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Urgent Situation I Think

Jag is at the vet right now. I couldn't go unfortunately because I had two exams there was no way for me to get out of. However, my Dad who is very well-trained is handling her is taking her. Last night I went over an extensive check list with him on safety at vet and transportation and I also gave him a list of information and questions to print off that I wanted to ask the vet. So I think they should be okay together!

Hopefully she is doing well, the doctor is examining the white "glob" now, and they should be done soon. I''ll update on what the final findings/outcome are shortly (hopefully)
 
So... vet said it was a minor infection. I am very nervous though as this is really the first "health problem" I have ever had with Jag (other than minor rub scab from breeding season behavior).

He removed the white stuff, and gave her an injection and injections for me to do every 3 days (I'm not sure what the antibiotic is but I requested all notes be emailed to me so I will know soon). Also recommended to wipe vent area with diluted solution of clorhexidene every day. Luckily, I have an amazing dad agreed to do the injections and the vet trained him (I could not stick a needle in Jag!).

He wasn't really sure how it happened, and neither am I. I am so careful about cleaning everything in the viv, monitor temp and humidity very well.

So my plan moving forward is to order replacements of everything in her viv and they will arrive on Saturday when I will go home and replace everything. Does this sound okay? My dad said the vet didn't recommend this but I would rather go overkill to make sure everything is okay.

Also, Jag will be happy to learn she is eating tonight.

So sad I cannot see her in person until Saturday, although I have cameras set up to watch her.

Anyways, thanks for the support through this! Also, when I replace everything in her viv, I will disinfect it (the last time I did that was 2 weeks ago). I usually use a diluted solution of clorhexidine as I am hesitant to use anything more toxic like bleach. Should I try bleach? Or just stick with clorhexidine?
 
So, I rethought my replacement plan and here is what I am planning on replacing:

- warm side hide (one of those fake rock ones)
- humid hide (cut and sanded tupperware)
- branch (Exo Terra)

And Keeping:

- dog bowl water bowl
- fake plants (plastic not silky)
- plastic resin branch/tree sculpture

The rest of the stuff is cardboard/tubes which I will toss and do change out every 1-2 weeks or if soiled.

The stuff I am tossing is stuff that I am worried has nooks and crannies bacteria can hide it. The rest of the stuff, I can just soak in cleaning stuff I figured.

Good plan?
 
I would toss the cardboard and replace the substrate with paper towels for the time being.

What you toss or disinfect has to be your comfort zone.

I would disinfect and dry or bake everything else as is needed, unless advised otherwise by the vet. But that's just me.

Good on you for catching this! I wish Jag a speedy recovery. Great dad, too. Good for him!
 
Thanks! Yes I will definitely replace substrate(she is already on papertowels) and toss anything I think will be too hard to thoroughly disinfect. New things are already on the way (amazon). I am glad this wasn't too serious, but still rather stressed still. Keeping a close eye on Jag
 
If you stick the hard stuff in the oven for a while you'll get rid of virtually any bacteria for a while :)
 
UPDATE

So, the replacements for Jag's "furniture" arrived today, everything I was keeping (plastic things) I disinfected with hibiclens (clorhexadine). I emptied the whole viv and cleaned it out with hibiclens (last done about 3 weeks ago). Replaced substrate (papertowels always, not just now) and the furniture. Ordered a new exo terra hide to replace her old rock one, which I was worried could hide bacteria in crevices. Its a good deal on Amazon right now if anyone is looking for a new one. It looks like the rock ones but feels more like a plastic resin so easier to disinfect, and cheaper to replace (both pluses for me!)


And in my frenzy to clean as fast as possible, I dropped and broke her favorite resin branch :( The one that is super expensive and I got on a one-time sale. Uggghhh.


While I was doing cleaning, I put Jag in a holding bin with some warm, damp papertowels because just because she likes to complicate her situation even further, she decided to go into blue on Friday. And I figured 20 minutes in a "humid hide" would be good, because I do not want a bad shed on top of everything else (and Jag probably doesn't either). She does have a humid hide in her viv, but I noticed she hasn't been using, preferring to hunker down in the warm hide. To help encourage her, when I made her viv back up after cleaning I moved it closer to the warm side.


Anyways, Jag has not yet had her shot tonight, so will be doing that soon. And the daily clorhexadin cleaning. The vet didn't write down the concentration, but it is blue so I believe that means 2% ? Is that right? The hibiclens I use for cleaning is pink and 4% (obviously I dilute it to clean first).
 
2% is good, that's what I use for cleaning. It sounds like you've had quite the day. You're doing great though, jag will be happy and healthy in no time.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
I'm so glad you got it cleaned to your liking, but sorry you broke the resin branch. Sending Jag get well wishes!
 
Glad you got to the bottom of everything! When my snakes have needed shots, I've had to bring them in every time. You're lucky your vet lets your dad do it. I even had to take a snake in when the vet wasn't there, so his wife, a cat and dog vet, did it. She was NOT comfortable.
 
Jag has been doing great with her shots and cleanings. She shed 2 or 3 days ago, I wasn't home and the other people in my house noticed it started flaking. The bottom 2/3 came off in one clean piece, and the top of her head came off (including spectacles). From under her chin to 1/3 down her belly did not come off. I ran her through a warm washcloth and got most of it off. Now there is about a 2 inch section under her chin. I ran her through a washcloth again tonight and gently peeled some pieces off (I know that's generally a bad idea, but she wasn't at all upset). She is desperate to get it off, she is rubbing on everything, I feel so badly for her. Normally, I would soak in 1 cm of warm water with a towel on the bottom in a tub to create a "sauna" but I don't know if sitting in warm water is a good idea for her considering she is being treated for an infection in her vent. Any suggestions on getting the rest off? I'm running out of ideas, and I was so desperate as to pull some of it off which I know I really should not do and will not do as the rest of this piece is so close to her head.
 
You could use some shed ease (zoomed) to keep it soft and flexible until it comes off. That's what I used on Mandy's stuck tail shed when I was acclimating her and thought a bath would be counter productive.

Glad she's doing well otherwise!
 
I just did the clorhexadine wipe, unfortunately the "white bump" (the infection) looks a little worse when I bend her tail back and her vent looks a tad swollen. I will be sure a very close eye is kept on it the next couple of days and update my vet. To help with that last bit of shed until I can pick up some shed-ease, I replaced the papertowels in her moist hide with some spangum moss, which tends to hold a higher humidity better. I baked the moss first, to kill off any bugs (I bought it at a petstore a couple of months ago). Do you think the moss is okay to use even though she has an infection? Or should I stay with damp paper towels since they are "cleaner."
 
And of course 5 minutes after I put the moss it, I switched it out getting nervous back for papertowels. I don't like to do too much messing with her viv now, I just decided I don't want to change a variable that could interfere with healing or add stress. Thank you for the link though, I might switch back again later this week.
 
Couldn't you add a little chlorhexidine to the water you're going to soak her in? I don't have any experience with that kind of thing, but I know people have suggested a "weak tea strength" diluted betadine soak for other snake afflictions like scale rot or minor injuries.

A soak in a very diluted chlorhexidine (or betadine) bath with some paper towels in the bottom, not only would she get a chance stay in for a while without worrying about bacteria, but the weak chlorhexidine could help a little with the infected area.

Just a thought, dunno if it's do-able.
 
Thanks! I am currently swiping her vent with a cotton ball soaked in clorhexadine daily as per vet's instruction. I'll ask him about doing that to make the soak safer. I was just worried about the bacteria breeding in the warm, moist environment of a soak. But that's a good idea.
 
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