burm concern please help

[dylan2b]

hi everyone,
I bought my first burmese python earlier this week. He is a 3 month old who is eating well and seems to be healthy, with one exception. His skin is VERY loose. Its almost like he is in the middle of a shed, but I know he is not. I have had many snakes before, but I have never seen anything like this. He is being housed properly now, but the pet store I got him from is quite unsanitary. He was being housed in a 20 gal. tank with another burm, 2 retics, and two bloods, all of equal size. The substrate was little pebbles, and the water was not fresh. SO, does anyone have any ideas on what might be wrong with his skin or how I could get his skin firm.

Thank you so much for your time, sorry for the long post.
Sincerley Dylan2b

[Tim_Cranwill]

Originally posted by dylan2b
He is being housed properly now, but the pet store I got him from is quite unsanitary. He was being housed in a 20 gal. tank with another burm, 2 retics, and two bloods, all of equal size. The substrate was little pebbles, and the water was not fresh.

LOL.... It's early for me. I misread your post and thought YOU were housing the burm with 4 other snakes in a 20g tank!! I had already written 5 (angry) paragraphs before I figured out what was going on! LOL :D

Anyway, that is a pretty sick pet store! :( The burm was obviously not being fed properly and it is likely dehydrated as well. Just make sure it has access to a warm spot of around 90-92F, fresh water at ALL times and I would feed it slightly under-sized meals frequently (1x the girth of the snake every 4 days or so). Just make sure you leave the snake alone and let it settle in. If it's keeping the meals down, feed it nice and steady for the first month or so and then try to get some of the weight put back on the poor thing. :(

You can also try forcing some clear Pedialite into the belly of the feeders it's eating just to get a little more liquid into the burm if it's not drinking much. OR, if you and the snake are up to it, you could syringe feed some Pedialite to the snake every few days. If you are interested/capable of doing that, someone here can give you step by step instructions.

Best of luck. I hope you can get this snake back on track... :)

P.S. I've never owned a burm before but I've had sick/dehydrated snakes before and that is what I would do in your situation... for what it's worth. :)

[duckhunter_13]

Hi,
I have had boas that have done that...When u order or buy ur snake from a dealer that hasn't kept them right then u normally get that after housing them right....But the best thing to do that i have learned is to fill the bathtub up to about 3 or 4 inches and between 70 and 80 degrees F. Set him in there for 15 to 20 mins and take him out let him dry and set him into an enclosure with about a 150 to 200 watt bulb hanging about 1 and a half feet from the top of the enclosure for about 5 to 10 mins. Take him out and put him back in his cage... Do that once every other day untill his skin is back to normall... That should do it!!!
Good luck!

[Princesssss]

Thats a horrible Pet Store that you got your new baby from. I persnally would be going back there and looking around some more and see what other bad situations they have going on there..and if there is some serious NO NO's going on I would be calling the Humane Society or something...its not fair for the animals there..or the people buying them if there being poorly kept. Goog luck with your Burm tho...an hope everything works out..unfortunatly i have no advice to offer..my boyfreind is incharge of all that stuff. :P....(this comment is really gunna go to his head LMAO)

[timfriesen32]

Which pet store is that?

I used to live in Riverton, WY, and saw some pretty poor conditions in the numerous pet stores in Casper.

Try the soaking and rehydrating. Best of luck. Keep us posted

[timfriesen32]

Is that the place the sometimes sells baby American Alligator?

I was in there once and they sold a baby gator to a 16 yr old kid, and told him it would only grow to the size of the enclosure he kept it in.

The guy unfortunately got out of the store before I had a chance to tell him the truth.

So if there is a report of an escaped gator in Casper.....it should be pretty clear where it originated from.

[Bloodman6]

It sickens me when I see bad conditions at pet stores. I really hate the big chains of stores (pet Smart/Co) who have no reptile or tarantula experts and have no buisness having these reptiles. Even the baby leopard geckos look like sh#*. What the hell.

[Linds]

A small amount of unflavoured pedialyte works wonders on snakes. If your snake will not take it via the prey, then try administering it orally with a syringe and tube ;) Food also helps to rehydrate your snake. As long as the conditions are correct (and there are no underlying health problems), once your snake is feeding and replenishing fluid levels, it shouldn't be long before he looks normal again. You may want to feed a little more often initially. I wouldn't worry about soaking your snake (they aren't amphibians after all), and concentrate more on getting him healthy from the inside. You don't want to put any unecessary stress on your snake since he is already not completely healthy.

Originally posted by timfriesen32
Which pet store is that?


If you guys would like to mention the name and discuss it, please refrain from doing it on the public forums, and keep it restricted to PM, as it is a violation of the rules to name names on the forums (due to legal reasons).