Sickness and Disease

[Jezza]

i was just wondering what diseases can a snake catch? How do you tell if they are sick or not? Can these diseases be harmful to us or can we give snakes anything?
Maybe a couple of facts about the most common forms of reptile sickness' or diseases and how to treat them would be good...
Just for amateurs like me who don't know much about snakes

[Tindomul1of9]

Just to get this thread going, all I have ever heard of is ticks on reptiles including snakes, and maybe salmonella. I can't see the ticks being contagious to humans, but salmonella can. Though I don't know how many snakes have salmonella.

[meatslim]

respiratory infection:
commonly caused by humidity being too high. some thing it can be caused by humidity being too low as well or temps being off. u can tell if a snake has it if he weezes when breathing or if u see mucus around nose and mouth

mouth rot:
usually caused by injury to the mouth or something being stuck in there, usually a piece of substrate. i'm not sure what it looks like, but he will lose appetite because it is painful to eat. check the mouth and go to a vet, he will usually prescribe antibiotics in sever cases and in mild cases, betadine treatment should do.

scale rot:
caused by substrate being too humid. belly scales will look like tehy are rotting, with brown or reddish splotches. take to a vet immediately

IBD (inclusion body disease?) ...something like that:
no known cause. it's a neural disease. u will see ur snake stargazing (looking straight up for no apparent reason at nothing at all) and then usually falling over. another sympton is that he cant turn himself rightside up when he falls on his back. he will lose the ability to hunt and lose appetite as well. Quarantine immediately, keep far far away from other snakes (in another room). There is no known cure for IBD and usually requires euthanization. This usually affects pythons and boas and is rare among other snakes (colubrids). take to a vet, dont diagnose this urself and euthanize ur snake.

thats all i can think of for now, i hope that helps.

[Rainfrog]

My first Ball Python had ticks. If they are on the body it is not to badjust pull them off carefully and make shure you get the head. If pulling isa problem (can be some times) you can use Olive or Vegetable oil (as small amount as is needed) and get it all around the imediate head area of the tick, This prevents them from breathing and they wil pull out to do so. when they come up for air you pull them off and whipe up the snake. On the head can be ruff especialy if around the eyes or mouth. Just use a firm but gentle hand and it should be ok. DO NOT burn the ticks off!!! This works on mamals for larger varietys of ticks but the ticks ive seen on snakes are too small and snakes are too sesitive to raw heat. Hope this helps any one with a tick problem. Oh some times the animal will bleed a little dont panic its normal unless heavy in that case get to the Vet right away.