good sign??

[ballcrazy]

when i frist go t my pb, his shed was realy bad and he had a raspi his breathing. that was six months ago. I took him to the vet teh monday after i got him( a trained herp vet). He still has a little rasp, his sheds are getting better, biggr pieces and the eye caps come off easy. Is this a sign that his previous owner didnt keep him in good atmosphere and he is in a good envionment now? He has always been realy freindly. and for his frist few shedds he neeeded help wtih his eye caps. He kinda gets jerry when every anyone but my female roomie is in the room, during the day i let him out of his cage so he can get some exersize, he is in a 40 gal adn is almost 4 feet now. and around guys he is realy agressive and almost protective of me and tara. Should i be worried about this habit? Thanks for all the info!

[Linds]

Just noticed this is your first post, welcome to sSnakeSs.com! :D

Yes the symptoms are indicative of his previous owner keeping him improperly, but by his current condition, it also sounds as though he is not being kept properly. He should be having full one-piece sheds by now, and his breathing should be normal as well. If he was suffering from a respiratory infection, it should've been cleared up months ago. What are your temperatures in the tank? What is the humidity? What kind of substrate are you using? If you can give us some more specific details about how you are keeping your bp, we can help you better ;) As for being aggressive, balls are typically not aggressive, although there are a few exceptions to this. Often aggressive balls are stressed out by discomfort (ie- mites, injury) or by their environment (ie- lack of security, too much handling, household animals). Your snake is definitely not being protective of you, as they are not social animals, they do not enjoy company of others. Is your snake biting at people or hissing? Just a thought, if it is biting, what I suspect may be is that he is detecting food smells. Perhaps those people he is apt to bite have pet rodents or rabbits at home? There is nothing wrong with snakes being allowed on the floor to stretch out from time to time, but they shouldn't be allowed to roam in rooms that hav furnishings in them, or haven't been otherwised snake-proofed. Snakes can easily climb up inside furniture, vents, etc.

[sapphire_moon]

actually if he had that problem 6 months ago, it could have (should have) been corrected within the month!

The RI should have been taken care of. The bad sheds are your fault, not the previous owners fault
(except the bad shed he was in when you first got him!).

I don't know what your vet told you but PERSONALLY up the humidity for better sheds, the humidity should be atleast 50% ALL the time and 70% when IN shed.

What are your temps?
How are you measuring temps?
Humdity and HOW are you measuring it?
substrate?

Personally Tanks suck for bp's. And BP's aren't good display animals. But that is only my opinion!

goodluck!

[ballcrazy]

my room has been snaked proofed. there is nothing for him to get stuck in and he mainly stays in his cage. my room stays around 85 degrees in my room.( i have my vent blocked and keep the window open. and the humidty in his cage stays up in the 70s. and when he starts his shed i give him daily baths to help. he gets stressed if i dont have a limb in the tub with him though. i only fill it up with luke warm water and only enough where he is complety covered. i am seing a substated called eco earth. it holds moisture very good and he has a half log hide spot, and a log to play on . also i have a water bowl that he likes to try to fit into he has gotted a little to big to fit .

[ballcrazy]

as to his rasping he only does it every so often. It just some times sounds worse to me. I have took him to the vet and the vet told me noting was worng it was just him having problems getting rid of his shed and that is what was making him make the sound. I live in a back water town that only has one herp vet. and i just wanted an opinion as to if i should take him to the vet that is 2 hours away. i just dont want to stress him.

[nita]

Like saphire said what are you using to measure the temp and humidity. I'm not sure of the temperatures in Alabama but you should be using a digital thermometer to measure the temps in the enclosure and you still need to provide a gradient of heat, 80 on the cool side with a basking spot of 92-95. If your humidity is always 70% then your snake would shed in one piece. If you don't have one stop and pick up a hygrometer, it will tell you what your moisture is at. Bathing a snake on a daily basis when it can't see is very stressfull to the animal, might be why he is agressive.

[Kane65]

Originally posted by ballcrazy
my room has been snaked proofed. there is nothing for him to get stuck in and he mainly stays in his cage. my room stays around 85 degrees in my room

Judging from this it sounds like you let him roam. That's not a good idea. First off, your room isn't likely to be snake proof. These guys can fit in holes you wouldn't believe and are strong enough to force there way into many other places that don't have obvious holes. There are also plenty of things around that can harm your snake. Is your room carpeted? If so, that's very bad for him. He should be kept in his cage where the conditions are controllable. Letting him out for exercise isn't necessary and is exposing him to unnecessary risks which I'm sure you don't want.

Re the shedding: Sounds like everyone has it covered. You should be measuring temps with a probe thermometer. The stick-ons suck & are very innaccurate (sp?). Also, although I've occasionally given my snakes a soak, it is stressful. Keep in mind that the snake is stressed any time it is not in it's hide. It's even stressed when it comes out on it's own. More activity with it/around it = more stress so you need to back off the bathing. Also, one hide is not enough. Two hides (one hot, one cool) are a minimum.

The temps kind of worry me as well. If the temp in your room is 85 degrees then he's not getting the proper gradient (80 to 90) as others have mentioned here. Keep monitoring and working on it and I'm sure you'll get things worked out. Good luck.

[sapphire_moon]

When in shed DON'T give him a daily bath, it stresses BP's out ALOT, as they can't really see. So just up the humididty in his cage.

Personally I would get a second opinion. If he STILL isn't getting rid of all his sheds, then you aren't doing something right.

[ballcrazy]

thanks for all the input! will make the nesary changes you recommened!