woow throwing up water?

[jlax786]

this morning my snake finally started drinking and he drank a ton.....one step forward two steps back because he puked it right back up possibly the most disgusting thing iv seen.....what in the world is wrong with my snake??

[mykee]

Take it to the vet, there's no home-made remedy for this one. Regurgitation is usually a sign of a more serious internal issue, more than likely a parasite.

[Spirit]

Just water? No food? I have absolutely NO idea what that can signify, but I certainly wouldn't rule out parasites, like mykee said. You could try something like nutribac (or even grapefruit seed) which has been known to help with regurges, but upchucking liquid is something I know nothing about.

I say vet.

[jlax786]

ya i took him to the vet today he has a respitory infection for sure, at least i got him medicine except there shots and i gota do it myself :( kinda rough, anyway thanks guys

[Spirit]

Funny. I was thinking RI and I was going to ask you if the snake was trying to hang upsidedown (sometimes they do this to help drain the lungs)... Now I'm curious though. Was he? Are there other symptoms (wheezing, open mouth breathing, etc)?

Glad you got it figured out though.

[jlax786]

ya hes been in pretty rough shape for like a week weezing foaming and open mouth the whole nine yards....i took him today though to get some medicnie so i think he'll be ok :) sucks though cuz i gota give him shots

[K1LOS]

out of curiousity, what did the vet trip cost you?

Geoff

[jlax786]

only cost me 60 with meds...i didn't think it was to bad i was expecting more....i think it was money well spent

[pythonmdk]

did you find out what may have caused it, if you don't fix that it will just keep coming back.

[jlax786]

ya, her cage wasn't hot enough....i got a nice 100 watt light bulb now though thats doing the trick....still having trouble keeping up the humidity though...i have a humidifer sitting outside of her cage now...hopefully iv fixed everything

[mykee]

NO BULBS. Ball pythons are not an arid species. Heat pad, heat tape, etc. for heat. Bulbs suck for ball pythons. Period. Also, I would strongly suggest you either do A LOT of research on the husbandry of ball pythons, or invest in a good husbandry book, 'cause it you don't, you and your vet will get to know each other quite well over time. Good luck.

[Jeff_Favelle]

If you fix the problem, the problems fix themselves. Keeping a snake the wrong way will result in a sick snake. Keep them properly and allow them to be what has taken hundreds of thousands of years to evolve into can help them turn around even the most devestating of illnesses. 99.9% of ALL snake (or any pet reptile) illnesses are caused by poor husbandry. For sure.

Give us detail on how you're keeping the snake. Pics will help as well.

[jlax786]

im keeping my snake in a wooden enclosure with a glass face on it....the top is a wood framed screen....the cage is about 25" long and about 14" deep.....i have a hide made out of a flower pot and a pretty desent size bowl of water in there that he can fit in....the bottom i use is that turf stuff.....and my heat source is a red bulb heating lamp (which i now know i need to get rid of)....should i keep the light and get a heating pad too what should i do?

[smeagel]

Get rid of the light all together and just use the heat pad, but hook up at least a dimmer switch so you can regulate the temps. and use a digital thermometer to moniter the temps. It should be 95 on the hot side and 85 on the cool side. The wood framed screen top is why you are having trouble steadying the humidity in the cage.

[jlax786]

what should i put on top of the screen to keep some humidity in? and with a heating pad does it go right under the turf i have in the cage or under the cage itself?

[smeagel]

under the cage itself, if you put it under the turf your ball could find a way under the turn and lay rightr on the heat pad, then you'll have a snake with a nasty burn or maybe even a dead snake. Well if you have a glass face on it put a piece if wood for the top and drill some air holes in it, or put a piece of plexi glass over 3/4 of the screen top. lots of things to do.

[joey]

buy a rubbermaid tub for your ball.

[mykee]

Bingo!!

[nita]

If you want to keept the wooden cage, then pick up a thick pegboard with small holes and cut it to fit completely over the screen. Personally I would keep the snake in a rubbermaid and use the wooden cage for when you take it to shows to display.

[jlax786]

well im not really planning on taking it to shows its just a pet for me you know...im in college so he just chills in his cage and i like to handle him every now and then