Common Health Problems for Pet Snakes

Snakes are pretty simple to keep as pets, which makes them very attractive to the reptile owner. They require minimal handling, feeding, and overall care, which is a plus in many people's books.

Pet snakes are also usually pretty robust and healthy, but like any and all animals, they can be subjected to several common health conditions, even if you keep them at optimal conditions.

Remember that depending on what species of snake you keep, the husbandry and overall care is going to vary, so make sure that you fully understand the husbandry of the particular snake species. Proper husbandry and care can be the biggest factor in preventing health concerns, although not eliminating them 100%.

First, you'll want to be away of the signs of a healthy snake, which include:

• Clear eyes
• Clear nose and mouth
• A rounded and full body
• Active and alert
• Eats regularly
• Healthy skin

Next, understand common signs of health issues:

• Wrinkled or rubbed skin
• Vomiting
• Discharge in nose or mouth
• Lethargy
• Abnormal feces or urine
• Decreased appetite

Now, for the common health concerns, in alphabetical order...

Abscesses

Abscesses are generally caused by a previous injury that is gets infected by bacteria. They usually appear as a lump that protrudes from underneath the skin that sometimes extends into the internal organs. Abscesses are commonly confused with tumors, un-laid eggs, or constipation. Leave it to an experienced vet to determine whether the lump is truly an abscess. If it is, let the veterinarian treat it, which tends to involve lancing and draining the abscess with at least one follow-up appointment for cleaning and changing the dressing. The vet may, also, opt to treat the abscess with an antibiotic.

Blister Disease

Blister Disease can be avoided with proper husbandry, so make sure that you are providing the proper environment for your pet snake. Fluid-filled blisters will usually form on the underside of the snake when housed in dirty, moldy, and/or overly moist substrate. Don't mistake these blisters with burn blisters; these blisters may form a few at first but will quickly grow in number and become life threatening especially if they spread near the mouth, nose, or cloaca.

The best treatment is to prevent it from developing. Keep the substrate clean and dray. Make sure to remove feces and urates. Frequently change the bedding. You can treat a one or two blisters at home by sterilizing a needle and piercing the blister; use a clean cotton swab or a bandage to absorb the fluid. Make sure to fluid the blisters twice a day with betadine or hydrogen peroxide and apply an antibiotic ointment. House the snake in a quarantine tank with paper towels until the blisters have healed.

If there are multiple blisters and/or blisters that are in sensitive areas, consult a reputable vet asap.

Constipation

Depending on the size of your snake and his metabolism rate, it just may take longer for him to complete the digestion process, but if you notice that his digestion schedule and defecation is way off, your snake may be constipated. If this is the case, you may notice that the snake appears bloated, lethargic, and/or have a decreased appetite. Make sure to check the cage thoroughly just to make sure that you didn't miss anything. If there's absolutely no feces in the enclosure, you'll want to soak the snake in warm water for about 15 minutes a day. Usually, the warm water will stimulate excretion; if not, and you notice that your snake is swelling in the abdominal area, you'll want to visit a vet asap.

Built-up feces can become so constipated that surgery may be the only option before the snake dies. You snake may have ingested a foreign object which could be blocking him from defecating.

Cuts & Abrasions

Treat any type of cut on your snake, as though you would yourself. Keep it clean and put a small dab of antibiotic ointment once a day until the wound has healed. You can try to bandage the snake, but it may be near impossible; you may want to consider a waterproof band-aid, but not all cuts need a bandage. Set the snake up in a quarantine tank with paper towels so that nothing can irritate the wound.

Try to find out what cut the snake, so that you can prevent it from happening again. If it was a rostral abrasion, caused by the snake rubbing his face on the wire on the cage while trying to escape the enclosure, you want to either cover the screen or change the type of enclosure you're currently using. The other common cut or abrasion is caused by rat bite, so to switch to frozen feeders or pre-killed.

Inclusion Body Disease

IBD is probably one of the most serious diseases of captive snakes. It is only found in the boid family, and most common in Burmese pythons and boa constrictors. Although, the signs are varied, you'll want to look for neurological disturbances (such as not righting itself when on its back, "star-gazing," unresponsiveness, regurgitation, asymmetrical dilation of pupils, and paralysis), tumors, and other illnesses. If you think that your snake has IBD, isolate it immediately and consult a reptile vet asap. Although, there isn't treatment for the disease, you need to quarantine the snake away from other snakes and either bleach or discard of the enclosure so not to pass the disease to other snakes. This is just one of many health concerns that further the reason for quarantining new snakes for at least 90 days.

Internal Parasites

Usually, you'll encounter internal parasites among wild-caught individuals, but for the most part, internal parasites can be passed from prey or from contact with another infectious reptile. This is another great reason to quarantine new individuals. Common signs of internal parasites include regurgitation, lack of appetite, and an overall ill appearance. If you think that your snake has parasites, take a fecal sample to your vet. He may prescribe a treatment or reffer you to an over the counter worm treatment for cats and dogs. But, NEVER use these without the supervision of a reptile vet.

