stimmy with RI

[Tempest404]

Poor little boy has come down with RI. I exhausted all alternatives to antibiotics but now he's on fortum for the next couple of weeks. He's lost almost 20% of his body mass and is starting to look really lean.

Mainly looking for advice on whether or not I should keep trying to feed him (refused his last meal) and if so should I get smaller foods?

He also has been sleeping in his water dish... I'm not not sure how to read into that but as far as I know I need to keep his temperatures up so at this point I've removed it and put it in for an hour in the morning and at night so he can have a drink of he needs it... didn't want him catching a chill. (No mites or external parasites)

Also is there any nasty signs I should be looking out for?
Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[Stuart]

Can you give us more info on what his temps in the enclosure are, what substrate you are using as well as age of you wee one?
One thing I would be looking at is temp enclosures and substrate to make sure you remove excess humidity and provide him with optimal temps.

Good luck.

 

[Tempest404]

My thermo failed. So I haven't got the ability to control them properly atm. But ranging 35 hot zone 31 cool zone during the day to 34 hot 28-29 cold night depending on ambient temp around the enclosure. Have a new thermostat hopefully arrived today or will arrive tomorrow... He might be getting too warm. I'm not sure. I lost my snake Bible when I moved amongst all my other crap.

If he wasn't in the water bowl he was next to it. I've thrown another hide in at the hot end.

I was using critter crumble but wasn't baking it to get the moisture out (didn't know to do so at the time). Right now I've removed it and replaced it with paper towel and newspaper.

He also has gotten into the habit of sleeping out side of his hides. Isn't acting himself at all. When balled up if you pick him up he just stays tightly curled. When normally he'd just start working his way around your arms and hands.

I'm stressing out like crazy... Just want him to be ok... wish I wasn't such a noob so I'd know what to do

 

[Tempest404]

He's also at least a year old. Maybe 14-15 months

 

[Tempest404]

I've had him for 5. Can't Remember how old he was when I got him. Just that it was getting toward a year.

 

[nintendont]

ranging 35 hot zone 31 cool zone during the day to 34 hot 28-29 cold night

are they temps now or when your thermostat was actually working? if that was when it was working and now your temps are even higher then i am not surprised he is spending so much time in the drink trying to cool down. even still, those temps are hotter than what my stimis are at. Ive got mine at 32 hot end and 25ish cool end day and night.

 

[Tempest404]

thats without, like i said, having a little bit of trouble keeping them correct without the thermo so i upped the bulb wattage to try and prevent it getting too cold but at the same time it's made it a bit too warm me thinks. i do have a new thermo coming in the mail atm

 

[Tempest404]

couldn't afford the ones at the shop so had to go online

 

[fre0005]

is there a problem with having humidity too high in the tank ?

 

[Tempest404]

not that i know of... has the same humidity as the rest of the room so dependant on weather adding what might evap from the water bowl... but mainly what i want to know is whether ot not to keep attempting to feed him while he's on the antibiotics considering he's gone from 78g to 56g which is in effect a 28% loss of body mass. his last feed was almost 2.5-3 weeks ago. granted he's pooped a chunk since 1st weigh in as well, never the less he's looking really thin, i just don't wanna screw up his meds if he does eat as he's only had the one injection and i'm supposed to keep giving them to hi every three days for 2 weeks. also at what point should i start to be freaking out about him not eating....

 

[GeckoJosh]

If the enclosure is too hot and he spend all his time in the water bowl then that is why he has developed RI.
You need to correct his temps and while he is on the mend only give him a small water bowl so that he cannot fit into it.

 

[buffcoat]

So he's lost 20g in 3 weeks?

I have 2 royals at home that have not eaten in 6 months now. They haven't lost an ounce. Are you sure there are no mites or an internal parasite? Does your snake have gunk in its mouth? Yawning all the time? Can you hear it clicking when you hold it? I'm assuming you've had it to your rep vet, as I just scanned through the posts.

Do you have a temp gun? Those thermometers that stick on the sides of tanks/glass are really only good to spot check, don't take them as gospel. If you don't have a temp gun I'd run to the hardware store and pick one up. They are cheap enough, like $20 USD. Even with thermostats I still use one.

Check your temps, I think I read you only have a few degree difference between hot and cold. Get your temps right, then raise it a bit. If you haven't had it to a vet, with that amount of weight loss, I'd get a stool sample and have a rep vet look at it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tempest404]

Was yawning and puffing his throat. Occasional bibles, fork stuck together, popping when breathing. Has seen the vet. Has looked at his poop, all clear for the poop. Do I try to give him some dinner?

 

[Tempest404]

???

 

[PythonLegs]

What did the vet say? Imo, if he wants to eat, feed him.

 

[Echiopsis]

What did the vet say? Imo, if he wants to eat, feed him.

I agree. Not much else you can do at this stage other than keeping it warm and dry. Fortum is good stuff, should turn the snake around providing it isn't too far gone.

35 degrees at the basking spot isn't too hot by any stretch, I've had my basking spots reach 40 without an issue. So long as there's a gradient the snake will work out where it needs to be. If the air temp is 35 constantly then the basking spot is likely hotter and you'll need to check your temps and control them a bit better.