Very very worried....

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Pozer is not doing very well. She lays around in the tank and isnt not even close to how active she was. She flicks her tongue but again not as much. She hasnt eaten in about 2 weeks almost. When I hold her she moves on my hand still but not like she used to as well. I dont know how well shes going to the bathroom so right now I have her in a tank by herslf with paper towels on the bottom. I left some food in there and I have water and a hide. Im scared and very worried. What could be wrong with her? If you have any questions so that it might be able to tell whats wrong please ask. I have felt her body for lumps or anything and I havent felt any but I dont know what I am looking for. Please help. with paper towels on the bottom. I left some food in there and I have water and a hide. Im scared and very worried. What could be wrong with her? If you have any questions so that it might be able to tell whats wrong please ask. I have felt her body for lumps or anything and I havent felt any but I dont know what I am looking for. Please help.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

sorry I forgot there are new people here so I didnt mention a few things. Pozer is an Eastern Garter baby that was born on July 29,2011. She has a great personality normally. Never been aggressive. Shes a sweetheart.

[jitami]

I wish I had some answers for you :( I'll throw out some more questions that may help other's come to a conclusion, though. When's the last time she shed? How are the temps in her tank? Have you seen her drinking? Will she take a drink if you put her head near the water (mine would not, they'd freak out and try to get away, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask. lol). Is she spending most of her time in any specific spot in her tank? Has this spot always been her favorite? What does she normally eat and is that what she ate last, about two weeks ago?

Hmmm... that's all I've got right now. They do tend to go through periods where they are more or less active than usual and with fall arriving she could be getting ready for a winter nap... that would explain the disinterest in food, too. She could need a short brumation to restart her clock, but if she's already weakened for some other reason that may not work out well :(

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Well I am back to answer those questions the best I can. First Pozer shed about 2 weeks ago without any problems as far as I kno9w cause all the shedding I took out seem to be in full pieces.I dont have a thermomiter in the tank but the other seem not to have any problems and my house is anywhere from 65degrees-75degrees. I dont have a regilar heat lamp but I have a desk lamp that I put by the tanks and it gets warm and they all love it. I havent seen her drinking and I tried the sticking her head in the water and she did what you said yours did. as for where she is laying around at, its all different spots. I dont think she really has a favorite spot. for food wize she was eating the same as everyone else has been eating and that has been nightcrawlers and talapia. tThe Talopia was actully a favorite of hers. SHe would try to attact it quick ,it was cute to watch . And since I feed them with hemos I was going worm, fish ,worm ,fish...etc. I wanted to make sure that they werent eating just the fish.
As for brumation I thought they were to young for that? I hope this helps cause like i said Im worried about her. she would always greet me with an upside down look like" whats you doing mama" and then come to the edge of the tank and wait for me to grab her or for me to put my hand in there for her to climb on and then I would hold her. She would come to the edge of the tank when ever I walked into the room and it seemed like posing exspecailly when I had my camera. Now she doesnt do that either. I just had 1 baby die about a week ago and that one I had just decided to keep and that one died. Now I have Pozer which her and I connected from day 1 so I had to keep her. I dont want anything to happen to her. I am sitting here typng to you all and tearing up because the thought saddens me. The others I have are doing great. They all eat but seperate times. I am not feeding everyday like I was I am now feeding every other day to every 2 days.

[d_virginiana]

Those temps sound a little on the low side. Not harmfully low, but I usually try to keep my cage temps above 70. If you can, get some sort of heat source on them (preferably one of the reptile bulbs that you get from a pet store, but a high watt bulb should work if you can't get ahold of one) and put a thermometer on to make sure it doesn't get too hot. I just use the little outdoors thermometers from WalMart that are like one dollar.
Try heating her up a bit and see if she becomes more active. It couldn't hurt anything. Even if something else is wrong, higher temps boost snakes' immune systems. Mine are starting to slow down, and it's barely gotten below 70 here. I imagine they can probably really feel the seasonal difference in MI.

Also, you're right about brumation not being the best idea for new babies.
Hopefully she'll improve.. Keep us posted on her.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Ill try those things . Thank you very much. I will let you know what goes on and keep u updated.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Well heres an update. Pozer seems a little bit more active. Still wont eat though. Theres more tongue flicking then there was in the past few days and theres a little bit more moving around. I dont know if its cause she is in a different tank or what. She moves around a little and then just lays there for a while and then does it again.I still havent seen her drink but she has gone in the water few times and then tries to get out of tank. She shes gotten a little more active like I said but shes still not acting normal. She doesnt have the heat under her tank but last night I turned my heater up in the house so it got warmer everywhere. I dont know why she wouldnt eat still and if shes going to shed again I havent seen the foggy eyes or anything to suggest shedding soon. Grrr its frustrating not knowing whats wrong.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Hello all. Pozer is in her hide right now. I have another question.... If all I have for heat Is a lamp that is aimed in the tank and I dont know if that is warm enough is there a way to get it warmer in there homemade style. I have the thermomiter by the lamp to see how hot it gets and it is raising slowly but if it doesnt get where it should then what other things could I do to make it warmer. So far the lamp is making it 75 degrees in that spot. I dont know what the highest it will go. What is the temps again I need for that spot to be good for her and what is the lowest is the tank sopposed to be for the other side of the tank?

[RedSidedSPR]

Eh. Its a little cool, I'd get a higher wattage bulb, try and get it to the 80s, IF it doesn't heat up the whole cage more.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

ty right now that spot is about 76-78 degrees . So idk when that part will stop rizing. I will let you know the temp in about an hour. By them that spot should be at the highest its able to go. So if it reaches just 80 in that spot is that ok cause i dont think that lamp heats the whole tank to the same temp.

