I'm posting for one of my friends so pardon if I don't know exact details. She has a Honduran milksnake. He's about a year old, was eating/shedding fine never had any issues until about a month ago. It looks as if he has stuck shed, but he has been soaked and it won't come off. The snake also feels very stiff, and it seems like it's hard for him to move. Does anyone have any clue as to what the problem could be? He has a vet appointment next week but would be nice if someone knew something
Welcome to Reptile Rooms Do you have any details on his enclosure? For example temperatures, size of the tank, what substrate (paper towel, wood chips, aspen, newspaper, etc), any details about how he is being kept would be very helpful... Thanks!
He lives at a petstore where my friend works. No ideas on temps. They have him in a 20g then moved him to a 10g in the back to get him off the sales floor. He was on aspen, now he's on paper towel. They soak him 2 times a day because the owner of the store thinks it's just stuck shed. The problem has persisted for about a month or so now and is getting worse. My friend is going to end up buying the snake so she can take it to a proper vet if she can't convince her boss to do so. As for being new, not really, just had to get a new name. I was here before reptilerooms had some issues and some members left for the reptilerack, which is no longer here, but I digress. I just don't post often and more or less linger unless I run into an issue I have not encountered before. I do rescue work so I see a lot of how you shouldn't keep animals and end up being the one trying to fix them up.
I'm sorry that you had to be involved with the strange changes that occured to the website a few years ago. I assure you this is now our permament home - we've eliminated the moderators/administration that tried to steal the site and ReptileBoards is officially linked with ReptileRooms and always will be. I'm a little concerned about this snake - soaking several times a day and no improvement on a shed is a little strange. Try to find out a little more about the husbandry if possible... inadequate temperatures and humidity can play a huge role along with inadequate hides, etc to the stress levels and well-being of the animal. Is there water available at all times for the animal? Is it making any noises or having difficulty breathing? Does it have a heat source? It might be a long shot, but pictures might be nice to look at as well. I'm sorry for the often "common sense" questions but ensuring a proper environment is always the first step for reversing a problem and ensuring recovery. Temperature can be a pretty big factor in stiffness; where being too cold can result in a snake who seems kind of stiff and equally being hot can result a variety of issues (these species like things somewhat temperate, warm end should be in the mid 80's). Other factors can be stress, and potentially illness or neurological issues. It's hard to say without actually seeing the snake in action though. I'm glad there is an appointment set up for the vet next week seeing as things haven't made a turn for the better over the course of the last month.
It's just odd because I've never seen anything like it. I mean I have seen some weird things, but I don't even know if it is stuck shed, wish I had some pictures to share, but I don't. I know other than temps, that the habitat is set up as a quarantine set up at the moment. Paper towel substrate, heat pad on half the tank, nice size water dish, several different types of hides on both ends of the the enclosure. Fresh water daily and feeding on f/t mouse once a week. As for the snake itself, other than the animals appearance and the odd firm/stiffness it shows it is normal. No gasping, wheezing, oozing. Eyes and nostrils look clear, mouth is clean and healthy looking. His poo looks normal, but I told her to take a sample to the vet with her just in case. I don't think too cold is the problem as the other snakes in the shop in identical enclosures are doing fine and are normal/active. The store's vet has seen the animal but they are used to working with dogs/cats and have no experience with exotics so they were of little help. I will hopefully be able to speak with my friend tomorrow and maybe she can give me a better ideas of temps. I didn't have my temp gun with me when I went in to see him today. I will keep you all updated, and try to get some pictures, just in case something similar ever pops up
I've seen it before. Well intended hobbyist who wanted to give the Florida King its natural swampy, roadside ditch enviroment would allow their snakes constent soaking and high humidity with improper substrate. I saw one snake that was completely nose to tail solid unshed skin over and over again. Snake was as hard as a baseball bat. George Van Horn at Reptile World Serpentarium uses a form of Tetracycline you find at a feed store. I apologize I can't remember the exact name! It begins with an M I know that. He soaked the animal in it for three weeks, it shed all the skin over that time period and came out a happy, healthy snake. This snake doesn't seem to be at this stage yet thankfully. Soak him longer for just a few hours, try a few days it won't hurt him. A pic would help. I've seen a few times where shed would stick around scale rot.
