is he sick?

[hunterthestimmie]

Hi Everyone,

As usual I'm hoping your all pillars of information and can help me out. My stimmie has been in his cool end hide now for about 3 days and is not moving. When i lift the hide off him he shuffles but isn't making any movements to go back into his hide. Is there something wrong?

Thanks Cathryn

 

[FAY]

maybe going to shed.
You need to give us some more info.
when was his last shed?
last feed? etc

 

[Paulie]

whats the temps of the hot and cool end? any pics of enclosure? and how old is it?

 

[hunterthestimmie]

We've had him now for around 6 weeks and he hasn't shed.. hes 2 years old.. he last fed around 9 days ago.. and hasn't come out roaming for food like he normally does.. hes just so lethargic.. like he couldn't be bothered to move.. didn't want to touch him just in case he gets cranky.

 

[bpb02]

mate my woma has been the same over the last week very lethargic, ive just bumped his temps up a bit but i am thinking maybe the weather has somethign to do with it, its now a fair bit cooler than it was a couple of weeks ago

 

[Kristy_07]

I'd pick him up and see how he responds... my stimmy was hugely responsive to weather and temp. maybe he's just cooling down with the weather?

 

[dtulip10]

temps?

 

[Shilo]

I take it that your stimmie is normally quite active??? When did you last feed as I have I have quite a few different breed's of snakes and sometimes so of mine can be quite still for up to a week after they have feed!!! Check your enclosure for faecal matter as your Stimmie could be constipated and this is a serious ailment in captivity that can often go unnoticed as sometimes this can be confused with neurological disorders such as irregular behavior which can cause a lot of pain. Have a look on his under belly and if you see a plug this could be the problem although sometimes there is'nt a plug. First rub your thumb along the underside starting mid-way towards the cloaca. If a hard faecal plug is found apply gentle pressure with the thumb being careful not to actually try and push the faecal plug out of the cloaca Keep repeating this as this will eventually stimulate it and it should try and push the plug out itself. The hard plug may be noticeable once it starts to push this can end up being very messy as sometimes it can explode from the body followed by a large amount of liquid and gases. If it turns out it's not constipated this will do no harm. A word of caution though do not push or pull the faeces out of the body as this practice may result in a prolapse. A Vet should be consulted in extreme cases. Best of luck home you nail down what could be the issue.

 

[hunterthestimmie]

his temps are around 35 during the day providing my thermostat and thermos are accurate. Should we be providing heat at night. And yes hes usually very very active at night. In face he provides us with much entertainment when hes hooning around his enclosure. Just some info on his enclosure.. itsa 4ft by 1.5ft by 2ft wooden enclosure with 2 vents and glass doors. We have a red heat lamp at one end with two hides .. nothing out of the usual. Is this sufficient. Don't want to harm the little guy

 

[Shilo]

I run a UV light from daybreak to Sunset plus I also run two 100 watt heat lamps because of the size of my enclosure I also run my heat all day and night it's set buy it thermostat if it drops it automatically kicks back in plus I run an extra lamp during the day for an additional 4 hours.

 

[Kristy_07]

hey hunter, do mind if I ask whereabouts you live and what the temps are like atm?

 

[hunterthestimmie]

I live in brisbane.. temps are cool at night... reasonable during the day

 

[Kristy_07]

I'm in Bris, also. My stim had a smaller enclosure, but the same heating, and as soon as the temps dropped he would go into hiding, no activity, and absolutely not eat until things warmed up again after winter. I've heard stims can be a bit weather sensitive, and no matter how I heated him, he wouldn't have a bar of it. So I would think, maybe, yours is doing the same, or coming up to a shed?

I would get him out and see how he reacts?

 

[dtulip10]

his temps are around 35 during the day providing my thermostat and thermos are accurate. Should we be providing heat at night. And yes hes usually very very active at night. In face he provides us with much entertainment when hes hooning around his enclosure. Just some info on his enclosure.. itsa 4ft by 1.5ft by 2ft wooden enclosure with 2 vents and glass doors. We have a red heat lamp at one end with two hides .. nothing out of the usual. Is this sufficient. Don't want to harm the little guy

all sounds fine, if any thing your enclosure is a little over kill and he is feeling insecure a few more hides would not hurt. stims arnt the most active of snake so i would not be to worried

 

[bpb02]

well might be like my guy i live in brissy and yeh nights are getting cooler

 

[hunterthestimmie]

oh and he hasn't pooed since his last feed.. we just got him out he does look a little milky.. would this be the reason he hasn't pooed? Because he might be shedding? or should i do the warm bath thing... he wasn't at all impressed that we took him out of the enclosure and upon return took off for a hide straight away.

 

[Kristy_07]

I reckon leave him be for the moment, mate. Just my opinion. He's probably just coming up to a shed, and cranky that it's getting cooler. My 10th bredli is doing the same.

 

[hunterthestimmie]

Thankfully he shed two days ago and is back to his usual active self.. thanks so much guys

 

[Vincey]

Good to hear =)

 

[Kristy_07]

Good news, mate