Gail's garter - the snake kind silly.

[guidofatherof5]

Very nice.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

The picture is to cute

[ConcinusMan]

You should tell that to vagrans.Snakes are easily digested because of they are basically all muscle and protein is easily digested.When a snake dies after eating another snake it's usually because it's to big and struggles causing internal hemorrhaging.

Keratin, which is a protein, is not digested easily, if at all. That includes claws/our fingernails, hair, horns, feathers, and that layer of skin that your snake sheds off periodically. It is similar to chitin, (insect exoskeleton) which also cannot be digested.

And I've seen pythons die when their owners fed them dead meals that were too large. Some of them even "exploded" so to speak. If a meal cannot be digested in a timely manner, it begins to ferment from the inside, then gas can build up so fast that the snake doesn't have time to vomit, (they can't just burp out gas like we do) so the snake simply explodes from the gas pressure. This is why I don't like to stuff babies with oversized meals.

[ConcinusMan]

Gail...Cee Cee was diagnosed with chronic respiratory problems. The vet said it probably had to do with her living outside for a couple of years before I had her. This is why she is so sensitive to dusty substrate. You may want to take Zena to a vet and see if she has chronic RIs. When Cee Cee's breathing acts up...I increase the temp and humidity in her tank and she usually feels better in a day or so. I also, like you, am very careful about which substrate I use. But if her breathing gets really bad...she has to go on a course of antibiotics.

Any sign of Cleo?

Sounds like a generic answer a vet uses to ensure a customer that they know what they are doing, even though they don't have a real answer. Just to clarify, "chronic respiratory problems" is not the same as RI. It's also not a diagnosis. RI is an infection and it requires antibiotics or it will eventually kill the snake. Antibiotics will work if it's bacterial. Different antibiotics will work if its fungal. If it's viral, good luck.

How long have you had Cee Cee? Not long enough to determine what is chronic and what is not, I suspect. You can't just "take them to see a vet to see if she has chronic RI's". She either keeps having RI's and has to keep being treated for them, or she hasn't. The former would be "chronic respiratory problems"

Now, unless your vet bothered with a transtracheal wash and did a culture on it to rule out fungal causes and/or did tests to rule out parasitic causes, then you're not treating the primary problem. Then, "her breathing gets really bad...she has to go on a course of antibiotics" will continue to happen. Unfortunately, that's only because you're treating a secondary infection with the antibiotics, which will prevent fatal pneumonia but it won't treat the underlying cause of her "chronic respiratory" problems, which as I mentioned, are probably not caused by the bacteria you're fighting off with the antibiotics.

"chronic respiratory problems" that keep coming back, with or without a secondary bacterial infection that clears up with antibiotics, are extremely difficult to diagnose the underlying cause which can be a virus which are difficult if not impossible to test for so they are often missed. If the vet sees clear signs of a bacterial infection, they treat it with a popular antibiotic such as Baytril, and leave it at that. That leaves the primary cause undiagnosed and untreated so your snake just keeps getting secondary bacterial infections. Each time your snake gets one, there is an increasing chance that the secondary bacterial infection will become resistent to the antibiotics until eventually, you've spend all your money, the antibiotics aren't working, and the snake dies anyway.

All because the primary cause wasn't diagnosed or treated. Some viral infections can't be diagnosed though because there is no test for them. Instead the vet just said your snake has "chronic respiratory problems" which is not a diagnosis.

Now the snake in this thread has an RI is what I think, which hasn't been treated. If it's treated with antibiotics and it goes away, then it's simply a bacterial (the most common kind) RI. The longer such an infection goes untreated, the worse off the snake is, and the damage done will make the snake more vulerable to repeatedly returning (chronic) infections. The sooner it's treated, the better the outcome and like I said, if you see the obvious signs, which you do, it's already been there a longer time than you even noticed, and it's advanced. Next stage is moving into the lung and then it's over.

Sorry for the long post/editing but there is a lot to say about this. Too many posts are oversimplifiying the issue like that vet did.

[kueluck]

I've been able to get a little of the retained eye cap, but there is still some there. I've put her in moist warm shed box, put a shed aid on this twice a day, used a moist warm towel and gently rubbed the eyeball, but this is not letting go. When rubbing this, I can feel the "tug" of the edge, but can't get a hold of it. She is such a sweetheart about this, and even with all the pinning her down and "man handling" she has not tried to bit me, or musk or eliminate on me either. She just kinda gives me the look as if to say "why are you doing this to me, I thought you loved me?" Would a Vet be able to help me or should I wait until her next shed and see what happens? She is real dull, so I hope she'll go into shed soon.
Zena 10-23-12.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

I have never had a problem waiting until the next shed happens. Sometimes the retained cap can fuse back to the new lens. If it doesn't pop off with minimal assistance I would leave it alone, you don't want to damage the eye.

[kueluck]

Thanks Steve. It's been driving me nuts since I've read about retained eye caps being the cause of eye infections then blindness. She's been such a sweetheart through this whole thing.

[ConcinusMan]

Good advice steve. You don't want to go ripping a retained cap off if it's already fused. If you catch it right away, like right after your snake just shed, sometimes just a gentle rub with a pencil eraser will break it loose.

[kueluck]

I just don't know how I missed this, but I'm going to wait for the next shed and if it doesn't come off then, well off to the Vet it is. I thought I had seen both caps on her shed in July, but then I've also gotten stronger reading glasses since then too. I got a magnifying glass to do a good inspection from now on.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Sometimes a dab of mineral oil helps with eye caps.

i just don't know how i missed this, but i'm going to wait for the next shed and if it doesn't come off then, well off to the vet it is. I thought i had seen both caps on her shed in july, but then i've also gotten stronger reading glasses since then too. I got a magnifying glass to do a good inspection from now on.