Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

[Meechie]

I have 2 one yr old boas that are brother and sister and have always caged together. The female is Much bigger than the male but much more passive. The male has not been able to shed some skin around his head and kneck for quite a while now even with the help of us soaking him and wetting inside the caged with the heat lamp. The skin looks very hard and wrinkly when he turns his head. He threw up the last time he ate and now keeps refusing to eat and is getting thin. I fed the female last night with no problem and woke up this morning and found out she threw her meal up and also moved her bowels and it was very watery. Whats going on with my sankes? What should I do?

[sclark]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Hello Meechie,

OK your problem is one I have had in the past as well as several of my rescue snakes have had. No bear in mind that what I suggest is based on the fact I am assuming the temp in your boas cage is where it should be, as well as the humidity. I am also assuming that you are not handling your snakes for 48 hours after they eat. Now I know alot will suggest you take your boas to a vet, always a great idea if you can. I do understand that sometimes that is not possible. So here is what I suggest. if your able to house your boas seperatly all the better, sometimes the boas can cause stress on each other, by fighting for the dominate role. But if that is not that case sounds like maybe your boas have a protazoa problem and need to be treated. If that problem happens to my snakes that are put on 5 days ofMetronidazole. the dosing of corse depends on the actual weight of your snakes. If you get that info I could suggest proper dosing. You would have to take the powder and mix it with a little water and feed it direct down the snakes mouth for 4 days, the 5 day I always injest the meds into the prey item and feed the snake. I am only suggesting this because alor of the folks I talk to do not have a vet anywhere close to take the snakes or they just do not have the funds to pay a vet. Some treatment is better then none as long as you are careful and do it right. Before you start doing any treatment I would suggest to make sure the warm side of the tank is reaching atleast 90, but no higher then 94 and the cool side is about 82 degree's. I would also make sure the humidity is about 60 percent. If you are using a glass tank, and the humidity is not keeping, just cover 2/3 of the tank with a towel and mist the snakes a couple of times a day as needed. I would also make sure to keep two hide boxes in the tank so the snakes can go feel safe and relax. Keep one on both sides of the tank so they can choose the temp they want. Do not attempt to feed for atleast three days after the regurg.

One last thing as far as the shed problem. Take that snake out, put it in a 85 degree water bath for about an hour, possible 90 mins. 85 degrees will feel barley warm because out body temp is 98.6. Just make sure it is not too cold. Also make sure it deep enough for most of its body to be submerged, but not so deep the snake needs to swim to not go under. A drown snake is no fun for anyone.

Good luck, feel free to ask or clarify any questions.
Best Regards
Good Luck
Steve Clark

[Meechie]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Thank you for your reply Steve. What is Metronidazole? Is it an antibiotic? Where do I get it?

[ClayEnglish]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Metronidazole is commercially prescribed as Flagyl, so it is more commonly known and prescribed as Flagyl.

It requires a prescription from a vet, so I would recommend a vet trip anyway..

[sclark]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Hi Meechie,

No Problem. Hope it helps.. As for Metronidazole (Flagil) yes it is an antibiotic. If you can check and see if you can get it from a local vet in liquid form or you could always go into your local petstore and go into the fish department. It is sold under the brand HEX-A-MIT. It comes in water disolving capsules. You would have to weight the snake in grams to figure the right dose. A good example would be a a snake that weighs 70 grams you would take 1 250 milagram capsule and open it up and give it 1/16 of the powder inside, that would come to a little better then 15mg. Mix that dose in a shot glass with about a third or a glass eye dropper of water. Mix good in just warm water. Let cool to room temp, suck it up in the dropper, gentely open the snakes mouth and put the dropper in about an inch past the back of its head. Squeeze the liquid in, take the dropper out and gentley run the snakes neck on his underside just behind his head and down a few inches. After all that is done. put the snake back home and leave him till his next dose 24 hours later. After doing this 4 days, on the fith day, get a prey item just abit smaller then the thickest part of his body and put the liquid antibotic down its mouth and squeeze it in. Then feed that to the snake. Leave alone for 48 hours and with some luck snake is better.

