times, to my surprise, I heard some air come out of the snake's nose or mouth. After several more minutes of working on the snake it inhaled on its own. Several minutes later the tongue did a slow flick and the snake made some feeble attempt s at moving. As time progressed the snake got stronger and started crawling around. It was placed back in the cage and within a short time was acting almost nonnal. A week later it ate a mouse and kept it down. Today the snake shows no symptoms of its brush with death other than a few abrasions on the skin which appear to be healing well. This snake was fortunate that a fonner Boy Scout with the fust aid merit badge came to visit that night
HERP HINTS Edited by Greg Kvanbek $
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When his iguana stopped gaining weight suddenly, Fred Bozvaytookitto Dr. Newman for a culture ( fecal, I suspect, not literary). As it turned out the iguana had picked up some bacteria and it was not digesting its food completely. It was successfully treated with Chloramphenicol. Fred and his veterinarian suspect that unwashed peaches were the source of the bacteria. There are two valuable lessons to be learned here. First, if you notice something unusual about an animal's behavior or condition take it to vet. It's not as expensive as you think. Second, it's a good idea to wash fruits and vegetables before giving them to your herps. Peter YaDZ, one of our junior members, had an interesting experience with his Fox Snake recently. The snake was opaque at the time and Peter decided to feed it a mouse. The snake apparently could not see very well and in its frenzy to catch the mouse it bit itself. Fortunately, no damage was done. The point is simply to show one more thing to watch out for when feeding snakes. Incidentally, in the classic book Rattlesnakes J. Frank Dobie devoted a full chapter to the subject of Rattlesnakes biting themselves. Do you still tell your friends how smart your snakes are?
• Gloria Anton has a unique method for removing old skin from a snake. When her Ball Python's skin came off in patches she used a plastic pot scrubber to gently rub off the dead skin. (1 just know someone is going to read this and try using steel wool.) Apparently it's not necessary to soak the animal first. Bruce Delles adds that increasing the humidity in the snake's cage might prevent problem sheds. ®
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Aaron Hampton says he simply puts a container filled with damp moss for shedding in the cage. Moisture seems to be the key factor in loosening the skin. Be careful not to force your snakes to live in excessively damp conditions or you will fmd yourself studying your books for information on "skin blisters" or ''belly rot". They are not much fun to treat. Senegal Running Frogs (Kassina senegalensis) tend to be cannibalistic if they're not fed enough or if they are overcrowded. This is especially true of males. Keep the sizes similar. These little guys are probably hard to replace. Herp experiences lead to herp hints that the rest of us can learn from. Did you ever drop your Marine Toad on its head? Do you have a special method for removing Iguana dung from your hair? We'd like to hear about it! Call (612) 533-7723 or give Greg a hint at the next meeting.
MHSNewsletter, Vol. X, No.1
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