Ashley Caspillo-SakaraGT4/Sakara *Possible Buyer Beware!*

(OH and I meant real knowledge versus me not knowing anything NOT you guys, you guys are an amazing amazing help)

by the way, dont know how aggressive you wanna get at this time, but blood samples can be obtained and sent out. also, if your herp vet is comfortable doing a liver biopsy, it will just be some light sedation and probably and ultrasound (most vets now days have at least a little cheapy one to see vital organs and for quick diagnosis of fluid in chest, bladder stones, etc)

Make sure when making the vet. appointment you tell them that there is a chance the animal has IBD. Just like when a dog is suspected of Parvo, they take special precautions to bring those types of animals into the building.

Ok and if this behavior happens again I will remember: video, not pics. Does it help if I just tell you he was REALLY still while his head was upside down, and then when he moved he moved really slow, almost with half-movements? Does that mean anything at all as far as chemical vs IBD?

Originally Posted by ShadowAceD

Make sure when making the vet. appointment you tell them that there is a chance the animal has IBD. Just like when a dog is suspected of Parvo, they take special precautions to bring those types of animals into the building.

I am planning on doing that.

Originally Posted by reticguy76

i am not a herp vet, but ive been in veterinary medicine now for close to 15 years and have owned reptiles a long time now, i have never seen or heard of a true diagnosis of mites causing neurological issue. i have seen mites as one of the rule-out or differential diagnosis in a neurological snake. now, that being said, chemicals that are being used to treat a mite infestation, i have seen cause neurological issues, but usually resolve with time (assuming the keeper recognizes the signs and gets to a vet fairly soon). but i have never seen a legal medical record stating as a single diagnosis "mites or mite infestation"
where im going with this, is that the three things that are generally resposnible for causing continued neurological issues in snakes, temperature (usually too hot in its microenvironment, chemicals (either cleaning or treating for parasites), and ibd.

i would assume that as a keeper, your temps are probably correct. i would say, that chemicals could be a part in it or be causing it, and/or ibd. if its chemicals, it should hopefully stop acting neuro once chemicals are stopped. if it continues and/or gets worse, ibd is highly highly suspect.

all of this is, or course, based on if that snake is actually neurologic and not just laying that way for a period of time

a video, and some handling would definately be beneficial

Not to undermine your 15 years of vet experience, but NO ONE said anything about Mites causing the symptoms. It was mentioned that Elizabeth has already had a Corn snake show neuro symptoms from treating for the mites using CHEMICALS.

However, if that was the case, it would have popped up shortly after treatment, not several days. Not ruling it out as a possibility, however.

A soak isn't going to hurt, however I would definitely advise a vet and close monitoring and I would remove that snake from the room if it is anywhere near any others, even if I had to stick it in a bathroom.

go to youtube and type in boa with ibd. there is a video of someone handling a boa with ibd (or at least what ibd looks like) i dont know how they diagnosed it with ibd or anything, but basically, ibd looks like that and gets worse, not better, unlike similar type symptoms with chemicals and temperature, that can be corrected.

i had a snake acting neuro like that a few years back, i didnt know what the hell was wrong, i realized i was using too concentrated cleaning agents. once i diluted it more and left him out of his cage longer while the fumes evaporated, never had anymore problems.

no no, courtney, i was saying that in general, i have heard and seen many people in general (not necessarily particular to this thread), that their snakes had mites and thats why it became neuro and died. just stating generally

i know there is thought that mites can potentially cause neuro type sysmptoms due to the potential of anemia and other potential toxemia issues, but that has yet to be proven also.
my apologies if i made it seem like this thread was the source of my saying that

Gotcha..
The IBD video helps somewhat, but as you know, every death involving IBD is different, so someone's snake that dies of IBD may or may not show CNS or even if it does, it may not be severe. May just be little subtle signs, or full blown, or nothing at all.