MildredBonk
New member
Hi, I've used these forums so often but finally decided to break down and make a post because I am just at a complete loss, am giving up hope, and I need help. This is going to be a long post because I want to be as thorough as possible.
I have a black rat snake who is having major problems. We have been to the vet, and I'm beginning to feel like she doesn't know as much as she's led me to believe, and has perhaps only compounded this poor snake's problems. Unfortunately she is the only herp vet in town and came highly recommended.
So first, this snake's history: He was a rescue snake who I have had in my care for a little over a year. He is a 3 year old adult male black rat snake who was severely neglected and malnourished. When I got this snake, he was 4 feet long and 150g. He was literally skin and bones, he looked like a blade and he was too weak to move. He was previously kept in a 5 gallon tank with no heat, on cat litter, fed only live mice, was too weak to strike or restrict prey, so had numerous bite marks all over his head. He also had retained eye caps and a large mass of stuck shed on his tail. Through persistent efforts, I was able to get this snake on what I thought was a road to a healthy and full recovery. I got him eating, I got his skin issues taken care of, and things were going well for the first 6-7 months.
Husbandry: He is currently in a 55gal tank with a large water bowl, multiple hides everywhere, and his substrate is usually forest floor bedding, though I changed it out for paper towels a few weeks ago when things started getting bad for him. He has a heat mat and a heat lamp (it's cold in my house) and a thermostat, and his warm side is consistently at 87-88 degrees. He has been fed frozen/thawed the entire time he has been in my care.
The problem:5 or 6 months ago, he began showing fussiness with food, was skipping more and more meals. He has been refusing meals for 2 months solid now (sporatically before), and the reason I decided to take him to the vet was because he also started dropping weight. He was at 380g at his peak and now he is at 350g. He also has some lumpiness all the way down his body. The vet found two main lumps, one in the middle of his front half, one in the middle of his lower half, and her best guess, after taking x-rays, was that these were impactions. She gave him a series of laxatives (once a week for 3 weeks) and the lumps have not moved or diminished, and all he produced after all that was one small, slimy bowel movement (this was tested for parasites and came back negative). She also gave me instructions to soak him in warm water for 30 minutes a day, every day, to hopefully help loosen the impactions. And she gave me an ointment for his eyes. (She said his eyes has retained spectacles, and I agree that they have never looked quite "right," but every time he sheds, I check the eye caps, and they're always properly shed. So is this even possible?) I had been doing the soaks every day as instructed, and putting the eye ointment on. After 3 weeks of this, the snake began showing additional signs of problems, and here is where I began to think maybe this vet is causing new problems for my snake: He began prematurely shedding in patches, individual scales. All over the place, they're all over my hands every time I handle him. I began to worry this might be caused by too much soaking so I quit soaking him til his next appointment. This is the point when I also removed everything from his tank, cleaned it, and replaced his substrate with paper towels, just to be on the safe side and to monitor him better. When we had our next appointment, I explained this new problem to the vet and told her I was worried about soaking him so much. She said that wouldn't be the problem, and that I should continue doing it. She also prescribed him an antibiotic which I am giving him twice a week via intramuscular injection. He's had 3 injections so far, and as of yet shows no sign of improvement. I have continued to give him a warm soak, but only every 2-3 days. Just tonight I took him out to check on him, and it appears he might now be developing scale rot!! Around his jaw and in a few places on his belly, some of his white scales have a spotty blackish, almost moldy appearance. I can't believe this. I have worked so hard, and I feel like I am failing this snake, and I have no idea whether to put my trust in this vet, or what I should be doing instead. At this point, I don't see any other option, which I guess is why I am here. This animal is miserable, and it is just so damn hard to watch him waste away like this, given his history and all the time and care I have invested in him.
If anyone has any suggestion, advice, encouragement, experience with this sort of thing, anything, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
I have a black rat snake who is having major problems. We have been to the vet, and I'm beginning to feel like she doesn't know as much as she's led me to believe, and has perhaps only compounded this poor snake's problems. Unfortunately she is the only herp vet in town and came highly recommended.
So first, this snake's history: He was a rescue snake who I have had in my care for a little over a year. He is a 3 year old adult male black rat snake who was severely neglected and malnourished. When I got this snake, he was 4 feet long and 150g. He was literally skin and bones, he looked like a blade and he was too weak to move. He was previously kept in a 5 gallon tank with no heat, on cat litter, fed only live mice, was too weak to strike or restrict prey, so had numerous bite marks all over his head. He also had retained eye caps and a large mass of stuck shed on his tail. Through persistent efforts, I was able to get this snake on what I thought was a road to a healthy and full recovery. I got him eating, I got his skin issues taken care of, and things were going well for the first 6-7 months.
Husbandry: He is currently in a 55gal tank with a large water bowl, multiple hides everywhere, and his substrate is usually forest floor bedding, though I changed it out for paper towels a few weeks ago when things started getting bad for him. He has a heat mat and a heat lamp (it's cold in my house) and a thermostat, and his warm side is consistently at 87-88 degrees. He has been fed frozen/thawed the entire time he has been in my care.
The problem:5 or 6 months ago, he began showing fussiness with food, was skipping more and more meals. He has been refusing meals for 2 months solid now (sporatically before), and the reason I decided to take him to the vet was because he also started dropping weight. He was at 380g at his peak and now he is at 350g. He also has some lumpiness all the way down his body. The vet found two main lumps, one in the middle of his front half, one in the middle of his lower half, and her best guess, after taking x-rays, was that these were impactions. She gave him a series of laxatives (once a week for 3 weeks) and the lumps have not moved or diminished, and all he produced after all that was one small, slimy bowel movement (this was tested for parasites and came back negative). She also gave me instructions to soak him in warm water for 30 minutes a day, every day, to hopefully help loosen the impactions. And she gave me an ointment for his eyes. (She said his eyes has retained spectacles, and I agree that they have never looked quite "right," but every time he sheds, I check the eye caps, and they're always properly shed. So is this even possible?) I had been doing the soaks every day as instructed, and putting the eye ointment on. After 3 weeks of this, the snake began showing additional signs of problems, and here is where I began to think maybe this vet is causing new problems for my snake: He began prematurely shedding in patches, individual scales. All over the place, they're all over my hands every time I handle him. I began to worry this might be caused by too much soaking so I quit soaking him til his next appointment. This is the point when I also removed everything from his tank, cleaned it, and replaced his substrate with paper towels, just to be on the safe side and to monitor him better. When we had our next appointment, I explained this new problem to the vet and told her I was worried about soaking him so much. She said that wouldn't be the problem, and that I should continue doing it. She also prescribed him an antibiotic which I am giving him twice a week via intramuscular injection. He's had 3 injections so far, and as of yet shows no sign of improvement. I have continued to give him a warm soak, but only every 2-3 days. Just tonight I took him out to check on him, and it appears he might now be developing scale rot!! Around his jaw and in a few places on his belly, some of his white scales have a spotty blackish, almost moldy appearance. I can't believe this. I have worked so hard, and I feel like I am failing this snake, and I have no idea whether to put my trust in this vet, or what I should be doing instead. At this point, I don't see any other option, which I guess is why I am here. This animal is miserable, and it is just so damn hard to watch him waste away like this, given his history and all the time and care I have invested in him.
If anyone has any suggestion, advice, encouragement, experience with this sort of thing, anything, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.