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Still No Answer!

C

Cursed_Witch

New member
Hi Folks,
About a month ago I posted here about my snake Stewie. His scales were coming off. I had taken him to the ER and they knew nothing.
I was advised on here by some really nice people to do a few things that I did and to wait a few weeks to see if he will get better.
Unfortunately he didn't, more scales came off and most of his belly scales feel very loose and soft, the artificial transparent skin is peeling off very easy... some scales look broken in half, underneath that transparent layer, the scales have shrank and look rotten. I know it's not "rotten scale" disease because they are not on his belly or are brown.

Anyway, I took him to see a well renowned vet, even though he was so far from where I live.The vet had NO IDEA what it was, he said he has never seen anything like it (he owns a lot of snakes and reptiles himself). He did notice that almost his entire skin looked like he has dimples.
He got worried because he saw no sign of anything that can cause this. We went over my husbandry and he says it's perfect. He was hoping to see mites so we could have something to work with. He does think it could be some kind of fungal infection/weather related but he did not find anything to send for cultures besides the transparent layer. He did however find from the damaged scales of his belly, something that almost looked like dried puss, but he said it was not enough to send but he will look at it under the microscope.
He has not eaten since Dec 21, not pooped, and not shed since and he been very inactive.
I've done everything in my power (mist, shed box, increase humidity, cover with a towel) to help him shed but nothing. He does not even look like he needs to shed because his colors are so vibrant. The vet kept saying how beautiful he looked.
Out of precaution though, he prescribed some medications hoping it would help.
- Silver Sulfadiazine cream
- Nolvasan solution
- Ceftazadime injections
He also had me make a new shed box, get a new hygrometer (just in case)
He probed him to see if he was really a male of female but the number of scales were inconclusive. So he guessed he's a she.

Yesterday was my first day of treating him with the meds, I prepared the nolvasan solution and I soaked him in there (had to hold him) and out of nowhere he pooped.

I'm hoping that is a good sign.... maybe he was constipated?

Anyone has heard anything like this. Even the vet had no idea....
 
Maybe he pooped from the excitement of a vet visit and being messed around with down there...But he still pooped! I have a bunch of males, and one female, who didn't eat all winter. Have you tried a tasty rat pink? It takes a strong snake to resist that.
 
Nanci said:
Maybe he pooped from the excitement of a vet visit and being messed around with down there...But he still pooped! I have a bunch of males, and one female, who didn't eat all winter. Have you tried a tasty rat pink? It takes a strong snake to resist that.
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about him not eating.. about two years ago he won't on a similar strike, he was just hibernating. And i felt a lot more relieved because a lot of people on here were going through the same.

Im worried about the visible damage I see to his scales. I wish i knew something about it.
I asked the vet if he thought the damage is from him not eating and he said absolutely not.

I have to ask him though when I can try to feed him again.

Whats a rat pink? if you don't mind
 
Like a mouse pink, only a rat. A hairless, newborn rat. It's about the size of a large fuzzy/very small hopper. I feed them FT to hunger strikers, and except for Zee, no one can resist. They may not eat what they are supposed to, but they will all take rat pinks.

I wish he would just shed, see what happens after that.
 
Cursed_Witch said:
Whats a rat pink? if you don't mind
Click to expand...

I think she is referring to a rat pinkie.

He may not be shedding too, because he hasn't been eating correctly. My male who was on a hunger strike, hasn't shed in months. He is losing a bit of weight and I think that is the cause. I am not saying it's the same for you, but just a thought. I did get lucky and a couple of days ago, I enticed him with a hopper mouse and he ate it, when I wasn't looking, ofcourse.

I really hope this works out for you. I feel really bad.

Good Luck

Wayne
 
I hope the meds work. Pus is a sign of infection so hopefully whatever is going on will be cleared up.
 
medusacoils said:
I think she is referring to a rat pinkie.

He may not be shedding too, because he hasn't been eating correctly. My male who was on a hunger strike, hasn't shed in months. He is losing a bit of weight and I think that is the cause. I am not saying it's the same for you, but just a thought. I did get lucky and a couple of days ago, I enticed him with a hopper mouse and he ate it, when I wasn't looking, ofcourse.

I really hope this works out for you. I feel really bad.

Good Luck

Wayne
Click to expand...