Mites & Ticks

Mites will appear as tiny, fast-moving dots on the outside of your snake and within his enclosure, and can be either red, black, or white. To get rid of mites, you're in for a bit of complication. Soak the snake in a warm bath for a few hours, or until you make sure that all the mites are off and drowned. While you wait, completely disinfect the enclosure and everything that you had inside it. You may have to do this a few times before you are able to successfully get rid of the mites.

Ticks are larger, and usually fewer in number; they tend to remain attached to the snake's body, usually buried between the scaled. The safest way to removing ticks is to smear petroleum jelly, thickly, over the entire tick, especially the head, as this will suffocate it enough to let go of the snake. Don't remove a tick with tweezers because you can 1) damage the snake's skin or 2) you could leave the head still attach, which leads the snake open for infection.

Regurgitation

Regurgitation is commonly caused by stress, handling too soon after a meal, improper husbandry, or an undiagnosed illness. Wait at least two days after feeding your snake before you try to handle it, moving from a feeding cage to its permanent cage is fine, but nothing else. Make sure that your snake has a nice warm spot to lay after eating to aid digestion; low temperatures can cause regurgitation. Food that is too large, is also commonly regurgitated, so make sure not to feed prey items that are larger than the girth of the snake.

If you think that your snake may have some other illness, take him to a vet. You shouldn't take regurgitation lightly, especially if your snake has regurgitated his meals on multiple occasions, as this can lead to a psychological problem that causes the snake to avoid that particular type of food.

Respiratory Illness

For the most part, respiratory illnesses can be treated and prevented as long as you keep proper husbandry requirements. A clean, stress-free environment with warm temperatures, should be all that you need to preventing respiratory illnesses. But, if you notice signs of coughing, wheezing, open mouth breathing, runny nose, clicking noises when breathing, and lethargy, you may consider a respiratory illness as the cause. In this case, immediately raise the temperatures in the enclosure to stimulate the proper immune responses, put the enclosure in a quiet room, if it's in a busy area of the house, and, make sure that you remove the snake from any other snake or reptiles, setting it up in a quarantine enclosure with paper towels. If it's a minor infection or illness, the snake may overcome it on its own, otherwise, if the condition worsens, consult your vet asap.

Shedding problems (retained eyecaps, tail)

With any shedding concerns, usually you can call hydration the problem. If the snake is not properly hydrated he may suffer retained skin on his eyecaps or tail. Make sure that you raise the humidity at first signs that your snake is going to shed. When you notice that your snake's eyes are turning a blue shade, either 1) mist the enclosure twice daily, 2) put a larger water bowl in the enclosure, or 3) begin soaking the snake in warm water once a day.

Some snakes will always have shedding problems caused by dry husbandry requirements or an old injury, so in this case, just make sure that you check the skin to make sure that it all came off in one piece. In regards to the tip of the tail, it can restrict blood flow, so if the tip of the tail is still stuck after a few sheds, you need to remove it to prevent the tail needing to be amputated. In regards to eyecaps, you need to make sure that they were properly shed, as retained eyecaps can cause infection. Usually, if the snake retains his eyecaps on one shed, they will come off on the next shed, but that is not always the case.

To remove an eyecap, you'll can take a piece of tape, and remove most of the stickiness by pressing it on a clean surface and removing it over and over again. Then, lightly touch the tape to the snake's eye and try to gently remove the eyecap. You may want to moisten the eyecap with a dab of water or mineral oil first. If you have any problems, or you're nervous about removing the eyecap yourself, consult your vet.

Stomatitis

Stomatitis, or more commonly referred to as mouth rot, is pretty common among captive reptiles. It's caused by bacteria in the mouth that gets into n open wound, which causes infection within the lining of the gums, mouth, and potentially the entire digestive tract. Also known as mouth rot, this is a fairly common illness in captive snakes. Signs of mouth rot include swelling or color change in your snake's mouth and gums, gaps in the snake's mouth in regards closing his mouth, or frequent rubbing or opening its mouth.

You want to keep the bacteria in the enclosure to a minimum so to prevent infection, so make sure to regularly clean the entire enclosure, provide fresh water, and eliminate any source of injury to the mouth or the surrounding area.

Put the snake in a quarantine enclosure with paper towels and clean the mouth with a cotton swab dipped in 1% Betadine solution. Make sure that the snake doesn't swallow any of the Betadine or any infectious material by keeping his head downwards while flushing out his mouth. If the condition doesn't improve within 1 week, consult a vet.

Disclaimer: Please be aware that the advice in this article should in no way replace that of a licensed veterinarian. The methods outlined above may or may not work for your pet. If you have any concerns, you should consult a specialized reptile veterinarian.