my brazilian has stoped eating

Question
i had gotten a baby brb from a breeder who didnt have the cleanest set up, she had 75 snakes in her garage. when i had gotten the snake it was eating like a machine. i had taken the snake to a local pet store and found out some had bought a snake from hthe breeder and it died of mites so i had check mine and she had a few so i treated it, after i treated it didnt move all it did was sit in its cage with its mouth open in a bowel of water and last week it had a bad shed it came of in peices and peices came off last night , i treid to feed it and all it does is look at the mouse. i started a pinkys to get it to eat it wouldnt and its been 2weeks since it ate and i was feeding it a fuzzy once a week  instead of a pinky every 2days

Answer
Hi Nick,

The inapetance and bad shed may be due to the mites that were present. they can put a snake off food for a while.

the open mouth doesn't sound good. it may be a sign of a respiratory infection. check inside the snake's mouth for the presence of mucus or excess saliva, which will indicate a respiratory infection. also listen to its breathing. if the snake wheezes or gargles at all it also shows it has a respiratory infection. this will need treatment by a vet, so if the snake does have a resp. infection take it to a vet if you can to sort it out.
respiratory infections can be brought on by a number of things that include, low temperatures, unclean housing conditions, stress and others.

if there isn't a respiratory infection check your temperatures and check for mites again. the temperatures should be 82-84F with a hotspot underneath the heat lamp of up to 95F.

try giving your snake a bath in lukewarm water, just deep enough for it to submerge its whole body. this will help hydrate the skin - helping the shedding - may remove mites and can encourage a snake to eat.

if all else fails and your baby Brazilian begins to lose a lot of weight, take it straight to a vet to get checked out.

i hope this helps,

Andy