Re-hydrating the Dehydrated

[ConcinusMan]

I have something to say about this. Both pedialyte AND gatorade contain sodium and sugars. Both are formulated to rehydrate mammals and provide an influx of simple carbohydrates to the muscles. The important thing here is to realize that water/salt balance in reptiles is not achieved in the same way as it is in mammals. There are key differences in how a reptilian kidney works vs. a mammalian kidney. Differences that allow us to consume solutions contain sodium/sugar at levels that would be potentially fatal to a reptile. There's really not much difference between pedialyte and gatorade.

Pedialyte:

INGREDIENTS: , WATER, DEXTROSE, (SUGAR!) LESS THAN 2% OF: , POTASSIUM CITRATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID, AND , ZINC GLUCONATE.

Gatorade:

Pretty much the same except that the sugar is a sucrose-dextrose combination,(still just sugar) and there are artificial colors, flavors, and brominated vegetable oil.

Gatorade G2 contains sucralose, an artificial sweetener more commonly known by the brand name "Splenda" which reduces the calories of regular gatorade.

Whenever I encounter a severely dehydrated snake, I let it drink a bit, then make it stop. Wait a while, let it drink again, and so on. That seems to be all that is needed. Allowing the snake to drink too much at once usually just causes it to die right away or vomit up most of what it drinks.