.. .

. Snakes

 

Disease prevention is always better than cure, and this applies to snakes just as much as it does to humans and other animals. New arrivals to a collection, from whatever source, should be quarantined for a period before introduction to existing stock. Any snakes that become sick should be isolated immediately, preferably in a special hospital cage with minimum furnishings. This is best kept in a room separate from the main collection.

Veterinary advice should be sought whenever possible. Many snakes are expensive and valuable and deserve professional treatment.

Any cages that have contained diseased snakes should be thoroughly disinfected by using a strong sodium hypochlorite or formalin solution, ensuring that all parts of the cage, its surrounding areas, utensils, and furnishings are treated. Dead snakes preferably should be sent for an autopsy.

Environment Deficiencies: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . Too low temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • May refuse to eat or may regurgitate recently consumed food. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . • Digestion may be too slow, resulting in putrefaction of the prey in the snake’s body and food poisoning.

Temperature to high . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Heat prostration with renal constipation will result in death.

Relative humidity levels too high . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . • Can result in blister disease, particularly to the belly scales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .

Relative humidity levels too low . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . • May result in shedding problems, including retained spectacles.

The skin may break off in pieces while shedding, allowing the lubricating fluid to dry under the unshed pieces. Such unshed skin must be removed, as infection can quickly set in beneath, creating further health hazards. The affected reptile should be placed in a container of lukewarm water in such a way that it is completely submerged (but allowed to breath of course) and allowed to soak for a couple of hours, after which some of the loose skin should float away and the remainder can be gently peeled off with the fingers.

After a troublesome shedding occurs, the conditions should be improved in order to diminish the possibility of it recurring.

Photoperiod, quality of light, and seasonal environmental variations can also affect the natural cyclical activities such as mating, shedding, and hibernation. Life support systems in the terrarium should be checked and maintained to be continuously suitable for the individual species.

Incorrect substrates in which to lay . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . • Egg-binding is not uncommon in snakes that are not given correct substrates. . . . . . . . . . . .

Stress: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . Newly captured snakes are most susceptible to stress; the trauma of being captured, transported, and placed in an alien environment cat take a toll on the reptile’s health and resistance to disease. Stress reduces resistance, and organisms that normally live in harmless symbiosis with the snakes can suddenly become pathogenic. Newly arrived specimens should be treated with the utmost care and respect and handled as little as possible.

Nutritional Disturbances: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. Most snakes that are feeding readily, even on substitute diets, are not likely to suffer from serious nutritional disturbances. An exception concerns those that may be fed on fish or pieces of fish meat. The flesh of many fish, but mainly saltwater species, contains the enzyme thiaminase, which destroys the B1 vitamin (thiamine) in the body and can result in a deficiency of this vitamin (hypovitaminosis B1). This deficiency can result in disorientation, loss of balance, and convulsions. If fish is heated to 80°C for about 5 minutes the thiaminase is destroyed and the balance returned.

The addition of a vitamin/mineral supplement to the food will help to minimize the risk of nutritional deficiencies.

Mechanical Injuries: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wounds may be suffered as a result of injury due to fighting, attempting to escape, striking against the terrarium glass, etc. Such wounds are susceptible to infection, particularly in the case of newly captured specimens suffering from stress. Open lesions should be treated as soon as possible by bathing them with an antiseptic solution such as povidone-iodine and, if extensive, stitched with an averting mattress suture (by a veterinarian). Healing of such wounds is often prolonged in snakes, and a regular course of antiseptic bathing should be carried out until visible healing begins. Bactericidal antibiotics can be used in snakes for both prophylaxis and treatment.

Ticks and Mites: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bloodsucking parasites (Ectoparasites) can transmit blood-borne parasitic diseases and Aeromonas septicemia. Ticks fasten themselves with their piercing mouthparts to the snake's skin, usually between the scales and often at secluded parts of the body, such as in the loose folds below the jaw, around the vent, or between the ventral and subcaudal scales. Dabbing with alcohol to relax the mouthparts should precede manual removal of ticks; otherwise there is a danger of the head being left embedded in the skin, which can result in sepsis.

