KaRoT]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

I would agree with Red, the thing on the eye sounds like retained shed. But along with lowering the humidity, I would recomend raising the Temps to the high 90's on one side and high 80's on the other side and not allow it to drop lower than that!! This will help the RI and help the wounds to dry up and heal better and faster. As far as the substrate goes, I would actually reccomend using only White, non-printed paper towels!! You don't want any of that ink to get into the open wounds and possibly cause an infection. I found that with the use of neosporin, only so much stays on the snakes, the rest ends up on the papertowel, the walls, the water dish, the hide, every place else. This can cause the inks to lift off the paper and into the wounds. I would recomend using the hydrogenperoxide/water mix and neosporin about 2-3 times a day. And be sure to lightly wash the wound with soap and water before using the other cleansing technique. But you are doing the right thing by taking him out of that environment and getting him to a vet ASAP!!! Keep us updated, please.

[sclark]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

Hi rumpleminze711,

I agree with both Red and Evil. I think they covered most of your questions.. As for the agression issue. I suggest you only hold the boa to treat him for right now. Let him heal, get better and he may calm down abit. After he is healed and getting up to weight, then start holding him more.. But wait until then. I would also suggest if you can to put his cage in an afer that doesn't get a ton of foot traffic. It will let him calm down..

Glad you got him out of that situation... Good luck and keep us posted
Steve

[Doug]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

HI,
Ditto on the above,, isolate,,, isolate this boa, it could be really sick with ibd .. so please keep it far away from your collection, treat all you reptile cage for mites as a precaution , clean the new boa's cage last so you don't tranfer any mites to your healthy boa's on your arms..
I respect your wish to rescue but its an uphill battle for this animal and possibly , a potential for disaster for your collection if your unsuccesfull at isolating this animal. best wishes..
doug

[sclark]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

Doug brought up a good point. I will tell you IBD scares the heck out of me. Mainly because there is no real way to tell a boas has it. Sure in the advance stages alot of boas will show certain signs, but just like with some problems, there are carriers that may never show any signs of having the problem. Taking extra steps to isolate new boas is a good idea. The hardest thing is different people will say different lenths of time to isolate the snake. Some say 3 months while some say 6-12 months. From what I have read a blood workup and Biopsy can be done while the snake is alive, only problem there is its only about 65% correct.. I really hope someone can come up with a general treatment for IBD, but until then, just use some caution..

Good Luck

Steve

[___LEE___]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

yes confine for at least 3months before even thinkin about housing all ur snakes together or reptiles.

[sclark]

Re:Redtail boa rescue need help

Hi rumpleminze711,

How is the boa doing today? Have you kept up with putting some neosporin on the bites twice a day?

Update us when you have a second..
Steve