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 dutch
version
Shedding:
Normally
a reptile sheds regular, young
snakes every 4 - 6 weeks ,
adult snakes couple of times a
year.
when the snake is healthy
shedding will give no problems
but sometimes some pieces remain
on the body .what you can do
then is this: bath the snake in
lukewarm water for 10-20
minutes.take a rough towel and
let the snake crawl through the
towl(or let him crawl through
your hands)never pull on the
snake's skin that hurts
the snake.
(Blood)mites:
Mites
is a problem that almost every
snakekeeper knows(especially in
sommertimes)mites don't go away
by theirselves.you have to
terminate these parasites.a
couple of years ago neguvon was
used to kill these mites but
neguvon is not available
anymore.what works for me right
now is FRONTLINE spray(what is
normally used for flees on
cats)this is really harmless for
snakes and you can just spray it
on their body.make sure that you
also clean the terrariums.after
one week you can spray the
snakes again and then the mites
must be dead.before you buy a
snake always check him
first(watch for little brownish
animals between and under the
scales.
Ticks:
A
tick is a small spiderlike
animal as small as a pin's
head.they live in high grass or
bushes.most of the
wildcaughtsnakes suffer from
ticks.if you discover thicks on
your snakes remove them as soon
as possible.ticks like warm and
moist spots,you'll find them
under the scales of the snake A
tick is a parasite he feeds
himself with blood.
how to remove: you need a pair
of forceps and iodine(or strong
alcohol like 80%rum)
place the pair of forceps over
the tick as close to the skin as
you can get pull gently with a
twist the tick out of the
skin,sterilise the wound with
the iodine or alcohol.
Endoparasites:
through
research of the faeces of the
snake you can find out if the
snake has worms(there are
several types of
worms)especially
wildcaughtsnakes have that
problem.so if you buy a new
snake the best thing you can do
is send the faeces of the new
snake to a vet and let him take
a look.based on what kinds of
worms your snake has he can
describe some medicin.most of
the time yomesan,ripercol and
panacur are being used .the vet
can tell you how much and when
to give these medicin.most of
the snakekeepers treat their
snakes against worms just for
prevention.
Mouth
rot:
mouth
rot is one of the most common
physical diseases that attacks
captive snakes.the bad news
is,it can be fatal if given the
chance.the causes are
multpiple,but the most common
one is a severe lack of vitamin
c.the signs of this disease are
hard to miss the snake will have
trouble closing his mouth,the
tissues around the gums will
appear discolored and
swollen,and,in the later stages
the snake's teeth will become
loose and might even fall
out.needless to say the animal
will not be too thrilled at the
idea of eating during this time
and will sit motionless.if the
problem grows too far out of
hand the infection will spread
down the esophagus into the
stomach and the snake will
eventually die.but if you are on
time you can treat the snake and
cure the mouth rot.what a keeper
needs to do is swab infected
areas with either a 3% solution
of hydrogen peroxide or a
slightly diluted solution of the
mouthwash called listerine.both
of the methods have proven
themselves effective over the
years and thus recommended.the
treatment should be performed at
least 2 times a day for about 5
days,then 1 a day for the next
2-3 days.once you see the signs
of recovery you can gradually
lessen the frequency of
treatments accordingly.if the
problem does not improve within
a week,call a vet.
Trouble
at giving birth
sometimes
female snakes get in trouble
while laying eggs.she can't get
rid of the eggs because they are
too big or for some other
reason.because of this problem i
lost a female elaphe teaniura
frisei by the time i called the
vet to come by she just
died.sometimes people try to
massage the eggs out but it
doesn't always work that way. if
you see that the egglaying is
not going the way it should be
call the vet.he will treat the
snake with a labourstimulation
injection.but still then it can
go wrong;-(
the one thing that remains is an
operation only it's very
expensive and by that time the
snake is already very weak and
even then it's the question if
the snake will make it.
Symptoms:
a
sick snake is easy to recognize
just watch fot these notes:
- the snake is not rolled up(but
lays stretched out)
- the snake doesn't eat much or
nothing at all
- the shedding is bad
- the snake has problems
breathing
- the snake has slime in his
mouth
- the snake is listless
- the snake pukes his meal out
- the faeces smell different as
normal or looks different
- etc.......
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