not eating - calcium?

[drache]

Jen
I just got to this
has there been any news? did you do the vet visit?
how is Sugar doing?

[ephemerata]

Jen
I just got to this
has there been any news? did you do the vet visit?
how is Sugar doing?

Update on Sugar:
Last week I took Sugar to the specialty reptile vet who looked closer at two things: the bumps and his mouth.

The bumps were my first concern and suspected cause. The xray was to look for metabolic bone disease - specifically bone spur or bony fusion or a bone infection. At his first glance he thought the spine looked OK, but is having their expert take a second look. I am getting a copy - a snake spine is beautiful!

This was the surprise because the pet store said his mouth was fine...but when in a dark room with a flashlight, you could see tiny slightly red blood spots/flushed area of erosion in his mouth. To get a culture to know how to treat it, they had to do a rinse with a tube of sterile liquid all the way down to his lungs, then get it out and take a culture. I had to think hard about allowing this seemingly invasive way to get a culture be done but went ahead because they said it might wash out whatever is wrong too & help it heal. I'll know next week and will probably get whatever kind of antibiotics needed - which can be oral or a shot !?! who ever heard of giving a snake a shot? i won't do it.

When they returned him and I asked about THAT smell (he musked them!) they said they had to turn him upside down and massage the liquid out, along with stretch him out for the xray. so the little guy went through a lot. BTW even though he musked them the vet and the assistant fell in love with Sugar. Even when the macaw in the next room was having a fit he was calm, cool, collected. Everyone who meets him is enchanted and says they have never met a nicer snake!

A good thing is that when I got home and took him swimming to get the smells and liquids off he pooped right away in the warm water: he had not done that for weeks, maybe a month, since he has not been eating.

He is still not eating, in fact an hour ago I tried fresh trout from whole foods and he smelled it but would not indulge even though he acts hungry. The vet did recommend i provide more whole body meals for him (as a vegetarian i was getting into the shortcut of thawed fish over live alternating with live worms) to up his calcium over his phosphorus and increase sunlight. I also brought back his heat pad underneath since it is cooler here this week (less than 100).

..Also, a different post but much debated, the vet said that handling Sugar and cleaning his space is Ok when pregnant... but he is also like me and into probiotics and not germaphobe..probably depends on who you talk to.

cheers

[drache]

who ever heard of giving a snake a shot? i won't do it.

I've given several snakes antibiotic injections, and it's kind of less stressful than forcing their mouth open to slide a tube down their throat
if you have to administer oral antibiotics, you should ask whether you can mix it in with some kind of carnivore care recovery formula and just tube feed him the food while you're at it

He is still not eating, in fact an hour ago I tried fresh trout from whole foods and he smelled it but would not indulge even though he acts hungry. The vet did recommend i provide more whole body meals for him (as a vegetarian i was getting into the shortcut of thawed fish over live alternating with live worms) to up his calcium over his phosphorus and increase sunlight.

some of my difficult eaters were won over by the frozen SF Bay Brand silversides from the petshop, and those are whole fish

Also, a different post but much debated, the vet said that handling Sugar and cleaning his space is Ok when pregnant...

that's good news

[ephemerata]

I've given several snakes antibiotic injections, and it's kind of less stressful than forcing their mouth open to slide a tube down their throat
if you have to administer oral antibiotics, you should ask whether you can mix it in with some kind of carnivore care recovery formula and just tube feed him the food while you're at it

some of my difficult eaters were won over by the frozen SF Bay Brand silversides from the petshop, and those are whole fish
that's good news

thanks rhea
vet just called and culture is fine, there is no reason why sugar is not eating & no need for antibiotics... so i'll keep at trying to feed him & gather a poop- will try a few varieties of fish like the one you say and maybe guppies, so hard though with their beautiful swooshing rainbow tails like aqueous peacocks

they said they could forcefeed him in 2 weeks if he still did not eat, any opinions on this?

[drache]

thanks rhea
vet just called and culture is fine, there is no reason why sugar is not eating & no need for antibiotics... so i'll keep at trying to feed him & gather a poop- will try a few varieties of fish like the one you say and maybe guppies, so hard though with their beautiful swooshing rainbow tails like aqueous peacocks

they said they could forcefeed him in 2 weeks if he still did not eat, any opinions on this?

you're welcome
the SF Bay brand silversides are frozen
many petshops have feeder guppies, which look nothing like the peacocks of the sea you're thinking of - think same shape body in a dull colour with a relatively short no-nonsense tail fin
to me, force feeding is very last resort
sometimes it helps to just back off for a while, leave them alone, let them get hungry and bored in some quiet darkish corner of the house with not much traffic, and then leave them something

[Odie]

to me, force feeding is very last resort
sometimes it helps to just back off for a while, leave them alone, let them get hungry and bored in some quiet darkish corner of the house with not much traffic, and then leave them something

My Red took 2 months off from eating this summer but eat again now