I hope I didn't assume too much I was assuming that you have been feeding this snake the right size meals. If the prey was too big it may be causing the regurg. Also I have talked to some people that have said their snake either refuses or regurges any prey that is pregnant. Something to do with the extra hormones in the prey. I have feed prego mom mice to snakes with no problem, but yours may be different..

Good luck
Steve Clark

[sclark]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

One last thing, just seen Clay posted. As I stated in my first post, a vet visit would be the best way to go. Before I treat any of my snakes I always do a fecal smear to see what is going on. I have had to do all these treatments myself because the local vet that will look at snakes is real bad and kills alot of them by dosing wrong of treating them for the wrong thing. I had to start playing vet a few years ago because we do not have any vets that will even look at reptils in the area. I have done extensive talking with true vets in other areas and have researched treatments alot.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. And if I can help, just ask.
Steve Clark

[Meechie]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Thank you both so much. I just feel so bad for them and want them to be healthy

The males head still won't rid that skin. I have soaked him and try to rub it off myself with no luck. Its just on the top and around the base of his head. He's never had this problem before and we keep the temp. and humitity just right. The female just shed with no problem.

The male seems to really enjoy when I sit there and rub his head though....it's so funny. He just reaches his head up in the air while I do it and sits there. I think the whole experience has made us closer because he was always the one to hiss at me when I went to pick him up........not anymore;-)

I am going to call today and see if I can bring them to a vet. I live in the city (Boston, MA) & just not sure where there is a vet that would see a snake around here.

Wish me luck!

Thanks,
Dawn Robinson

[Doug]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

HI,
Whats your cage like are you using temp measuring devices on the cool side and the warm?
It dosen't hurt to reveiw the care sheets to be sure its not a simple cage problem. Are you the original owner or did you adopt the boa's?? Go to the post below and download the care sheets I wishI had them years ago when I was starting.
doug

http://www.redtailboas.com/general_care/general_care.html

[Meechie]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

I have a 55 gallon aquarium and have a large heating pad under it in the middle to left side of the tank. Then I have a heating lamp and have it over the left side of the tank. I have a large water bowl/rock on the right side and keep it with fresh water. The bedding is a kind of bark/dirt mixture that I dampen every now and again to keep the humitity levels right.

The tank stays between 80 and 90 degrees. I used to have two hides in the tank for them but they outgrew them and now the male just hides under the bedding and the female just hangs out anywhere.

I adopted the snakes from a friend of my boyfriend who was moving away. They were small babies that he kept in a tupperware container (don't ask...he wasn't my friend). They were skinny and sickly when I got them. They were so frail and I had a hard time feeding them in the begining. The would always throw up and were dehydrated and had lots of shedding problems. I spent alot of time with them and over the past year they have thrived and grown and seemed very healthy until the past few weeks. They were a bit over a foot when I got them and now the female is about 4 1/2 feet and the male is about 3 1/2. I take them out every evening and they have become my babies.
I also have a 1 yr. old ball python that I keep in another tank in another room that hasn't been feeding well (and she has always been a big pig). She was always my best eater but she has been refusing din din alot lately too.

[Doug]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

HI,
My first snake was a BP they are very difficult during the winter months and may fast for up to a year.
  Mine would go off feed if the humidty was to low, be sure he's got a hide .. They are one of the most difficult snakes to keep.  Dont' try and present live food during the fast the food will eat the snake!! Bp's will lay there and let a rat chew them up,, the lambs of the reptile world. :P :-[.
.  Doug

[Red]

Re: Bother and sister Boas throwing up dinner

Ok you said the humidity is correct... I don't think it is... I have herd of only like two snakes that shed bad when provided proper humidity... and both of them had kinks...
So you need to make sure that it is right... You need a digital heat and humidity gage... They sell them at wal-mart for 15$/// They make a great thing and they have a probe...
I hope you take my addvise and get one... when I had problems with my snakes shedding I found out that my humidity guage that was telling me it was 65%-70% was off by like 45%.. It was really 20%... I have never had a problem since...
Oh ya there is also a product called shed aid... it works ok...
Eric aka....Red
P.s. Oh ya I almost forgot... there is a thing called the bag trick... What you do is put your snake in a bag that is kinda small and also put in a damp cloth... let the snake sit in it for like 12-24 hours... then see if the skin has come off... It works great...