Went to the vet!!!
Well, we went to the vet, who happens to be a pretty big deal in the herp world. I bought his book and he signed it for me. (Told ya I am a dork) I asked him if he knew Jim McAllister and he said he sure did. That is awesome! That is who my brother studied herpetology under. Jim is unbelievable!! Anyway, it was neat to know and to also know that this doctor is on the executive herp board in our part of the state. So, I sure trusted Billy with him. Oh and Billy is indeed Billy, a boy through and through. He did tell me that although Billy is right at 4 feet long, he is only about a year, year and a half old. This is why his head is so small and he can't take the small rats. Whew! We were thinking he was around 3 years old. But Billy is in excellent shape and is very healthy. No parasites or anything else that looks potentially bad. He hasn't heard of anyone losing this guy either. He did say that Billy would bring some good money at a reptile show here and that whoever owned him must be crazy with the loss of him. But no one has put up signs or called the pet stores or vets offices. Weird... And you would think that with this doctor being the reptile specialists that everyone sees in this area, they certainly would have left a notice there. He did tell me that he would, just to be on the safe side since we don't know what he ate while he was on his own, suggest giving him a dose of wormer. It wouldn't hurt and this stuff has an appetite enhancer. Gee, thanks! LOL! I told him to do whatever needed to be done to keep Billy healthy. He took it really well and then we snuggled him up for comfort. This stuff also has an antibiotic in it. I couldn't tell ya the name of it, the name was very strange. OH! Hehehehe! They said since he is a butter that we should have named him Fabio because of the commercials! LOL! I think we will stick with Butter Billy.
I told them that I had most of y'all and my brother to be thankful to for all the great advice and words of encouragement. He said it sounds like Billy has a great new home and I am doing everything right.
~A question though, the doctor's assistant told me that she doesn't use anything but newspaper because she doesn't want to run the risk of her snakes getting an upper respiratory infection from tunneling, then pooping and then tunneling back through the poop. Billy always poops in the same spot and I clean it up immediately. The doctor came in and I told him what she had said and he said he wouldn't worry and he hardly ever sees a sick snake because of that. Have any of y'all had problems with this kind of thing??? He loves his aspen and I hate to take it out, ya know?
Oh! She also told me that even though Billy has the uth, in the day time I should have a heat lamp on top of the viv and then to turn it off at night. I thought that might get too hot and she said that he could bask and would like it and he would know day time from night time. BUT he knows day time from night time because his viv is in my bedroom and it is nice and bright. As soon as the sun starts going down, he is out of his hide and exploring all night. Correct me if I am wrong but don't they bask to absorb heat??? If he has the uth, and stays in his warm hide during the day absorbing that heat, is the lamp necessary? I have one so, it's no big deal but I took it off when I got the uth.