Hi Wayne,
He usually eats a small rat.
He's about 4' 11" and the vet weighed him at 4.82 lbs. He didn't look particularly thin. Stewie has always been more a thinner snake.
You're totally right, I am 100% sure he has not shed or pooped because he has not eaten.
I'm going to ask the vet if he thinks I should try to feed him. I'm not so sure if he wants me to keep trying the meds for a few days and not add any stress.

Nancy:
He did not poop the same day he was at the vet, he pooped last night when he was in the water. When the ER saw him and they even took a blood sample from his heart... he still didn't poop.
I'm really hoping that the pooping means he is ready to eat. I will try what you suggested. At least that would fix one issue if he eats... then I'll wait for shedding... but it would still give me no answer on how to stop his scales damage.

How high can I go when I increase the humidity?
The readings in his tank right now are Cold side 71.2F Warm 83.6 F and humidity at 40%. When I misted this morning the humidity went up to 56%
 
danielle said:
I hope the meds work. Pus is a sign of infection so hopefully whatever is going on will be cleared up.
Click to expand...

I hope so too.. thank you
Nice seeing you again, I remember you from last time I posted about him

It did look like a dried yellow substance. Not sure if it was puss but it looked like it. The vet had to cut it out... it was so tiny the size of a tip of a pen
 
Nanci said:
Why do you want to increase the humidity?
Click to expand...

to get him to shed. Maybe if he shes the skin will get better.
The vets office just called me to check on him and i asked them some questions.
The vet is going to call me sometime soon so I can ask him.
She did ask me the humidity levels and when I said 41% she said thats low.
When I misted him this morning the level were 56%

I guess Ill ask the vet that too.
 
I was wondering that too. If he has a skin infection humidity may only help it spread quicker. If he's not eating much he probably in't going to be shedding anytime soon and too much humidity makes nasty science project stuff grow in the cage, lol.
 
danielle said:
I was wondering that too. If he has a skin infection humidity may only help it spread quicker. If he's not eating much he probably in't going to be shedding anytime soon and too much humidity makes nasty science project stuff grow in the cage, lol.
Click to expand...

I don't get it either.
I changed his bedding to paper like somebody suggested. So at least that helps it with not spreading.
 
Increasing the humidity will not force him to go into blue. It would only help if he was in blue.
I am intrigued by his condition because not even a reptile vet was able to figure it out... I hope someone here have some answers/experience for you.
 
Is he in a tank or a tub? Is the water dish plastic? Some corns have been known to have allergic reactions to plastic. I'm not sure if they were anything as bad as what you're describing, though. It almost sounds like a very bad case of scale rot, and if that's the case, you definitely don't want to raise the humidity.
 
i cant give any advice,

but i am sorry your snake is ill and i do hope u find what is the matter with him and u get him back the health asap

nick
 
Thank you all for the posts.
I am so worried about my little guy... and I wish i wasn't disabled so i can take better care of him. I've got too much going and I started feeling guilty about his condition... if it was because of something I did, or missed or just because I have not been giving him as much attention anymore.
 
RobbiesCornField said:
Is he in a tank or a tub? Is the water dish plastic? Some corns have been known to have allergic reactions to plastic. I'm not sure if they were anything as bad as what you're describing, though. It almost sounds like a very bad case of scale rot, and if that's the case, you definitely don't want to raise the humidity.
Click to expand...

He is in a 45 gallon tank. and yes, the water dish is plastic, i had just recently gotten it, he used to have a rock water dish.

this is interesting... plastic allergy. do you know what are the symptoms?

I don't think it's scale rot just because it's not brown.
I'll take some close ups to post
 
I think it'd help if we could see his belly. You may get some opinions on what it is that way. Do you have any pics?


Upping the humidity wont force him into shed, they shed when they grow, and they grow from eating.
 
Cursed_Witch said:
He is in a 45 gallon tank. and yes, the water dish is plastic, i had just recently gotten it, he used to have a rock water dish.

this is interesting... plastic allergy. do you know what are the symptoms?

I don't think it's scale rot just because it's not brown.
I'll take some close ups to post
Click to expand...

I'd get a different bowl and give that a try. I hope your snake gets better.
 
jpccusa said:
Increasing the humidity will not force him to go into blue. It would only help if he was in blue.
I am intrigued by his condition because not even a reptile vet was able to figure it out... I hope someone here have some answers/experience for you.
Click to expand...
Exactly! With a possible skin infection and scale loss, Yes a shed would help, but you can't force it and if he's not in blue or coming out of it, humidity would only make things worse. How are the meds. working? any noticeable improvements? Pics, if possible, would help too.
 
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