Tari-Q
Active Member
So I have been debating whether or not to share this story until I had some sort of definite answer, but the more it goes on the more it looks like I may NEVER get a definite answer.
So here goes nothing.
I have a little Uluru woma python who has been sick for quite some time. I have been keeping snakes for a few years now and have never had one health issue whatsoever until her. I give my snakes UV light, I use B1 Dimming Thermostats and I keep very detailed records of feeding, shedding and defecating history. I also get my snakes checked regularly at Brisbane Bird and Exotics Vet, which is (arguably) one of the best reptile vets in the country. I would like to think that my husbandry is pretty good and that any problems with my snakes are caused by other things.
So I got little Pali at the start of April this year. Within a few weeks of bringing her home she looked as though she was coming up to a shed. She had a great feeding response, she was active and was just a dream to handle. However, she never shed. She just kept looking worse and worse and worse and started going off her food. This was all around mid May. I gave her daily warm baths, made sure her temp did not drop below 35 degrees and by mid July rushed her to the vet (Brisbane Bird and Exotics) convinced she was at death's door. My vet wanted to rule out any husbandry problems before taking things further so I upped her temperature to 40 degrees and doubled my effort to get her feeding. The increase in temperature seemed to help and she started feeding again. And then one day I came home and YES! She had started to shed. However by the next day she had only managed her head so I had to assist shed the rest .. and even being super careful, soaking her in warm water, using vitamin e cream and repti mist I still managed to remove some of the scales underneath the shed.
Then she started drinking A LOT. This concerned me so she was rushed back to the vet for a blood test to check for infection. They managed to get her to poo at the vet as well, and took a mouth swab. Poo was clear, mouth was clear, no sign of infection in her blood but strangely she was anemic. She was also looking again like she was going to shed so I continued with her daily baths and vitamin e cream. At this point the vet was starting to get worried and because of her drinking so much (which she was still doing) we decided to do a blood test to check for organ function (I was pretty dead set sure her kidneys were screwed). I had thought that maybe she was drinking so much because one night I felt a hard lump just near her cloaca and so I eased it out slowly and out came a big, hard chunk of urate and then a flood of urine, but even after that she was still guzzling water. So off we went again and had the test. And this is where stuff gets really weird.
Kidneys: Working perfectly
Liver: Working perfectly
Blood Sugar: Very low
Pancreas: Not working properly.
So apparently all three vets at BBEVs had to sit down and try and figure out a plan of action for my little snake. What they came up with was to treat for any irritation to the pancreas so she was sent home with a series of antibiotic injections I had to give her, and a 5 day course of an oral anti-inflammatory.
So today off we went again to see if she needed another course of antibiotics. She had another blood test to check for any infection and to see if she was still anemic. The vet seemed quite happy with how she was looking and how her abdomen was feeling (it had initially been distended and swollen) and she had even put on some weight! The vet called me back this afternoon with the results and, to my great relief, no sign of infection and her red blood cell count was at a normal level which means no more anemia! She still has to go back next week for another bio-chem test to re-check her organ function, but for now I like to think that we are doing alright. I have to keep feeding her regularly (small food items twice a week to keep her blood sugar level up) and weigh her daily.
So over $700 later and we still don't have an answer and there are still some expensive tests to go before this is all over. I wonder if anyone has ever heard of anything like this? Maybe I have a diabetic snake, maybe I don't but I think it is a really interesting case.
Tari
So here goes nothing.
I have a little Uluru woma python who has been sick for quite some time. I have been keeping snakes for a few years now and have never had one health issue whatsoever until her. I give my snakes UV light, I use B1 Dimming Thermostats and I keep very detailed records of feeding, shedding and defecating history. I also get my snakes checked regularly at Brisbane Bird and Exotics Vet, which is (arguably) one of the best reptile vets in the country. I would like to think that my husbandry is pretty good and that any problems with my snakes are caused by other things.
So I got little Pali at the start of April this year. Within a few weeks of bringing her home she looked as though she was coming up to a shed. She had a great feeding response, she was active and was just a dream to handle. However, she never shed. She just kept looking worse and worse and worse and started going off her food. This was all around mid May. I gave her daily warm baths, made sure her temp did not drop below 35 degrees and by mid July rushed her to the vet (Brisbane Bird and Exotics) convinced she was at death's door. My vet wanted to rule out any husbandry problems before taking things further so I upped her temperature to 40 degrees and doubled my effort to get her feeding. The increase in temperature seemed to help and she started feeding again. And then one day I came home and YES! She had started to shed. However by the next day she had only managed her head so I had to assist shed the rest .. and even being super careful, soaking her in warm water, using vitamin e cream and repti mist I still managed to remove some of the scales underneath the shed.
Then she started drinking A LOT. This concerned me so she was rushed back to the vet for a blood test to check for infection. They managed to get her to poo at the vet as well, and took a mouth swab. Poo was clear, mouth was clear, no sign of infection in her blood but strangely she was anemic. She was also looking again like she was going to shed so I continued with her daily baths and vitamin e cream. At this point the vet was starting to get worried and because of her drinking so much (which she was still doing) we decided to do a blood test to check for organ function (I was pretty dead set sure her kidneys were screwed). I had thought that maybe she was drinking so much because one night I felt a hard lump just near her cloaca and so I eased it out slowly and out came a big, hard chunk of urate and then a flood of urine, but even after that she was still guzzling water. So off we went again and had the test. And this is where stuff gets really weird.
Kidneys: Working perfectly
Liver: Working perfectly
Blood Sugar: Very low
Pancreas: Not working properly.
So apparently all three vets at BBEVs had to sit down and try and figure out a plan of action for my little snake. What they came up with was to treat for any irritation to the pancreas so she was sent home with a series of antibiotic injections I had to give her, and a 5 day course of an oral anti-inflammatory.
So today off we went again to see if she needed another course of antibiotics. She had another blood test to check for any infection and to see if she was still anemic. The vet seemed quite happy with how she was looking and how her abdomen was feeling (it had initially been distended and swollen) and she had even put on some weight! The vet called me back this afternoon with the results and, to my great relief, no sign of infection and her red blood cell count was at a normal level which means no more anemia! She still has to go back next week for another bio-chem test to re-check her organ function, but for now I like to think that we are doing alright. I have to keep feeding her regularly (small food items twice a week to keep her blood sugar level up) and weigh her daily.
So over $700 later and we still don't have an answer and there are still some expensive tests to go before this is all over. I wonder if anyone has ever heard of anything like this? Maybe I have a diabetic snake, maybe I don't but I think it is a really interesting case.
Tari
Has anyone ever had a similar situation with another snake?
