| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kat |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 10:26:48
Checked Kayo this morning and he was covered in mites :( Only handled him 3 days ago when I fed him and he seemed fine but he regurged last night and this morning looked like he was covered in sandpaper! I took him out and bathed him in warm water, stripped his viv and dumped everything and I've put him in his feeding RUB.
He was very lethargic when I was bathing him, just lay on my hand and let me wash him. I went to check him about 10 minutes ago and I thought he was dead. I lifted him out to check and he just stayed absolutely still :( Rang hubby to tell him Kayo had died when he started moving again. My vet knows absolutely nothing about snakes (I was down picking up frontline to treat the viv with) so there's no point taking him there.
Is this normal? Is it likely that he's just playing dead 'cause he feels awful with the mite infestation? Nearest place that I know that I could take him is Belfast, and that's nearly 2 hours drive so I don't want to take him and stress him if there's no point. |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| scubadude |
Posted - 12/12/2010 : 11:00:56
R.I.P Kayo, really sorry to read that he'd died, It's never easy losing a family pet. |
| sly |
Posted - 12/12/2010 : 10:14:40
R.I.P kayo |
| Mort13 |
Posted - 12/12/2010 : 09:50:43
Oh no,I'm so sorry to hear of you and your little girls loss.
In spite of his illness it sounds like he was a very contented little snake which is due to the loving care you and your daughter have obviously given him.
R.I.P little Kayo. |
| lotabob |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 19:17:45
quote:
Originally posted by Kat although his life was short, he was spoiled rotten and very happy.
Exactly right, a very lucky little snake. |
| Kat |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 17:13:37
Thanks for this Mike  Littlest snakey owner is still really upset but all the information from everyone on here is really helping her. I've managed to persuade her that he was probably a sickly little snake and that although his life was short, he was spoiled rotten and very happy.
The past few weeks he became very tame, even slithering onto my hand to be handled any time I was in his viv! Made changing water when I was in a hurry a bit of a challenge  Spent most of his time out trying to climb inside my sleeves and just loved meeting new people. Anyone new in the building when he was out had to be inspected, he seemed to have an amazing sense of smell. Mind you he was only ever handled by me or Hannah 'cause he was so *fast* that there's no way I could have let anyone else handle him - he'd have been off like Speedy Gonzalez! Huge personality for such a little snake. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 10:52:16
Sorry to hear about that, to be honest though, i think the mites are a symptom, not a cause, as stapey has said, once an animal is close to death, the mites go crazy, on a lot of animals, including rats, chickens and i think mice, they carry mites as part of a symbiotic relationship, and once the immune system is down, they can overpower the animal.
In your situation, i dont think the mites were an issue, on their own, they wont kill a snake, they can make them very uncomfortable, and irritate them to the point they dont feed, but thats months down the line.
the fact that he was small and only able to take a single small pinkie without regurging is the major contributing factor, it has been known for snakes to hatch with no stomach, and various parts of their internals missing, its entirely possible that your little one has a deformed stomach, and was unable to eat anything larger than pinky, that would cause all your symptoms, and death.
The only other possibility i can think of, is that there were internal parasites, worms can cause all your problems too.
Whilst its a real shame, its actually fairly normal for young snakes to die, as weird as it sounds.
In the wild, a lot of the snakes that we keep would have already died long ago, babies that need force feeding, or need their food to be brained, or scented, there is none of that in the wild, and in theory, by us keeping them alive by force, and then breeding from them, we are ourselves weakening the gene pool available.
The bottom line is, you shouldnt blame yourself, its natural, and dont let it put you off keeping snakes again. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 10:47:08
Wouldn't it have to be an open bag for the mites to get it? :/ |
| lrv2307 |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 08:35:58
big hugs kat
heart breaking to loose a pet, and one so young too
i ordered all my stuff from bluelizardreptiles in yorkshire, i checked all through the aspen before i put it in
talk about neurotic, but i know your worries |
| lotabob |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 21:23:53
It does sound more like an underlying issue than the mites been the main problem, not that its going to be any comfort to you. I would contact Jollyes so they are aware there may be a mite problem with their aspen. |
| Kat |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 21:01:35
The substrate was a bag of aspen bedding from Jollyes in Enniskillen. The previous substrate was bark which came from City Reptiles from their big bag, so I'm assuming it was fine. The Aspen was put in about 3 weeks ago.
I think when I get another snakey that I'll just order everything online from a proper reptile shop 
We're going to wait until after Christmas to give the viv time to be de-mited and fumigated. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 20:29:50
I'm so sorry... R.I.P. :(
Mites and other parasites tend to get a hold when the animal is dying... I know when I've had fluffy animals and birds a day or a few days before they are covered in them and no amount of anti-mite treatments works, it's like they know the animals immune system is weak so an easy feed. Mites wouldn't have killed your snake in that time I am sure of it.
|
| lotabob |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 19:54:40
Thats terrible news, so sorry to hear about poor Kayo. You should speak to City Reptiles about it and especially if you got the aspen from there as lots and lots (including me) get their substrate there.
I hope this doesn't put you off having corn snakes. |
| Kat |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 18:33:14
Measured him compared to his shed from 8 weeks ago and a sizing photo from 11 weeks ago. He grew less than an inch in that time despite being fed a pinkie every 5-7 days. He was still on the smallest pinkies that I could find. Anything bigger than tiny was regurged (twice). I was planning to take him to City Reptiles in Belfast in January once it was a bit warmer to be sexed and to get them to look at his size. I assumed that because he was active and alert that he was fine, just a slow grower.
I'm not going to get an autopsy because it won't change anything and Hannah (little 10 yr old snake owner) wants to bury him.
Thanks for all the support folks
Kat
|
| lrv2307 |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 11:33:19
aawww so sorry to hear the news hun
hope you get another soon.......xx |
| Invalid User |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 11:24:31
Oh dear. How sad.
RIP Kayo |
| Kat |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 11:13:41
Just looking back at photos of him and he's hardly grown in the 12 weeks I've had him, and he was still eating the smallest pinkies I could find, so I think there's probably more than just mites going on here. Looking at the photos I think he's probably had something wrong with him all along and that's why the mites finished him off so fast. He always seemed bigger than he actually was because he was so active!
3 days ago he was racing around the place as normal, although he had been lying in his water dish since Sunday, but I thought he was just going in to shed :( because I didn't think there was any way that he could have caught mites. The mites must have come in in a bag of Aspen bedding 'cause that's the only new thing in his viv since I got him, and I haven't been in contact with any other snakes. The aspen was put in about 3 weeks ago.
Have to go pick Hannah up from school now, I promised I'd let her know if anything happened while she was away. She's going to be absolutely devastated :( |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 11:07:18
Oh dear, I'm so sorry. Have just replied to your email before I came on here.
Poor little fella. RIP Kayo. |
| Kat |
Posted - 10/12/2010 : 10:59:06
He's died :( |
