Not eating.

[j_becwar]

Some of you might remember me mentioning that one of my snakes had a regurge a while back. Well ever sense she has hardly been eating (only two small meals) and I have heard of boas going months without eating but she is starting to look pretty bad. She has gotten so thin that she is starting to lay on her side. I thought that she may have been refusing the food so often because it was F/T so I threw a live in with her. She showed absolutly no interest in the rat. I became scared when it walked right up to her and she turned away from the rat so I took it out. I know that I may be over-reacting but she is starting to look unhealthy. Thanks everyone. -jamie

[denny_rimes]

How long has it been since your boa has eaten?

I think at this point you may want to take it to the vet.
Tubing flagyl or nutribac might help to stimulate appetite if you know how to do this, otherwise just take it to a professional to be evaluated.

[Matt_Crabe]

Sounds like some sort of internal infection or possibly parasites. The laying on the side is a very bad sign. I would get her to a herp vet as soon as possible. There is definately something wrong with her. My best guess is that the normal levels of bacteria in her stomach got to high levels after the regurge and have caused an infection. It is not that uncommon but must be treated as soon as possible.

Matt

[j_becwar]

Sense I've had her she has eaten jumbo rats every two weeks but she has missed a few in the past, she has always been a picky eater. First, shes not laying on her side but when she moves she leans to one side (sorry I was unclear on that). The only way I can think to describe her is that she looks kinda like a slightly deflated balloon. When she regured I waited to feed her a for another two weeks (so there was a 1 month period where she didn't eat), then she didn't eat for about 3 weeks (refusing a meal durring this time) and then she I realized that she was looking bad so I tried to feed her about 9 days later and she refused that meal (that was 2 days ago). All of her meals that she ate were about 2/3 the size of what she normally eats. I also noticed that her eyes just started to haze over today but they were clear when I tried to feed her.
And Denny, I going to have to go to the vet becuse I have no clue what tubing flagyl or nutribac are, but could you explain what they are just so I know.
Thanks guys.

[j_becwar]

She ate a large rat monday. She's looking better but still not good. Vet is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

[denny_rimes]

Good to see that you are taking her to the Vet. If he has to administer any oral meds, ask to see how it is done. They use a catheter tube (not sure what #) on the end of a syringe and insert it into the animal to administer stuff sometimes.

Nutribac is a probiotic and flagyl (metronidazole) is an antibiotic both of which can be used after a regurg to resotre the gut flora and stimulate appetite.

Let us know how thins turn out Jamie!

[j_becwar]

Well, vet didn't tell me much. He said it could be parasites, liver disease, kidney disease, an problem in the nervous system (a problem in the snake's balance so that it can't lay on its belly), salamonila, or even IBD. He also said it could have been many other problems transmitted through mites (I had an infestation a while back). The only things that he could tell me was that its mouth looked a little pale and the scales on its belly look inflamed. He said this could be due to the color of the boa or inflamation (ever sense I have had her she's had red on her belly) I'm going to give him a stool sample the next time she poos to test. I was hoping that the vet would clear some of the questions I had up but wouldn't give me any real info. If anyone has any other ideas I would really appreciate hearing them. Thanks everyone -jamie