The Repair of Puglsy

As reptile keepers, it is inevitable that we may experience problems with our animals. It’s not frequent, but reptiles can be afflicted by an array of ailments much like any other pet. I’d just like to share a story about a boa (Boa Contrictor Imperator.) I adopted a few months back, named Puglsy.

Puglsy came to me around halloween of 2011, he was around 5.8kg and about 2 years old from what I can tell. Much to Puglsy’s misfortune, he had several layers of built up skin, and the early signs of what I beleived to be an upper respiratory infection. The snake hadn’t eaten in over a month, which according to his previous owner was strange because he used to be a ready feeder.

When he came into my care, I had him set up in a 4ft x 3ft x 1.5ft custom vivarium. I used a 60W heat bulb on a basic electronic timer and thermostat set to 35C, and a heat mat rigged to an electronic timer set to 28C. I had created a hotter environment during daylight hours in order to create an artifitial fever. This ‘fever’ would help his body fight off the early respiratory infection, I hoped. In aid of his shedding problem, I massaged a shedease solution into his scales every other day, and increased his humidity using a larger water bowl and a daily misting. I continued this treatment thereafter.

I allowed puglsy a 10 day trial period, in which I monitored his condition for any advancements. I offered him food only once during this period, and observed him from a distance so as to limit his total stress exposure and allow him time to heal. Disappointingly, while his condition did not deteriorate further it also showed no signs of clearing up.

I had read about nebulization in plenty, and did consider it as my next option. However, the equipment was costly and would have kept him waiting several days until it was ready. I would have to take him to see a veterinarian if I were to get any results. I think the word ‘vet’ frightens many people in the reptile hobby because of a presupposed element of cost, I’d imagine. Seeing a vet is invaluable for many reasons, a) you get clear diagnosis, and it will set things straight, b) you can get sound advice on prevention and cure, c) you can get your animal treated, d) you know what to look for next time. I took my new snake for a 1 hour consultation at a vet in Lancashire which cost me a total of £46.51, including the prescribed medication.
The vet listened to my concerns, and my suggestions based on the information that I knew about the animal and made her decision. She confirmed my diagnosis of an Upper Respiratory Infection and prescribed ceftazidine at a rate of 20mg/kg via subcutaneous injection every 3 days. She showed me how to adminster the drug and sent me on my way, syringes in hand. Here’s how to do it.

I placed Pugly into a quilt cover, to ease his stress and to restrict his movement enough for me to work.The syringes must be kept frozen, and can be defrosted in a few moments in the palm of your hand. The vet gave me a vile of iodine solution, which I used to dab the prospective injection site before I removed the protective casing of the syringe. First, I found an area of loose skin (Oddly, I found this to be on the outside of a coiled area, at the bottom of the animal close to the subscales). I took a firm grasp of all the skin I could and pulled it away from the muscle, as if it were the canvas of a tent propped up by a tentpole. I then firmly pushed the syringe in between Puglsys scales up to about half way, and slowly injected the fluid. This process took me two attempts to get right, as the first time the injection site swelled dramatically (this causes no problems whatsoever). I then cleaned the site with iodine and placed the animal back into its enclosure.

Referring back to my futile attempts at removing Puglsy’s stuck shed, I now had to step my game up. Once I had finished the drug cycle (a total of 12 days) and allowed pugsly some time to himself, I decided that it was time to get him out of that skin. The reason I had left him in this uncomfortable state for so long is that I didn’t want to cause him any unecessary stress during his treatment. After all the skin was not as urgent as the treatment for his URI.

 

In order to remove his shed, I placed him in a room temp bath and shut the lid for about 1 hour, before I lifted the lid and allowed him to exit when he was ready. I did this every day for three days until I saw that his skin became more supple. On the forth day I allowed him to soak for three hours, before I took him out, and began to peel. Puglsy is a gentle creature, but I began to push my luck. I found that on particularly stubborn areas, the rough side of a washing up sponge did the trick, but I had to hold him steady in a fork like grip around his head. You can learn how to restrain a snake on youtube. I didn’t attempt to complete the job during one stint and allowed him 24 hours rest before I tried again. His skin eventually came off, and he looks far far better.

Do you remember I said that Pugsly wasn’t eating? I have tried to feed him every week since he arrived, monitoring his weight to be sure he was safe. Today I purchased a live medium rat, this is because I had tried Puglsy on frozen thawed in every manner and to no avail. I dropped the rat into my home built euthanization chamber, and prekilled the animal. I left Puglsy with his fresh warm dinner in peace for a few hours and came back to find that he’d eaten it!

I am proud to report that Puglsy the 2 year old, 6 ft and 5.75kg Boa Constrictor is back on his feet (or belly)! I hope that this story helps anyone else who is struggling with a sick animal. Please don’t hesitate in taking your pet to a vet, they aren’t as horrifically expensive as you might think. You can also get relatively cheap reptile insurance online which covers you for this sort of thing.

Until next time.

Sam