Seizures in Eastern Ribbon

[nekura]

I just put Scylla in her new 20 gallon tank and she was quite upset about being handled, but once inside she calmed down and explored. Then she just started having seizures, flipping, falling backwards and now she's hardly moving unless I try to pick her up. I did not feed her fish with Thiamese, I fed her Sally's Silversides which was approved as being safe food. She was wild caught as a baby, but show no health problems until now. Does anyone know why this is happening? There are no vets here for reptiles.

[guidofatherof5]

How long did it last?
Have you been using any Supplements?
What kind of substrate and did you use any chemicals to clean the 20 gal?

[kibakiba]

I'm thinking chemicals over food or anything else. Babies are very,very sensitive to chemicals.

[nekura]

I used some face and hand wipes, but then sprayed it down with water. I used a reptile carpet that was in storage. It lasts for about 5 seconds then she stops moving, and 30 minutes or so later it'll happen again. No supplements since the Silver sides have bone in them for calcium.. plus its hard just getting her to eat anything right now.

Should I take her out the cage?? The hand and face wipes are pretty gentle.

EDIT: or is it possible I just made her so upset that she's freaking out constantly? She musks and bites and I had to handle her for the cage swap. But I've been having troubles getting her to eat for the past two weeks.. she ate two silver sides about 4 days ago.

[nekura]

And now it seems she's laying her head in the food tray and..drinking the fish juice but not eating the fish..?

[kibakiba]

There is probably residue from the wipes. Instead of wipes, use a water and vinegar solution to clean it. You should probably rinse it out better, too. Just spraying it isn't going to get the residue off, I normally rinse and dry with a couple extra towels.

[nekura]

Okay thank you.. I have placed her in a temporary tiny container so if she seizes again she won't hurt herself.. she was literally leaping across the cage into walls and hides. I keep a small packet of silver sides defrosted in my ice box for fast feeding and I recall someone saying the longer a fish is kept not frozen it can form thiamese? Do you also think this could maybe be a cause?

EDIT: And now I'm worrying about my turtle. Different cage, but I used bleach to clean it out but ran a high powered spraying over it for awhile, filled it with water, dumped it out, then sprayed it hard against while it was upside down so the bleach would drain. I didn't towel dry it since more water was going in. He seems to be alright.. but now I'm worried.

[nekura]

Now she keeps losing consciousness.. I put her on a warm, wet towel for now.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I hate to say it but it does not sound good... Now don't forget that often people get so worried about the thiaminase thing that they forget there are tons of other reasons a snake can start seizuring... Yes chemicals are another but it could also be as simple as a terminal developmental issue. Snakes have a limited number of ways they can express an ailment and that's why seizure is such a common thing to witness in an ailing snake. I've lost my fair share of young to symptoms like this and to tell you the truth I still have no idea what caused it.... Each case unrelated from the last and nothing recently changed or cleaned. the change of scenery could have been a mere coincidence in your case but the stress of being moved could have also been a trigger. I've triggered a fatal seizure in a young snake merely by picking it up... It was a similis, and then a few months later her brother whom was kept separately also died of seizure and he was a year older. Now that snake i picked up was probably doomed to have one sooner or later regardless but sometimes a stimulus will help to trigger one. Of the few snakes I have seen it happen to... All were young snakes... I've never had it happen to adults. Probably because any snake prone to having a seizure is unlikely to make it to adulthood. Hope your snake turns around for you but something does sound seriously wrong... Hope I am not being too blunt!

[EasternGirl]

I agree with Shannon. I doubt it had anything to do with the wipes and your turtle should be fine. I clean all of my tanks with a bleach/water solution on a regular basis and then use plain water to spray it out until the bleach smell is gone...air it out for a little while and then put the snakes back in. I have never had a problem. In the future, I wouldn't use wipes to clean tanks...just vinegar or bleach/water solution. Just always make sure to clean it out with regular water afterward and let it air out for a while before putting your pets in. Like Shannon said, it sounds like something is very wrong (sorry) something that probably goes beyond something that you caused. It is very hard to tell sometimes why these things happen. Unfortunately there is often little we can do to prevent them or fix them. I hope that she does get better.