Re: Western Green Rats

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Posted by Rich G. on May 26, 1999 at 10:11:09:

In Reply to: Re: Western Green Rats posted by Rob on May 24, 1999 at 21:08:43:

: : With the exception of Chiricahua animals I don't think W/C are that difficult. The critical thing is to get them to a vet as soon as after capture as possible in order to check for and treat internal parasites.

: Many if not most wc snakes, triaspis included, have a small amout of bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms present in their body at all times. These organisms might not show up in a fecal as they are not present in high enough densities, but as stress levels rise within a wc snake, bacteria populations can explode. Many times these explosions of growth can go undetected in a snake and in a short time seriously compromise a snake's health. As triaspis are an easliy stressed snake to begin with, you can see how this could easily be a problem. In my opinion wc triaspis die in hibernation due to opportunistic bacteria thriving when immunity levels are the lowest. Anyway, read Jarchow's (sp?) article in one of the Tuscon Herpetological Society's newsletter on stress and its relationship to parasites/bacteria.

Thats why we have Dr. Jarchow or Mike Kiedrowski check our animals every fall prior to putting them into hibernation. Dr. Jarchow is the one who told us about cleaning the water dish daily if possible as triaspis are very prone to bacterial infections of the tongue sheath. Rich

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: : : With the exception of Chiricahua animals I don't think W/C are that difficult. The critical thing is to get them to a vet as soon as after capture as possible in order to check for and treat internal parasites. : : Many if not most wc snakes, triaspis included, have a small amout of bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms present in their body at all times. These organisms might not show up in a fecal as they are not present in high enough densities, but as stress levels rise within a wc snake, bacteria populations can explode. Many times these explosions of growth can go undetected in a snake and in a short time seriously compromise a snake's health. As triaspis are an easliy stressed snake to begin with, you can see how this could easily be a problem. In my opinion wc triaspis die in hibernation due to opportunistic bacteria thriving when immunity levels are the lowest. Anyway, read Jarchow's (sp?) article in one of the Tuscon Herpetological Society's newsletter on stress and its relationship to parasites/bacteria. : Thats why we have Dr. Jarchow or Mike Kiedrowski check our animals every fall prior to putting them into hibernation. Dr. Jarchow is the one who told us about cleaning the water dish daily if possible as triaspis are very prone to bacterial infections of the tongue sheath. Rich

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