Hydra

[angrygamer]

btw, the wikipedia entry for effleurage is not what i used. any "medical" technique involving the terms energy, aura or healing are major indicators of horse$#!% i'm a tolerant guy, but if you use them around me in a serious manner, i will scorn you.

Boy, you would have loved to meet my last vet.

[aquamentus_11]

yeah, some of them definitely have their benefits. i also think that plants that actually have benefits are very cool. i'm going to be a DO so i get the draw of some of the alternative medicine methods. plus, my older sister is a naturopath in Australia. i'm just very leery of it all: it gave osteopathic medicine a bad name for a loooong time. for example, in every country in the world except the US, France and Australia "osteopaths" are something completely different than an actual physician. they can't be surgeons and sound more like naturopaths or chiropractors to me. we can't even practice outside the US because of the bad name our predecessors left us (though the AMA also played a large part in it many many years ago). i can't tell you how many people have asked me to explain which things "real doctors" can do that i can't or if i just couldn't get into an MD program. truth is, I didn't want to be an MD (though after some of the bs they've made me learn, i have definitely questioned that decision). we do all the same things, the only difference is philosophical at this point. it just depends how you decide to practice. in fact, i'll be taking both the osteopathic and the MD boards. also, i want to go into surgery so i don't have a lot of use for the alternative techniques. that being said, i'm happy to answer questions about the philosophies if anyone has them: i know there's a lot of confusion out there.

[Stefan-A]

I think alternative medicine can be good for chronic conditions and things that traditional doctors don't have answers to or solutions for.

Depends on what it's based on. If there is scientific evidence that it works, that's one thing. Then again, "alternative medicine" that works, is usually called "medicine". If not, you're better off with a side-effect free placebo.

[EasternGirl]

My doctor is a DO...and I like the fact that he is open-minded about alternative medicines...but he doesn't have his head in the clouds either. DOs have come a long way. The hospital here is a very good hospital...very good rep on the east coast...and now they have DOs as attendings and running departments. I'm seeing more and more med students going into DO programs now.

[aquamentus_11]

her tail is still better than it was in the beginning, but it's a little drier than i'd like so i've got her soaking. she HATES soaking

[EasternGirl]

So do my snakes.

[aquamentus_11]

after soaking, the scales look pale and i can see hemorrhaging between them. doesn't look good now. i don't know how sensitive the tips of their tails are, but i pinched the segment distal to the problem area and she didn't respond. however, i did the same upstream of the area and still no response, though a little further up she did jerk her tail away. the positive side of this is that she trusts me almost completely now after all the handling and non-predatory tweaking i've been doing. i think i found that piece of retained shed a little too late poor stump-tail hydra

[EasternGirl]

It's okay...there are a few members with stump-tailed snakes on the forum...she'll be in good company. I wouldn't mess with it though...put some antibiotic ointment on it and leave it be for now. I'm not sure how to tell when you should cut it off though...you'll have to ask someone else about that.

[aquamentus_11]

If it needs to be cut off it will feel like a dry old twig, just completely dead. It's not going to cause any problems until the next shed, so no immediate worry. Give it a few weeks and keep an eye on it, I suspect that you'll see it drying out as the bloodflow dries up completely. It is worth keeping watch for any sign of infection though.

i'm going by this

[aquamentus_11]

yeah, it's done for. no need for a few weeks, it's dead now. i'll take her to the vet tomorrow. i just wish i knew how it happened. she shed over night and i came to check on her first thing in the morning and took care of the retained shed as soon as i saw it. this poor snake's life is a constant drama.