red tailed boa issue

[punky]

hey guys, hopefully someone can help me out.

i have a red tailed boa, she's 3 years old now. i was feeding live food, but about 3 weeks ago she got mites really freakin bad, so i'm feeding frozen now.

Anyhow, we've been treating her for the mites, and i just soaked her in the tub and saw maybe a couple come off her and drown. so i think one more treatment and she'll be good to go.

my issue is this: her skin is very wrinkly like she's losing weight real fast, and one of her eyes looks like the outside is closing in on it. i'm really worried about it :/.

i hope someone has some suggestions for me! :(

[Rick]

I know it's not what anyone likes to hear, but a vet trip may be required.

The eye could be irritation from the mite infestation. The weight loss could be related, partly from stress but it's possibly something different entirely. How much weight has it lost? Is it still eating the same amount of food each sitting?

Rick

[charlene]

I agree, you should probably bring the boa to a vet just make sure it is one that is comfortable dealing with large snakes (not all of them are trust me :) ). You might want to bring a fecal sample in with you because the sudden loss of weight is puzzling and can be a symptom of other parasites.

Charlene

[John]

Sounds to me like she is Dehydrated! This is usually the reason for wrinkls showing up. Could also be the eye problem. I say try it and head to the vet in a week or 2 if things don't clear up.

[punky]

thats an interesting reply. i thought the same thing last night... but wasn't sure because she had a fresh bowl of water in her cage..., so i upped the size of her water dish and filled it to the brim.

she's still in there soaking, and it's been 8 or 9 hours. she looks a lot better.

i just don't get why she wouldn't use her regular water dish? there was plenty of room in there for her and she was using it 3 days ago... :/

i've got an appointment today at 1, i think i'll take her in anyways. thanks for the help guys

[John]

This is one reason why some people will soak their animals weekly/monthly.