6 yr old BP question

[sandybug36]

I am new :) just found this site to ask a few questions that no one has been able to answer for me in 6 years. My mother bought me a ball python as a gift when I was twelve, she is now a little over 6 years old. She has been a wonderful pet, but she has always had some health peculiarities that no one can seem to figure out. She had some shedding and respiratory problems when I first got her, the store I got her at had like 20 baby BPs in a tank and didn't seem to notice that she was wheezing and probably had never properly shed the dead skin on her face. We took her to a specialist, got her on some meds and a soaking schedule, and she was good as new. However, her eyes have always been 'crinkled' for lack of a better word. I assumed that she had continued to retain the skin that covers the eye during shedding, so the specialist attempted to remove it with a q-tip. After that didn't work she told me that her eyes are just 'reticulated'.????that doesn't seem right to me but she is a well respected vet so I just went with it. Ever since then, (over 5 years ago), I have soaked her weekly and she has never had shedding or respiratory problems, but her eyes still don't look right. It doesn't bother her but it bothers me because I don't know what it means! Is it possible to be genetic, like some type of deformity, or is there some way to remove this?

My other question is regarding BPs and heating pads. I recently moved out of my mothers house for college and had to leave my BP behind for a while. I have always set up her tank so that she has a layer of newspapers or something held down by her ceramic house and some stones so that she cannot lay directly on her heating pad. However, while I was gone my mother didn't make sure of this and my BP burned herself pretty badly. I have been keeping her solely under a ceramic heat emitter, (my house is usually kept at 80 anyways), and her burns have healed, but her belly still doesn't look right. It turns red or pink sometimes and her scales look scarred. What does a pink belly mean? And is there any way I can improve her scales in some way?

Sorry for the lengthy post, thank you for your time!

- Sandy

[Wolfus_305]

Hi there,
First of all: welcome to the forum! I have a 6 year old BP as well.
Second: Hmm not sure I can help with the eye thing, sounds interesting, if possible some pictures would definitely help others on the forum.
As for the burns, I'M NOT SURE, so PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK with somebody more knowledgeable and experienced than I am, however in other posts I've noticed that for some scale problems people have suggested polysporin.
I hope everything works out great for you and your BP
Best wishes
Kendra

[Will0W783]

I would carefully check her shed next time to make sure the eyecaps came off. If not, dab some mineral oil on the eyes for a few days and they should come off. If a snake has retained multiple eyecaps, they can go blind, or at least lose some of their sight. That may be what has happened with your BP, but I really can't say without seeing some pictures. Is it possible for you to take some pictures of the eyes and the face and post them here? I had a similar experience with my male BP- who retained 4 eyecaps and got all crinkled too. It took two months of ointment and soaks for him to finally shed them off and he's been fine ever since. I think I can help you, but I need to see pictures.

[sandybug36]

Thanks for offering your advice everybody! However, I have since taken her to another specialist and he said that the appearance of her eyes looks like it is due to damage from her condition before I bought her. This makes sense as she hasn't had shedding problems in a long time and her eye sight has always seemed poor. As for the burns, they were fairly minor and the scars ended up just shedding away.

I know she is in good condition now, I just freaked after having to leave her with my mother (who is notorious for losing her in strange places and forgetting about her for long periods of time!) Thank you for your advice though :)

[citysnakes]

you mentioned she has shedding and respiratory problems which are indicators of low humidity. "crinkled" or dented eyes are and indicator of the same thing. if you can keep your humidity at a level where it should be then she should shed well, in one piece and the eyes will round out again.

newspaper over a UTH will not cut it. you need to use a thermostat in combination with any heating element. the risk of injury or death to your animal or even fire is especially high without a thermostat.

hope this helps.

[bads15]

i agree with Julian. you kneed to get something to control the heat. a thermostat is the best thing you can use.
seeing as you said your moms home is always at a consistent temp then you can opt for a dimmer switch (if money is an issue). if you do use the dimmer switch (or even the thermostat) you still need to check the temps on a regular bases. i check mine once to twice a day. good luck.