Skinny yet HUNGRY, no parasites, regurg or poop?
I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN HIM TO THE VET, HE WILL BE GOING BACK TO THE VET THIS COMING MONTH!
SO THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- About a month and a half ago I took him to the vet cuz I noticed I could feel his backbone vertebrae while handling him. I checked my other two boas and they did not feel this way, but this little guy has some muscle tone and his behaviors are exactly the same as my other two boas, completely normal activity levels, curious at times climbing around no stargazing no wobbling no strange behaviors, no pacing back and forth, no aggression, no hissing, no squirming when held, not constantly hiding, but also not constantly out either, amazing appetite, passes urates fine so i know his butt works, caught him drinking water, hiding on the warm AND cold side of his tub, etc.
-Literally nothing about this boa seems off except the fact that he's skinny. And also the fact that he's leaving these mysterious objects on his paper towels which I think and want confirmation on, that they are stools and not regurgitations.
- SO I took him to the veterinarian and she did a stool sample test and sent it off to a laboratory that had way better equipment than they did on site, and they could not find any evidence of parasites whatsoever. Which confused both of us because we both thought it was parasites right off the bat.
She wants to do blood work and an X-ray next to try and get some more clues but unfortunately those two together would cost me two and a half paychecks worth of money since I'm on a fixed income at a way smaller wage than I'm used to.
I had to get a crown and dental work done to avoid a root canal so now I am back to saving money for this next vet appointment.
- I did some Googling on my own with people who had similar cases and it seems to me that he might have a bacterial imbalance in his gut, so I bought some NutriBac DF for reptiles and amphibians to experiment with and see if it improves his stool and causes weight gain
- right now he has been eating a weaned rat every two weeks along with his brother who is a couple months younger and yet almost double his size.
- His last feeding was a week ago, and I put the probiotics in a syringe and shoved it down the throat of the Rat so that he would eat the probiotics without spitting it back up or noticing, and he ate it.
He scarfed down his food like usual.
- The mystery item in this picture had to have happened last night because right before bed I looked in his tub and checked everywhere for stool and did not find any, But when I just came home at 3 P.M today he had shed his skin And left the mystery object in the photo, with some urates next to it.
- his urates look like any typical snakes, there's nothing wrong with that part of it. That's why I feel like this is stool and not regurgitation.
- I smelled it since I've seen him regurgitate once a year ago and the smell knocked me off my feet, so I know what regurgitation smells like, and this does not smell like it.
It also doesn't smell like the classic musky scent that my other two Boas have when they poop, instead I could describe the smell of this mystery object as that of an old rotting piece of wood in your grandmother's attic.
It's a musty smell but also earthy smell. I don't know if that could be the smell of the probiotics having gone through his body or what, but it definitely doesn't smell like decomposing disgusting flesh.
I have a funny feeling I'm on the right track with the probiotics and he's only had one dose so far So I don't think I have enough data to know whether or not it's going to help him, But his stool has not changed consistency since that one dose.
- I would say his last four bowel movements have looked exactly like this every time. Weirdly slimy but dry by the time I get to it in the morning, and when I open them up it's just fur inside, NO bones whatsoever or any discernible body parts that would tell me that it's an undigested rat.
It's always just fur and weird brown stuff and it has this strange strong musty smell.
- Now for his habitat, right now he's isolated in a tupperware bin with a hotspot of 91.5° F and the thermostat is set to trigger on within one degree Fahrenheit temperature drop, so I know he's got a steady accurate temperature on his hot side,
my grandmother keeps the house at 78 degrees Fahrenheit so that should be his ambient temperature on the cool side, and the cool side temperature reading is roughly the same.
- he's on paper towels right now with just his plastic hides and water bowl and that's it. No bedding whatsoever just paper towels so that I can see clearly what goes on when something comes out of him LOL
- His shed from last night or today was complete, but because of the paper towels I suspect there was lower humidity cuz I had to help him shed a little bit that was left on his butt. He has had perfect shed since I got him about 3 years ago, no issues with that and no issues with any respiratory or neurological happenings either.
That's why I'm asking for opinions and advice, because this boa for all intents and purposes looks and acts and eats exactly like any other normal boa. The only thing wrong with him is that he's getting skinny and his poop or whatever this is looks weird and smells weird.
Apparently he doesn't have parasites, so the only thing I can think it would be is bacterial imbalance in his gut.
If it matters which it probably will:
- when I thaw out his food I set it out at room temperature until it is very lightly cool to the touch, and then feed it to him. He literally does not care if his rat is a little bit cooler and not warmed up.
-None of the boas that I have ever care if their food is warm. They are very different from ball pythons that's for sure. In the past I had eight ball pythons and all of them had to have warmed up food. These guys just don't care as long as they can smell that it's a rat they'll take it.
- Now when I thaw it I just set it on a plate in front of their tanks to thaw for a few hours in his case for his small little rat it only takes me an hour and a half or so to thaw, and I DON'T wait until the rat is fully at room temperature, I wait until it's very lightly cool to the touch so that I know that it hasn't been sitting for too long but also isn't frozen or truly cold, either.
- Perhaps that is what may have started all of this that I am thawing this rat incorrectly, but I have done this for many different reptiles that I've had throughout my life including all eight ball pythons previously and also these other two boa constrictors and nobody else has ever had an issue with it or develop anything from it.
- That's why I'm confused about this little guy and what the hell could be happening to him.
- The current plan is to take him to the vet in June preferably in the beginning of June to get that blood work and x-rays done and hopefully find out something, and to continue dosing him with these probiotics to see if it will help in the meantime. I asked the vet if the probiotics were a good idea and she said it wouldn't hurt to try since we don't have any leads on what might be wrong.
- I want to make his feedings more frequent and instead of feeding him a slightly smaller rat once every two weeks, feed him the same slightly smaller rat once a week or once every one and a half weeks, to try and get some meat back on his bones or perhaps give him something to work with nutritionally to reset his gut and hopefully see more proper looking stool.
HOWEVER i wanted to ask the masses to see what you all thought before jumping to more frequent feedings in case that might be a bad move to make.
Him being this skinny and me being able to feel his vertebrae and see them when he is climbing over something or coiled around something is making me extremely nervous and I don't want to lose him. So that's why I'm seeking advice and hopefully someone has had a similar experience or knows what to do better than I do or even perhaps better than the veterinarian.
I've had roughly 20 reptiles my entire life and I've never had a problem like this before, this is the first time I am facing weight loss despite a good appetite and no clear evidence of what's wrong. Right now I'm completely baffled on what is going on but hopefully I can get him fixed up and back to a good weight so he doesn't deteriorate quickly and die on me which would suck immensely. He's my golden child and my favorite boa, don't tell the others.
Anyways if someone has a prior experience they can Relate To this or any advice on what may have helped them or what I should be doing or should not be doing, let me know. I just want to see everyone else's opinion on what the hell this is and what's going on and why and how to stop it as soon as possible.
Remember that I am going back to the Exotic vet to help him regardless of any advice that you guys give me I just wanted that advice anyways, and if I'm lucky I'll find out what's wrong and be able to fix it on my own so that I don't go broke running back to the vet 15 more times for them to do every little test possible and shrug their shoulders at me.