Mites of several species, but particularly those of the genus Ophionyssus, are common and can be a serious problem in the terrarium unless checked in time. Being highly mobile, mites can also quickly move from reptile to reptile and terrarium to terrarium, and large numbers of them can cause stress, anemia, difficulties in shedding, loss of appetite, and eventually death. Mites are about the size of a pinhead, roughly globular in shape, and normally brown in colour. Another sign of a mite infestation is the appearance of their dust-like, silvery feces on the reptile's skin or on surfaces in the terrarium. Infected snakes should be moved to a clean terrarium in which is suspended a small piece of dichlorvos insecticidal strip and left for a period of four days.

The strip preferably should be suspended inside a perforated container so that the snake cannot come into direct contact with the insecticide. The vapours emitted by the strip will destroy all free-moving mites. The treatment should be repeated after ten days to destroy any nymphs that hatch from eggs in the interim period. Vacated infected terrarium should be thoroughly cleaned, scrubbed, and disinfected.

Worms: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signs of severe endoparasitic (worms, flukes etc.) infection include loss of appetite, emaciation, and the presence of worms, their eggs, or segments of tapeworm in the feces. Routine microscopic examination of feces samples will provide evidence of infection.

Anthelminthic preparations may be given via stomach tube or, if the snake as feeding readily, by injecting the vermicide into a dead prey animal. The following anthelminthics and dosages have been recommended as suitable for snakes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For roundworm treatment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . · • Albendazole: 50 milligrams per kilogram orally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Fenbendazole: 50mg/kg orally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . • Levamisole: 200mg/kg orally or 50mg/kg by injection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . • Mebendazole: 100mg/kg orally.

For tapeworm treatment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . · • Bunamide: 25mg/kg orally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Dichlorphen: 200mg/kg orally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Niclosamide: 150mg/kg orally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Praziquantel: 20-30mg/kg orally or 3.5-7mg/kg by injection.

Flukes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Infect the buccal cavity and upper respiratory tract. These normally respond to treatment with orally administered (by stomach tube) praziquantel at a dosage rate of 100mg/kg.

Protozoan Infections: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cases of dysentery in captive snakes have been caused by the protozoan Entamoeba invadens. Symptoms include general debilitation and watery, slimy feces. Untreated, this can rapidly reach epizootic proportions in a captive collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treatment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • Metronidazole: 160-400mg/kg orally, has proven effective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Intestinal flagellates are common in snakes but usually appear to be non-pathogenic, though they may sometimes be responsible for diarrhea. Treatment with metronidazole has proved effective in such cases.

Bacterial Infections: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cases of infective salmonellosis have occurred in snakes. As some of these organisms can be pathogenic to humans, it emphasizes the need for good hygienic practices. Infective salmonellosis manifests itself in watery, often greenish, foul-smelling feces. Treatment with antibiotics, as advised by your vet, often proves effective.

Abscesses and Cysts: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soft or hard lumps appearing on a snake's body under the skin are often attributable to bacterial invasion, usually as a result of a previous break in the skin that apparently may have healed. Large abscesses or cysts can be opened surgically under anesthetic by a qualified veterinarian. The wound is cleaned out and swabbed with povidone-iodine and treated with antibiotic before being sutured. Further antibiotic treatment by injection may be required during the healing process.

Mouth Rot: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This condition (necrotic stomatitis) is unfortunately one of the commonest forms of malaise in captive snakes and is frequently fatal. Nervous snakes that strike against the terrarium glass and injure the mouth and jaw susceptible to bacterial invasion of the mucous membranes in the mouth. It is important to catch this disease in its early stages. Any swelling of the mouth should be investigated. The disease manifests itself in inflamed mucous membranes, with a grey, paste-like mass adhering to areas around the teeth.

Treatment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The mouth should be held open and swabbed out with povidone-iodine (cotton swabs are ideal for this) or hydrogen peroxide, taking particular care to remove the paste. Swabbing may be required daily over a period of several days, and it may be necessary to force-feed the snake during treatment. In advanced cases, the veterinarian may advise the surgical removal of infected tissue and bone under general anesthetic. Such treatment will usually be accompanied by a course of antibiotics.

Respiratory Infections: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is uncommon in snakes that are kept in optimum conditions. Symptoms include difficulty in breathing, blocked nostrils, and a mucous discharge. These conditions often can be alleviated and cured by moving the snake to warmer, drier, well-ventilated conditions. In severe cases your veterinarian may recommend a course of antibiotic treatment.