Ambubadger
New member
Aloha from Hawaii! I have a laticauda that I found by my apartment swimming pool. I have had her for one month now, and she isn't usually shy-- she will eagerly approach me when she hears the crickets getting dusted in their jar, but won't eat out of my hand. There are two eggs, or what looks like eggs, visible in her tummy. They have been there for the past week, and she has always looked chubby since. I have her in an 18" x 18" x 24" screen enclosure with live plants, orchid bark substrate. There is a wood panel I fastened inside with a deck on it for sunning-- she usually catches her food on here, so no risk of ingesting substrate. She gets misted three to five times a day. She doesn't seem to like the water though.
Diet: I feed her mostly crickets and mealworms, both dusted with Tetra calcium. I also treat her to mosquitoes, crane flies, isopods, spiders, and whatever else I happen to catch that I think she might like. Smaller gnats and crickets are stuck to honey, which she likes to lap up. Bigger crickets get cut in two. I work 24hr shifts, so my girlfriend occasionally feeds a mealworm to her if I'm at the station, but I'll usually feed her before heading to or after arriving from work. She eats about one mealworm and two medium crickets daily... Is that too much? My girls says she's eating for two (three, actually)...
Lighting and hygiene: I have two CFL bulbs for UVB and a spotlight for heat, seems to be working well. They are on a timer. The cage is misted often, and I wipe up feces with a paper towel and forceps often. I did have one of those cheap desktop "zen" water fountains in there for the humidity, but took it out in case the water went bad and was causing issues... But I've never seen her drink from it.
Behavior: She isn't terribly shy: she usually basks on the deck or on the screen nearest the heat lamp, and eagerly comes toward the front of the cage when she sees something in my forceps. There is a timer connected to the light, and it runs from 0630~1930. Once the light goes off, she will disappear to the back of the panel and crash out until morning. If she's startled or gets misted, she will retreat to that spot as well. She's very attended tive and "watches" us about the room.
Problem: For the past three days, I have noticed runny stool from her. It varies from being just wet (like the pic) to being mushy like human diarrhea. Yesterday, she spent most of the time in her hiding spot, coming out to poop twice and lick up a little honey. She didn't seem interested in the crickets or roaches today, but did eagerly take a mealworm. She has also stopped digging around the potted succulent plant in the middle left of her flat. When I checked the back of the cage for the first time, I saw she had shed. No idea at all when that occurred, we never even saw the start of anything peeling! The skin is in four large, intact pieces. Is something the matter with her not eating it? She also seemed a bit sluggish. I did buy crickets from a different store a few days before the onset of symptoms.
Also, there doesn't seem to be any herp specialists on Oahu, probably because snakes and non-native reptiles are prohibited. How would I go about, with a microscope, examining her poop and administering meds? Do they sell reptile meds online? I'm a paramedic, and can easily source syringes and caths for feeding. Does anyone know of a herpetologist in Hawaii?
Diet: I feed her mostly crickets and mealworms, both dusted with Tetra calcium. I also treat her to mosquitoes, crane flies, isopods, spiders, and whatever else I happen to catch that I think she might like. Smaller gnats and crickets are stuck to honey, which she likes to lap up. Bigger crickets get cut in two. I work 24hr shifts, so my girlfriend occasionally feeds a mealworm to her if I'm at the station, but I'll usually feed her before heading to or after arriving from work. She eats about one mealworm and two medium crickets daily... Is that too much? My girls says she's eating for two (three, actually)...
Lighting and hygiene: I have two CFL bulbs for UVB and a spotlight for heat, seems to be working well. They are on a timer. The cage is misted often, and I wipe up feces with a paper towel and forceps often. I did have one of those cheap desktop "zen" water fountains in there for the humidity, but took it out in case the water went bad and was causing issues... But I've never seen her drink from it.
Behavior: She isn't terribly shy: she usually basks on the deck or on the screen nearest the heat lamp, and eagerly comes toward the front of the cage when she sees something in my forceps. There is a timer connected to the light, and it runs from 0630~1930. Once the light goes off, she will disappear to the back of the panel and crash out until morning. If she's startled or gets misted, she will retreat to that spot as well. She's very attended tive and "watches" us about the room.
Problem: For the past three days, I have noticed runny stool from her. It varies from being just wet (like the pic) to being mushy like human diarrhea. Yesterday, she spent most of the time in her hiding spot, coming out to poop twice and lick up a little honey. She didn't seem interested in the crickets or roaches today, but did eagerly take a mealworm. She has also stopped digging around the potted succulent plant in the middle left of her flat. When I checked the back of the cage for the first time, I saw she had shed. No idea at all when that occurred, we never even saw the start of anything peeling! The skin is in four large, intact pieces. Is something the matter with her not eating it? She also seemed a bit sluggish. I did buy crickets from a different store a few days before the onset of symptoms.
Also, there doesn't seem to be any herp specialists on Oahu, probably because snakes and non-native reptiles are prohibited. How would I go about, with a microscope, examining her poop and administering meds? Do they sell reptile meds online? I'm a paramedic, and can easily source syringes and caths for feeding. Does anyone know of a herpetologist in Hawaii?
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