Info & advice for Emily.............................

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: : I've got a 4 yr old black taled cribo with a very nasty infestation of worms, and also an infected eye. Took him to the vet to get dewormed, but he is not in good condition. He's also very skinny, so of course I'm very worried about him. He got his vet meds yesterday, and today is quite lethergic. Force fed him 5 pinkies to try and give him enough energy to survive the deworming. Currently, he's sitting on a chair wrapped up in a heating pad and a towel. He seems to be liking it, but still I worry. His eye infection is nasty, with some sort of cloudy yellow stuff under the lens, and the eye is swollen. Has anyone else experienced things like this? : Emily, : It sounds like your Cribo might be a wild caught animal. In the wild, cribos/indigos have internal and external parasites, and because they eat such a wide variety of food items, are exposed to ALL SORTs of pathogens. In the wild, they defecate and leave, but when they are captured and taken to holding stations or wholesalers facilities they often receive sub-optimal care , not enough heat(Or to much) and are not fed or housed next to or even WITh snakes from other species in dirty cages thathavent been sanitized. : This can cause the worms , amoebas, pathogens to bloom and increase in number. The stress from being in captivity, coupled with sub-optimal conditions can weaken them and the cant effectively fight off the growing population of ecto and endo parasites. : Thats why I ALWAYS recommend those new to Drymarchon to ONLY buy captive born babies from a known breeder. C/B usually are not seen with the problems you mentioned. : Many..many yearsago..I purchased an Indigo from a pet shop here in Calif. A 7 1/2 ft male. I got it home, very proud of my new acquisition, and put it in a cage. : It rubbed its nose off trying ot get out. : I examined it later because it was makeing raspy breathing noises-It had a respiratory infection. : I checked the out side of the body more thouroughly-It had MITEs and TICKS! : I opened the mouth-It had flukes : I examined the bely more thouroughly-It had scale rot. : I took it to the vet, they must have seen me comeing...Vet Bill:$325.00!(Which was a LOT of money back then. : I ended up selling him to another breeder who had more money than I and could afford to clean him up. : I then bought baby indigos from a breeder and raised them myself. : Live.....and learn.... : I would follow your vets advice to the letter, dont handle the snake or stress it out, put it in a container it cant escape from should it turn the corner and start feeling better. Please realize that ADULT cribos are VERY tough snakes, that you have on yourside. But there is a chance that it could die and you must understand that it is not your fault. If it does...look for captive brn individuals from reputable breeders that WORRY what their reputation is looked on as. : E-mail me if you need any more questions answered. : hope this helps. : Fred Albury : (Aztec Reptiles)

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