Is my Rainbow Boas dying?

[Chelseafeatonby]

About 6 months ago I bought a Rain Bow Boa off of an old couple. He has been perfectly fine, very tame, lovely colour and shine to him. He's around 10 months old and about 3ft. He had a problem with feeding for the first month and I had to assist feed him but he has been fine recently strike feeding 2 mediums a week. His viv has always been fine and humid for him.

2 weeks ago my other half bought me a speckled red tail boa for my birthday - hatchling - he's in his own small viv.

A few days after this I noticed some mites on my rainbow boa, I don't know if this is a coincidence or not. I took everything out of his viv, cleaned and hoovered it and put this water bowl and hiding cave in the oven.

I've been bathing him every other day and wrapping him firmly in paper towels and everything has seemed fine.

I went home on my lunch yesterday and checked on him - he seemed limp and for a moment I thought he had died. I put him in his water bowel and he started drinking and opening his mouth really wide like he had something caught on the side of his mouth or so to speak, like he was gagging.

I immediately cleaned his viv out gave him fresh water and sprayed the tank. This morning he has moved from his usual spot so it looks like he's gained a bit of energy and has been able to move.

Do I leave him to see if he perks up over the day or do I seek some sort of help? I did go to the local vets last weekend and they said to have a look online at forums and buy some mite killer online but I'm scared to as I've read about peoples snakes dying because they've used the mite repellent in the wrong way.

[Reptilegal]

I'm not 100% sure but I heard that a snake keeping it's mouth open could mean a respiratory infection?

[SnakeyJay]

Look inside his mouth for sticky mucus... If you give us some info we may be able to help...
Hot and cold end temperatures, humidity, how your heating the viv. And also if there's anything else out of the ordinary going on with him. He definately shouldn't be limp and that's not a good sign... I'd say take him to a vets ASAP to be sure he's ok.

One thing I will say is don't assist/force feed him again unless he's lost lots of weight. A month of not eating is nothing to a snake that's healthy and force feeding will do more damage with stress than anything else. Goodluck :)

[CDN_Blood]

Force feeding is an absolute last resort and usually has adverse effects. I have a mature Rainbow boa here which stopped eating for 8 full months and kept shedding every 5 weeks like clockwork the entire time, so that'll give you an idea of how unnecessary force (or assist) feeding is.

When you say he's 'strike feeding 2 mediums a week', exactly what does that mean?

I have a juvenile Rainbow boa also, which is about 3 feet and it's fed a medium rat every 5-6 weeks which is more than adequate and I have to make sure it gets plenty of exercise between feedings to keep the extra weight it gains from that turning into muscle, so I'm assuming you're feeding it medium mice, which is simply not going to cut it. At 3 feet long, medium mice are a waste of it's time and it knows it, so I would strongly suggest increasing the size of those food items so it's more inclined to eat on it's own.

As for treatment of mites, you really need to get that done and you can find out what's available to you in your country with some online searching for products and methods. Follow the instructions you find very carefully and you shouldn't have any problems.

[CDN_Blood]

OK, I've done some digging at a trusted source and I think your best bet for treating mites in the UK is to use Permethrin, so do some searching for the correct usage of that with reptiles and you should get good results.

[Jay]

This is why you quarantine.

[Lankyrob]

Order Provent - a - Mite from Ebay, its expensive but has been highly recommended by an extremely reliable source (Shaunyboy).

[mykee]

What Jay said X2.
ABSOLUTELY imperative.
When will people learn?!

[Wildside]

See if you can get some Ivomec at a feed store. The dosage is 1cc per 32 oz.

[Chelseafeatonby]

Quarantine? Everything was and has been fine till now.

I've owned a number of snakes and never seemed to have a problem.

[Chelseafeatonby]

This is why you quarantine.
What would I possibly need to Quarantine?

[Lankyrob]

What would I possibly need to Quarantine?


ANY snake or lizard that is brought into a collection carries the risk of bringing parasites or pathogens into the collection that could wipe out all existing snakes.

It is recommended to quarantine new animals, changing clothes, sterilising any "tools" and never cross contaminating for at least 6 months BEFORE the new snake/lizard comes even into the same room as the other snakes.

[shaunyboy]

PROVENT A MITE,is what i use

its always worked first time every time for me

you only have to treat once

you do NOT put it directly onto the snake

it remains active for 30 days,so it's good for spraying quarantine tanks,the days before a new snake arrives

re quarantine
it's important to quarantine,EVERY NEW animal being added to our collection,we never know what health problems they may be bringing with them

i quarantine ALL new snakes for 6 months,before putting them into my snake room

cheers shaun

[Jay]

What would I possibly need to Quarantine?

Serious question?