What are some common problems in pet snakes?
Fig. 1: Juvenile anaconda. Photo courtesy of Dr. Gregory Rich, DVM.Snakes have several unique problems and understanding these problems will allow you to better care for your pet and minimize future health care problems and concerns.
Anorexia
Anorexia means lack of appetite or refusal to eat. Anorexia is a common complaint among pet snake owners. Some species, like ball pythons, are more prone to it than others. Anorexia can be a normal condition associated with reproduction (the breeding season), egg bearing (a pregnant snake), or shedding. Anorexia can also be a symptom of an underlying environmental problem such as an inappropriate light cycle, cold cage/enclosure temperature, an incorrect diet, inappropriately sized food items, or, most commonly, stress associated with a new or changed environment.
Diseases and other problems that cause anorexia include infectious stomatitis (“mouth rot”), intestinal parasites, gastrointestinal blockage (impaction), intestinal infections, respiratory disease, kidney or liver failure, tumors, or gout. Your veterinarian will need to perform a thorough physical examination and run laboratory tests to determine the cause of your snake's anorexia. Encouraging an anorexic snake to resume eating may be challenging but is most successful when the underlying cause of anorexia can be identified and corrected.
Salmonella
While turtles are often incriminated for spreading Salmonella bacteria to their owners, any reptile, including snakes, can carry these bacteria as part of their normal gastrointestinal bacterial flora. Salmonella can cause severe gastrointestinal disease or even life-threatening septicemia (bacterial invasion of the bloodstream with internal organ involvement). Many animals and people carry these bacteria without showing any clinical signs, yet they shed the bacteria in their feces and serve as a source of infection for others.
The best way to minimize problems with this disease is through proper hygiene. Clean and disinfect the snake’s cage/environment thoroughly every time it becomes soiled. Disinfect the entire cage at least weekly; use cleaning products and rinse well. Most importantly, thoroughly wash and disinfect your hands after handling or feeding your snake or cleaning its cage.
Most snakes that carry Salmonella are not ill, so they usually require no treatment.
Abnormal Swellings and Masses
Snakes commonly develop lumps and bumps on their skin or within their bodies. Various conditions can cause these abnormal swellings and masses. External lumps may be caused by infection (typically referred to as abscesses), tumors, or parasites. Swellings inside the body cavity can be caused by organ enlargement (such as with kidney disease, liver disease or parasitic infections of the stomach); retained eggs in species of snakes that lay eggs; tumors; or even impaction of the intestinal tract by foreign bodies. Sometimes, a lump is simply the food a snake has just eaten.
"Once the cause of the swelling is known, your veterinarian will determine whether medical or surgical therapy is the most appropriate treatment."
Your veterinarian may need to run certain tests (X-rays, microscopic analysis of an aspirate of the mass, or blood tests) to determine the cause of a specific swelling. Once the cause of the swelling is known, your veterinarian will determine whether medical or surgical therapy is the most appropriate treatment. Some lumps and bumps are benign and do not pose a life-threatening risk to your snake. Others can be signs of more serious disease. In these cases, the sooner your snake is examined, the better.
Difficulty Shedding
Fig. 2: Ball python shedding its skin. A healthy, well-maintained snake will shed its skin (the process of ecdysis) in one piece, like an inverted sock. The frequency of shedding varies with the snake’s age, growth rate, and nutritional status. A young, healthy, well-fed snake will shed more often (perhaps every month).
Shedding begins with a subtle dulling of the skin color all over the body. Several days after that, the eyes turn a cloudy, blue/gray color. Once the shed is complete, the skin color brightens and the eyes resume their normal, clear appearance. During these stages, snakes should be handled very gently, as the skin is fragile and can be easily damaged. Finally, the snake seeks a rough surface to rub against, and the old skin sheds off from head to tail as it rubs. This entire process can take 7–14 days.
Some snakes experience difficult or improper shedding (dysecdysis). Dysecdysis is considered a symptom of an underlying problem. The common underlying factor is often husbandry, such as improper environmental temperatures or humidity levels and/or incomplete nutrition.
