Bob,
Since your snake is losing weight, and its mouth is agape (as if panting), we're not talking about a seasonal eating hiatus. There are two routes that I'm considering. One is that she may have a B1 deficiency. This would make her lethargic, have a poor appetite, and lose weight, at first.
Do you feed her goldfish or another fish that contains thiaminase? Check out this post for more info on species with thiaminase (
Thiaminase and a Hello to you all.).
The other possibility is that your snakes could have parasites. I'm assuming that you've checked for
mites. If not, rub a damp white paper towel over your snake... particularily around the eyes and vent. Then look for tiny, dark mites crawling around on the paper towel. They often hide between the scales, so rub the snakes down a few times before saying they're clear.
Internal parasites are a little more difficult to diagnose at home. Since you haven't gotten a good look at the feces,
can you smell whether they've defecated when you walk in the room? This would be a dead give-away that they're infested. If the problem snake is wild-caught, parasites are even more likely, and your snakes should be treated anyway.
Regardless of the exact problem, which we're trying to identify,
treatment for most problems begins with their enclosure. The first thing to do, even if you SUSPECT a problem, is to go back to square one. Remove everything from the enclosure, and clean everything thoroughly, including the enclosure itself. Use soap and hot water. Then squirt everything down with a 5-10% bleach solution. A spray bottle works great. Leave the bleach on everything for about 10 minutes, then thoroughly rinse everything off. Put your old cage furnishings outside in a bag in the freezing cold, if you live in a cold place.
You want your "
quarantine" enclosures to be VERY simple. One snake per enclosure, and use white paper towels as the substrate. The paper towels can be over newspaper if you prefer. Give each a small water bowl and a hiding place or two. The goal is to be able to see EVERYTHING that's going on and to remove places where parasites could hide. You also want to change the substrate often... every time it gets soiled. Re-clean and disinfect the enclosure approximately weekly until this snake is looking/acting better (unless we find a specific problem that needs more frequent cleaning).
I noticed from your previous posts that you have a 32" wandering garter that has been eating well, so I assume we're talking about different snakes.
Is the sick one also a wandering garter? If so, they can stand a bit warmer temperatures than many. Raise the temperature up near 90 degrees F to give her immune system a boost, but let the temp fall to the upper 80s at night.
Finally, what I meant by the previous eating question is whether or not she shows interest in food.
Does she flick her tongue rapidly and come over to investigate? Does she "mouth" food but not swallow it? Does she just ignore it?
One more thing to rule out...
does she have any hard spots (or a single large "mass") near her stomach (almost 1/2 way between her head and tail)? Trust me, the questions won't go on forever, but we've got to narrow things down a bit. Be sure to wash and disinfect your hands after handling her
.
Rick