Possible RI ?

[Foxrun402]

So my buddie said hey maybe you can help come over fast...

He found a baby radix and the poor guy has a broken tail and not only that but seemed to be having seizures and was very dry looking!

I just got em home and took a few pics ill put those up in a minute but I soaked him in treated luke warm water to get his temp up because this is nebraska and it was cold! He seems to be moving alot better but upon watching him he dosent seem to be breathing !

When he has his mini seizure like movements he opens his mouth as if he is trying to gasp for air !!!

I will monitor him and see if his condition gets any better but i'm afraid there isnt much i can do !!!

and this baby snake is gorgeous any thoughts ?

Video of this :


Picture:

[Greg'sGarters]

When I saw the video, a few things came to mind that might be causing it.

1. Dehydration
2. Mites
Often times, when snakes have mites, they will make weird movements to try to shake them off. They also can be seen rubbing their scales/heads up against
the substrate to rub them off. Look for either little black dots or little white dots. The black dots would be the mites themselves, the white dots would be their
feces. Try soaking him and look for little black dots in the water. If he does turn out to have mites get about 3/4 gallon of lukewarm water in a bucket. Next,
add a few drops of Dawn Dish Soap to the water. DON'T OVERDO IT. There should be just enough for slight bubbles of form when stirred up. Let him soak in it
for an hour.
3. Parasites
Try deworming him. That often causes a lot of problems.

[Foxrun402]

So Its been with me for about 15 minutes now it seems to be doing much better already... My buddie put him in a container with dirt like a noobie... and so soaking him every so often just to check him out... only using water treated with reptisafe for this at the moment... later today I will try and feed him some nightcrawler bits and see how he is doing... but will keep an eye on him for a while

[Greg'sGarters]

Ok sounds good! Also you mentioned that your friend put him in a dirt container? Don't put him on dirt, it can get in his mouth and cause problems. And if kept on damp dirt for an extended period of time, it can cause scale rot. But keep me updated on his progress!!!

[Foxrun402]

Well so far so good... he is very docile... maybe just very glad to have someone that cares! he has stopped the seizure like movements and is on paper towels in quarantine... I will try and give him some nightcrawler and pinky bits later... im sure he needs food to get strength back... when I got my hands on him he was basically rigi-mortis! Now he is active as normal!! I am so happy !

Edit: he keeps folowing my hands around from inside his container indicating hunger to me... just my opinion

[guidofatherof5]

Food might take awhile as he was preparing for brumation.

[Foxrun402]

Would it be a bad idea to introduce "Her" to Suzi since I didn't bother sexing her earlier because i was too concerned for her condition but she is a girl for sure... and now she appears to be doing great!


I did put her in there for a short duration to get some of the heat lamp and she seemed to want to explore everything... Suzi was burrowed under the substrate in her hide sleeping the whole time LOL

Under the light... Looking healthy now!

Healthly looking little girl now wouldn't you say?

Edit: I also bathed her several times in luke warm water with solution to remove hard metals and chlorine... and after several times the water came clear before I put her under the heat lamp

[ConcinusMan]

That snake is suffering from a retained shed. You mentioned he was "dry looking". That was my first clue. Second clue was the video. I've seen this so many times that I am very sure this is a retained shed. Unfortunately, when it gets that far, when the snake is making those movements (gaping, having trouble breathing) there's usually nothing you can do and the snake usually dies soon thereafter.

At some point (reasons aren't known) the snake failed to shed it's skin when it was time. The old skin fused to the new (by now there's little hope of getting it off without seriously injuring the snake) and now the snake is literally being strangled to death by it's own skin.

Sometimes hydrating the skin can make it more flexible which temporarily makes the snake seem better. Now you mention the snake seems to be doing better. Did you check the entire tank to see if by some chance, the snake did shed it's skin? If not, take the snake out and put it some place it can dry out. Does the symptoms return? does the skin start looking wrinkly/dry? If so, that's a retained shed/failure to shed.

I had a baby radix go through this several times. Eventually, it died, unable to breathe.

[ConcinusMan]

he dosent seem to be breathing !

When he has his mini seizure like movements he opens his mouth as if he is trying to gasp for air !!!

I will monitor him and see if his condition gets any better but i'm afraid there isnt much i can do !!!

That's because he's not. He's exhausted from the extra effort to breathe, due to the old skin causing constriction.

He is not only trying to gasp for air, but the skin is squeezing him so hes trying to stretch it out.

Correct. There isn't much you can do other than soaking the snake in tepid water and hope he sheds.

Just for future reference, when a snake has an RI it doesn't look like that. They will just open their mouth slightly and take deep labored breaths every now and then. Often there is audible wheezing/sneezing. There won't be that jerky "seizure" type movement. Looks more like this video (when the snake opens its mouth, you can clearly see mucous, which is blocking the snakes ability to breath through his nostrils) RI's are rare in the wild. In captivity they are usually caused by keeping the tank uniformly warm/too warm/lack of proper temperature gradient.

[guidofatherof5]

If it is a retained shed a soak like Richard said is good.
After the soak see if you can get the shed started at the corner of the mouth or at the vent.