Need some help with two rescued BCIs

spix14 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 12:52 AM

So the husband came home today with a box. I had my fingers crossed that it was just rats, but, no such luck. He pops into a dodgy pet store in Houston every so often to look around, and has gotten to know the owner-he seems to be an ok enough guy but just doesn't know diddly about herps. He gave both snakes to my husband for free in the hopes that we could do something to help them (why he couldn't take them to the vet, I don't know, but that's a tale for another day I suppose).

We now have two adult BCIs that are in pretty sorry shape. Supposedly they are a M/F pair. Both have mites in a bad way. No biggie, I know how to treat mites. The male is a little wheezy with a bit of mucus and (of course) stuck shed and eyecaps. I gave him a good soak, and overall he seems to be in decent enough shape-still quite strong and active, only a smidge underweight, basically nothing a couple weeks of decent care with proper heat won't take care of.

The female however is in bad shape. I took a look in her mouth and the poor girl has not a tooth in her head. Her glottis is swollen badly enough that I'm not sure she can use her tongue at all. I haven't seen her smell around yet. There were also chunks of I don't know what all around the edges of her mouth-they looked whitish and pretty nasty. I cleaned off what I could with a q-tip but I didn't want to mess with her too much-poor thing is probably stressed enough. I have never seen mouth rot in person before, but I'd hazard a guess that's what this is?

Now-the soonest I can get this girl to a vet is Monday. I simply don't have the funds for an e-vet and frankly I don't really have them for a regular vet either (husband just finished his classes for his new job) but I can't let her just sit and whither away. I have a vet tech friend who might be able to help me out if this is a (relatively) simple fix. Anyone else had to deal with this? Anything I can do in the meantime to make her more comfortable? She's on paper towels, got a red heat light on, big hide box, and a towel thrown over the cage ATM.

And on a separate note-what are the female's chances of recovery? Is she going to be able to eat properly, lacking teeth, or will I have to force feed? I don't want to put her through the wringer and draw out her suffering if her quality of life is going to be lousy. On the up side she doesn't appear to have lost too much weight as of yet, so she's got that going for her at least. She's also well hydrated.

Anyway, help please. All I wanted was a lazy saturday afternoon.

PitPyBoa · #2 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:02 AM

Sounds like the female has a SERIOUS case of mouth rot and a possible RI to go along with it. Please get her to a vet asap!

Amazon · #3 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:32 AM

I'm by far no expert on taking care of sick boas, but I would think that once you get her mouth rot and possible RI taken care of, she will be able to eat. Boas can regrow teeth that they have lost, so hopefully, given enough time, she should be fine. Good luck at the vet's! I hope it's not too serious.

spix14 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amazon

I'm by far no expert on taking care of sick boas, but I would think that once you get her mouth rot and possible RI taken care of, she will be able to eat. Boas can regrow teeth that they have lost, so hopefully, given enough time, she should be fine. Good luck at the vet's! I hope it's not too serious.

Oh yeah, I know she can regrow them, I just wasn't sure how long it would take, and if she would need to eat before then. I already have no idea when the last time she ate was. Though I suppose the other issues are more pressing ATM.

PitPyBoa · #5 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:39 AM

I wouldn't worry about feeding her until the mouth rot is taken care of. She probably wouldn't eat anyway as it could be painful for her (hence her being underweight).
Might try to get her to drink a little to keep her from being dehydrated but don't force the issue. Once the mouth rot is taken care of, she should be fine. I hope

Amazon · #6 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spix14

Oh yeah, I know she can regrow them, I just wasn't sure how long it would take, and if she would need to eat before then. I already have no idea when the last time she ate was. Though I suppose the other issues are more pressing ATM.

Oh ok. Yeah, in my experience, a stressed out snake WILL NOT eat... so I would first worry about the other issues before you try feeding her.

Good luck! and keep us posted...

LukaTisus · #7 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 01:41 AM

Definitely sounds like stomatitis (mouthrot). The 'lack' of teeth could be that her gum tissue is swollen so much that the skin sheaths are swelled well up over the teeth themselves.

She's definitely in need of a vet visit at this time. When removing the cheesy, white crap from her gums, be very careful you don't get any broken off bits in her mouth in a way she can swallow them. Dunno if it's 100% true or not, but I heard they could develop an infection in the trachea if the mouth-rot plaques got down there somehow.

Good luck with them! Quarantine them both for sure!!

spix14 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukaTisus

Definitely sounds like stomatitis (mouthrot). The 'lack' of teeth could be that her gum tissue is swollen so much that the skin sheaths are swelled well up over the teeth themselves.

She's definitely in need of a vet visit at this time. When removing the cheesy, white crap from her gums, be very careful you don't get any broken off bits in her mouth in a way she can swallow them. Dunno if it's 100% true or not, but I heard they could develop an infection in the trachea if the mouth-rot plaques got down there somehow.

Good luck with them! Quarantine them both for sure!!

The teeth along the outside of her top and lower jaw are gone for sure, as the tissue there isn't swollen. I can't tell for sure about the palantine rows though, as it looked fairly swollen there.

That's a bit worrisome about the bits breaking off though, as I could see bits farther back in her throat when I initially opened her mouth to look around.

I guess I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.

They are most definitely quarantined. They have a room all to themselves. We even changed clothes before we came back into the room with our other snakes, just to be on the safe side.

Sakara · #9 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 11:46 PM

wow... poor snakes... that female sounds terrible

I really hope she can pull through... Vet is the next step... Good luck with them and keep us updated

spix14 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 03:27 AM

Minor update-vet appointment is tomorrow! The female is already acting a little better, just from having her mouth cleaned up a bit and proper heating and whatnot. She's more feisty today, and not being so limp and listless. She actually close mouth struck at me today. I take it as a good sign, haha.

PitPyBoa · #11 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 03:33 AM

Could be! Good luck with the vet tomorrow and let us all know what happens. Take pics too if you like

spix14 · #12 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 04:01 AM

I'll get pics up as soon as I can borrow a camera. Mine went kaput on me.

PitPyBoa · #13 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 04:09 AM

Aww, no worries. More important that the snakey gets to the vet and you're taking care of that. Again, huge good wishes that the snake makes a full recovery.

spix14 · #14 (**permalink**) 03-10-2010, 06:05 AM

Got the female to the vet! He's got her on antibiotic injections and told me to up her heat for a bit and keep a close watch on her. She does indeed have mouthrot and a RI. I'm pleased to say that she is perking up quickly-still wheezy, but much, much feistier. Her mouth is less swollen than it was, and she's going into blue as we speak-looking forward to getting those eyecaps off the poor girl.

LukaTisus-I'm pleased to say you were right, and she does have more teeth than I'd thought-not all of them, but she's not all gums either. Guess that means I need to be more cautious about her front end.

We gave the male a good long soak today and got all his stuck shed off of him. He must have had three or four stuck eyecaps on him. He's quite a looker and is at a better weight than i thought he was with all that skin stuck on him. I think he's gonna be just fine.

Terrible cell phone pic:

So, happily we are steadily improving. I'm in the process of knocking out the mites too.

Sakara · #15 (**permalink**) 03-10-2010, 06:23 AM

glad they are finally getting good care! I hope they both pull through for you

spix14 · #16 (**permalink**) 03-24-2010, 05:58 AM

Update again-they are both doing great! Both have shed fully, no more mites, no more wheezing, and they both ate pre-killed for me today without a hitch! I'm so relieved. I figured feeding might be the last hurdle to get over, but they both have great feeding responses.

Now they just need names!

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