Of special concern is the snake with retained spectacles (eye caps). The surfaces of the eyes should be shed at the same time as the skin. Always check the shed skin to ensure that the spectacles have come off with the rest of the skin. If they are not shed, consult your veterinarian about how best to treat your snake. In the long term, retained spectacles can result in permanent eye damage and blindness.
"It is helpful to provide a number of rough surfaces, such as logs or rocks, that the snake can rub against to initiate the shed."
Shedding problems (retained skin and eye caps) can often be treated by increasing the humidity in the snake's environment to help the snake to shed the retained skin. It is helpful to provide a number of rough surfaces, such as logs or rocks, that the snake can rub against to initiate the shed. Consult your veterinarian for advice about various ways to increase humidity, such as soaking or misting the snake, and ways to help your snake shed retained skin and eye caps so it does not suffer permanent damage. If the problem persists and the above recommendations do not help, it is essential that your snake is examined by an experienced veterinarian familiar with reptiles.
Burns
Burns occur all too often with pet snakes. They occur when the animal, naturally seeking a warm place to rest, either finds a place that is too hot or stays in that hot spot too long. This can happen if the snake has access to exposed heat lamps, light bulbs, or electric “hot rocks” or “sizzle stones” within the cage. It can also happen if your snake escapes and finds a radiator, baseboard heater, light bulb, or other exposed heat source it can curl up next to for warmth.
Bites and Wounds
Fig. 3: Ball python with multiple bites from a rat. Photo courtesy of Dr. Gregory Rich, DVM.Most snake owners are surprised to learn that even a small, frightened mouse offered as prey can bite and cause the snake life-threatening injury if the snake does not eat it immediately. Wounds inflicted by prey require immediate veterinary care.
Sometimes, uneaten prey left in a cage with a well-fed snake will bite through the snake’s skin and muscles, down to the ribs and backbone, inflicting irreparable or life-threatening injuries.
For this reason, as well as humane concerns for live prey, snakes should be offered only dead prey (freshly killed or frozen and thawed). Live prey should be avoided, as they present too much risk of injury for the snake. Most pet snakes can be trained to eat dead prey, especially if they are hungry and the prey is freshly killed and still warm. If you do feed live mice, rats, or other small prey, be sure to take the prey item out of the enclosure if the snake has not killed and consumed it in 1–2 hours.
Injuries
Unfortunately, a snake in captivity may repeatedly try to escape by pushing its nose or the front of its face into cage lids, the glass of the aquarium, or wire on an enclosure. Nasal or facial injuries can be minor, such as superficial skin and scale damage, or can progress to deep, full-thickness ulceration that can lead to disfiguring deformities of the nose and mouth, interfering with breathing and/or eating.
"If your snake keeps attempting to escape, provide it with secure hiding places and lots of different structures to climb on."
This problem is challenging to prevent. If your snake keeps attempting to escape, provide it with secure hiding places and lots of different structures to climb on. Place a visual barrier on the outer surface of the tank walls or top of the enclosure to deter the snake from trying to push through. Visual barriers may include a coat of dark-colored paint, a strip of duct tape, or a decorative façade.
Dystocia
Dystocia, or egg binding, occurs when the female snake is unable to pass eggs. Dystocia is a fairly common problem in reptiles and can be life-threatening. It is caused by a variety of factors including poor husbandry (e.g., improper environmental lighting or temperature), inadequate nest site, inappropriate diet (malnutrition), and dehydration.
Other factors that may contribute to dystocia include older age, poor body condition, physical obstructions within the reproductive tract caused by deformed or oversized eggs or injuries, structural abnormalities with the reproductive tract or pelvis, infections, constipation, or abscesses.
A healthy, gravid (with eggs) snake may not eat but should still be bright, active, and alert. A gravid snake with dystocia will not eat and will also be lethargic, weak, or unresponsive. A veterinarian familiar with reptiles should examine snakes in this condition immediately. A physical examination, blood tests, and X-rays (radiographs) are often required for diagnosis. Medical and/or surgical procedures may be needed to treat these animals.