[RedSidedSPR]

If it raises it from 65/78 to 65/85 that would be great.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

cool. Because right before I read this that spot was at 80 so i will wait til about 6:15pm and check it again and then put the thermomiter at the other end of the tank and see what that temp is but ill have to wait a bit so that it has a chance to go back down or whatever. Thank you jesse for the help. Ill keep u updated.
Right now Pozer is in her hide which is kinda by the other side so ill put the therm. there when I do move it cause she goes there most of the time in that area. Thanks again.

[jitami]

Sounds like you're on the right track. Definitely check the 'other' side, too, but if she were too hot she'd likely be more active and trying to escape the heat. Good luck. Really wish I had more to offer. My little kingsnake is on a hunger strike right now. She came to me thin. I was just getting her up to a decent weight and now she's not eating :-( Seems like it's always something and we usually worry more than need be, but it's good to try to figure these things out.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

thank u tami. I put the therm to the other side so hopefully its what it needs to get to. She is in a 10gal tank by herself and still hasnt eaten or pooped. Grrr I wish she would eat. It seems like shes to young to just stop eating exspecially for 2 weeks. I just so worried about her. I hope she gets better soon.

[RedSidedSPR]

Better to worry your *** off for no reason, and find out it's nothing, than to shrug it off and it later result in something very bad...

[Mrs N1ntndo]

I agree . Thank you. The other side of the tank is back and forth between 63-65. Is that ok. Thats where they all like to sleep at anyway. Away from the light on the cooler side. Is that normal for them to do.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yes that's normal, it's the snakes preference. Some of mine like the cool side some like it right under the heat.

63-65 is ok IF there's a 80-90 (90 is max -- no more than that, and not that much unless the cool side is 60s like that) warm side.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Thats cool cause thats my tank is at. Im glad that works. Um should I turn off the lamp til I get up in the morning(@65 degrees) or leave it on the whole time exspecially since she seems sick.

[d_virginiana]

If your house is getting down to 65 without the lamp, I'd just leave it on at night.. Maybe direct her hide so that the opening is facing away from the light so she can be in the dark if she feels like it.
I'd really recommend getting a couple reptile heat bulbs though. They make heating sooo much less of a hassle. I don't use any extra heat at all for my snakes, but our house never drops below about 75 even in winter. But I do use them for my frog; a 100 watt during the day and a 60 watt red bulb for nighttime. They're somewhat pricey, but they last a long time, and if you're having trouble keeping a tank at the right temp gradient they can be a life saver.

If she's doing more moving about and tongue-flicking, that's definitely a good sign. Try not to worry so much about the hunger strike unless she actually starts to look thin/unhealthy; just keep offering her food, she should eventually take it once she decides it's not time to brumate :)

[Mrs N1ntndo]

ok ty. Right now thats the temps that can be done constant. I will change her hide so its the way you said. Ill try that. She does move about the tank alot stopping in alll different places and relaxing for a bit and then moving some more. She moving some more and I havent seen her drink at all but I saw her go in the water so I hope shes drinking at the same time. She still hasnt pooped yet and Im assuming thats because she hasnt eaten. If she has a blockage of some kind to stop her from eating and I cant feel it. Is there something I can do to help her or relax her some. Im just tring to make her as much stress free as possible.

[RedSidedSPR]

Don't leave the light on at night.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Ok now im confused.Do I or dont I leave the light on?

[RedSidedSPR]

Don't. You gotta give them a cool nightcycle.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

I didnt hear anything from anything before I went to bed so I still turned off the light. So I followed your advice.. Thank you.

Update on Pozer: shes still the same with moving around from place to place and relaxing. Right now shes next to the water dish relaxing or sleeping . When I get done with this post Im going to be feeding all the babies and since it might take a bit for her(hopefully she eats) Im gonna feed her last. So I will let you guys know when I get done on how it all worked out. Wish her and I luck. Fingers crossed.

[RedSidedSPR]

Good luck

[Mrs N1ntndo]

well I have an update. Not a good one though. I started to grab the snakes out to put them in the feeding tank. Moms 1st like normal and figured out that 1 of hers got out and is now gone. I have searched but was unsuccessful. I decided to look at pozer and I picked her up and she then took her last 2 deep breathes before passing away. I balled my eyes out while still holding her. Wow what an inpact a little thing can make. I will deffinantly miss her. She was my favorite. Dont tell Furbie. I will also be post about her passing in the RIP THREAD. Thank you all for the help. I know we all tried and she tried hard but it was just to tough for her. Love you Pozer.

[indigoman]

So sorry to read of your loss, yes we do get attached.

[katach]

Sorry for your loss.

[guidofatherof5]

R.I.P. Polzer.
Sorry to hear about your loss.

[RedSidedSPR]

I'm really really sorry for your loss.:(

R.I.P Pozer

[kimbosaur]

I'm so, so sad to read about Pozer!
Sending some hugs your way! http://graphics.mcpz.com/emoticons/hug.gif

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Thank you all for you support. It helps. On another note; when I was at the football game my daughter was cheering at, I had called hubby and he had told me that he was going in towards the bedroom to check on finding the snake and as soon as he walked in he saw the baby was laying on top of a laundry bag. He picked her up and put her back in the tank. Thank goodness he found her. I let mom know and she was very happy.

[guidofatherof5]

Glad to hear the lost is now found.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Thank you Steve

[jitami]

Randi, I am so very sorry to hear that Pozer has passed. You did everything you could and it's obvious you loved her very much. So sad :(

[Mrs N1ntndo]

thank you for the warm thoughts.