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.