Stromboli’s Tough News & Update

[verth]

First- thank you to those who gave me all sorts of information to work from in my previous post asking for growth ideals! It helped to get your input and I can’t say thank you enough!

Second- Not sure if I ever gave my little Sand Boa’s name! It’s Stromboli Itamen Renaldi Pentious (SIR Pentious), but mostly we just call him Bo or Stromboli.

The Tough News- We went to the vet for a checkup and I didn’t get a chance to speak to the doctor before they took Stromboli back. (He works out of a standard vet office, but in the back, so we don’t see the examination). The vet came to talk to me and said, “he seems… weak? About halfway back.” And it rang in my head that I remember saying the exact same thing to my best friend the first day I brought him home. I thought maybe KSBs just moved differently than other snakes I’d handled. He coils around his dinner, he wiggles his tail when he’s particularly irritated, but he generally doesn’t seem to use his back half to move around. It’s hard to explain past that.

I told the vet the same thing I asked about here, talked to him about the double pinkies and that I had a shipment of “peach fuzzies” on the way from Perfect Prey. He agreed with the vitamin powders (with a “he still eats it covered in powder? Damn, then yeah, keep it up!”) and gave me a calcium to inject into the fuzzies/pinkies.

He said this could have been caused by poor nutrition in the pinkies even before he came into my care (and continued in my care), but said it could also easily be poor breeding and he’s seen a lot of that over the years.

The Update- Stromboli is still a fantastic eater. He’s now taking the peach fuzzies (I’ve picked the smallest of the pack of 25 I purchased!) with enthusiasm every week, besides skipping to shed. He’s looking better, and I’m starting to feel a difference in how he moves! It’s a slow going process since he only eats once a week, but I’m so happy to be making a positive change in his health.

So again- thank you all for your input and helping me make better choices for his care! I’ll continue to update if you’d like to hear about him.

[jawramik]

Sorry to hear that your boy has some issues, but it sounds like they’re relatively minor and like they’re not impacting his quality of life from what you describe. The good news is that since sand boas don’t really climb or grasp things with their hind end anyway, his weakness in that part of his body is going to affect him less than it would if he were a species that likes to climb. And he doesn’t exactly need to flee from predators in his current living situation.

For the record, sand boas do move and handle weirdly compared to other snakes. Even my blood python holds onto me more than my sand boa.

[caron]

@verth

I’ll continue to update if you’d like to hear about him.

Of course we would love to hear about his progress along with plenty of pictures! I’m so glad he is moving on to fuzzies! And kudos to you for taking such good care of “To Sir with Love”! I’m an oldie so you probably won’t get the last part!

[deanaii]

Awwww. If he eats and poops, then things are mostly good.

[armiyana]

Even snakes can sometimes have handicaps. It’s just up to their pet parent to help them out. Thank you for doing o well for little Bo so far. I love his crazy full name.

The calcium deficiency deficiency is something that hits harder and more often in lizards like beardies or leopard geckos. Thankfully if caught early enough it can be fixed with relatively few issues

[lumpy]

@verth

if you’d like to hear about him.

Absolutely….we are here and would love that.

[verth]

Good to know that they’re typically different in handling to others. I hope I get more opportunities to hold more sand boas in the future.

No one told Bo that he’s not meant for climbing though… Telling your Sand Boa they can be whatever they want when they grow up and they choose Tree Boa… (feat. baby Stromboli)