Ok I am full of questions tonight

Meeting has been arranged for the two red tail boas in the other rescue I have been referring to so much. I will go up on Saturday at noon and check them out. He was very reluctant as he says that they need a very special person to know how to handle them. JUst floors me. I am not that special except that I have a vet and credit cards

For all who have not read the other threads these snakes apparently came to this other rescue having been beaten up by a rat, with many open sores, he treated with betadine only and they have had mouth rot for over a year to the point one of the them has the bottom jaw deforming and the lip curling in.

He told me they are 6 feet long and and have a 2inch circumference
and that they are not great eaters, imagine that

Here is the kicker he will only release them to me if I promise to keep them housed in the same enclosure because he says they LOVE each other and they share their food Also he said he hired someone who talks to animals and they said that they prefer to be on green felt

can you believe that That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard
He spends money on someone who talks to animals, if she was any good she would have heard "hey lady, we need a vet!! " Money spent on her and not on a vet

Please any advice on what I should do with them when they come in, besides take them to my vet who will be out of town for a week.
Do I seperate them?
He says they still eat live rats
Should I soak them in anything? I have a ton of stuff
Basically anything you can help with will be great !!! Thanks so much!

Oh and when I get them I will post pics

I have gotten some pretty sick ones but from the sound of it these will take the cake, haven been sick the longest

Tell the guy whatever he wants to hear so that you can get those snakes away from him!! Then:

1) Definitely separate them. Snakes kept together will curl up for security... it's NOT love and it they do NOT share food!!! Sick or injured animals should be kept solitary to avoid extra stress: give them hide boxes and they will be fine alone. (Also infections can and do spread, so keeping each quarantined is wise... keep them away from your other animals too!)
2) Sounds like the live rats eat them!! Switch to freshly killed or frozen/thawed rats immediately. If they don't eat; wait until they do.
3) I would keep them on paper towel (I don't think it's necessary that it's green!) during their quarantine time. It is the most sanitary material while the infections heal up.
4) I don't think you need to soak them unless they are having bad sheds. (If you need to soak them, just use plain water so they can drink if they want to.) I would put betadine or Neosporin/Polysporin on the wounds until you can get them to a vet and see if they need antibiotics or other wound treatment.
5) Otherwise all they need is time, quiet and WARMTH. Keep the temps on the warm side of the enclosure a bit higher than normal while they are ill. This will help boost their immune system.
6) I'm starting to see the logic of Rich's advice on offering periods of UV light to snakes, especially ones with problems, so it wouldn't hurt to try that too.

Good luck! You've probably already saved their lives getting them away from that nut!

Don't be surprized if they don't eat for awhile, when we adopted Cece with an URI infection she didn't eat for about a month. I'm glad you are taking them, they will be a huge project, but withe the help of your vet and your herp friends here you will do just fine!

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Colleen

I am so glad to hear this Nicole...they will be in good hands with you....geez....

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

In the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny,...
"Geez What a Maroon!"(moron)
I'm with Andrea, tell the goober anything he wants to hear and get those snakes away from him!
I also agree to separating them. Illness is a lot easier to deal with with one individual to a cage. But you already know that doing the wonderful work that you do. Snakes do not require company and do not "love each other!"

I ran across one of those people that claimed that animals communicated with them telepathically.
She said that Zok spoke to her and kept referring to Zok as "He said this" and "He said that".
Only problem is Zok is a female. I guess HE forgot to tell her THAT!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I have never kept any snakes together ever, so we will definately seperate them. I am wondering if the one will even survive with the mouth rot so severe or if that ends up in mercy euthanasia. Which just breaks my heart!

Looks like a long road ahead of me, but I am willing to give it a shot.

I am still floored over the whole talk to animals thing. I have always been convinced that none of my animals talk to me then I had to stop and think,..... Cleopatra talks to me every time she bites me " hey you hag, put me down!" I Just wonder if it is his friends and him that sit around drinking and hallucinating!

I know he is going under quickly because he actually had the nerve to ask if I had any froze mice and rats because he has other snakes and he cant afford the food I am so mad about that, I am stuck with what to do! It is so tempting to get these two and forward all his info to Rich to shut him down!!
The whole thing is frustrating. I will however bring the mice and rats and feed his other snakes, which will give me an in to the look of all his animals! He takes everything!! I have hooked up with a bird and ferret rescue who is willing to team up with me to shut him down!! WE have a lot more talking to do! I will definately not do anything until I get these snakes!!

Wow what a mess I've always been told snakes are solitary animals they prefer to be alone unless breeding. How does a snake share its food? It sounds like he has no business having any animals. Good luck. If you need a vet to talk to or take the snakes to till your vet gets back Dr. Mass @ the Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital Pllc in Bothell is a good vet. Again the best of luck to you.

Like this:



This is a pic of two adult female Burmese Pythons at the zoo where I volunteered last summer. The keeper waits until the pythons are on opposite ends of the enclosure, then throws each one a large rat. Then, when they are swallowing those, he tosses each of them 7 more.
Inevitably, however, the snakes want to see what the other one has, and inspite of piles of rats available, they coil and strangle each other over one rat. This is NOT a cute, loving "cuddle". This is a vicious wrestling match that went on for over 2 hours! No one could go in and separate them because 1) it's physically impossible and 2) the snakes have tried to grab and strangle the keepers, so no one goes in. In the picture you can see that one snake has mostly managed to pull herself free and climb up while the other was still squeezing harder and harder in the water. Actually the one on the top ate about 6 rats scattered up above as she was trying to get free. This is the other side of the pic above: her back end was still trapped in the coils of her cage-mate while she was vacuuming up rats above:


The other snake got almost nothing because it was trying to fight over one rat (on the bank).

As you can see, the top snake finally pulled free, but the other one stayed squeezed up in this tight coil for another 30 minutes or so, before finally "giving up".

The keepers are aware of how dangerous this is, but they claim to have "no choice" (space problems) and have to keep these two Titans together.

Snakes do not "share":the dominant one takes all. And the power struggles can lead to death.

Thats hideous! There will be none of that here! I cannot believe a zoo does that!

By the way I talked to Bob from mega ray on the phone today and I will start with a couple of hours of uvb 3 to 4 times a week. It is definately working for King Arthur! I swear he would eat 10 mice if I let him!

Maybe these do not fight over food maybe they just whip out the steak knife and cut in half and share nicely

Ok kidding!

GReat news!!! The man who runs the bird rescue is going to show up at his little adoption expo on Saturday to take a look at the condition of the many birds he has. He is an actual 501c3 and will have a lot more pull in the complaint, than I do!! He has also been doing bird rescue for since before I was born. The great thing I have going is my vet has had pictures and files started of everything that I have gotten from him and is willing to write a statement that These animals were not adoptable when I got them and should have all been in medical care, rehabed, and then put up for adoption.

More great news is the bird guy also is great friends with a cavy rescue, so he is working on that! WE are also trying to get the Washington state ferret rescue in on this also!

The only downfall is that he takes way better care of his furry animals then his reptiles! And so far I am the only one willing to represent the reptiles.
If all he did was furry creatures I definately would not be complaining as much! He is definately way to poor to deal with the expense of the reptiles!

Please do not get me wrong on the way to poor thing, I am not trying to offend or hurt feelings, I personally think if you cannot afford to feed the animals or the proper care of them, the responsible thing to do is not to have them!