I finally gave in and have my first ball in over 10 years

[candyraver69]

So I have been avoiding balls like the plague for quite some time after all the feeding issues I had in the past, but now that I have gained what I feel is enough experience to try a pickier species I felt it was time to face my bad experiences from the past and give balls a chance again.

I got an adult male from a friend that shouldn't have balls in the first place. He's used to being housed with two other balls, fed live, and he's clearly small for his age and dry. So needless to say I have my work cut out for me, but at least this time I am prepared rather than some poor clueless teenager with a 10 gallon aquarium and a heat rock.

He has chosen to snuggle up between my lap and laptop while Bryan finishes getting his viv set up. How he managed to lift this monstrous laptop I have no idea, but he seems to be comfortable under there LMAO. As soon as his viv is set up he's getting a nice long soak in warm water.

After he's done shedding (hopefully no stuck eyecaps or shedding in pieces but I expect it in the shape he's in) I'll attempt to get him on f/t's. He's so torn up, poor guy. Hopefully he's not too difficult, they did say he was on f/t's before they had him. Then I can slowly work on fattening him up a bit.

Pics to come soon :) Gotta have before and after for this poor project rescue.

[TeaNinja]

my ball almost never misses a meal. hopefully everything works out for you.

[candyraver69]

http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/94802/84798_184948_VeryLarge_hHKTznCapo2Dy.jpg

It's hard to get pics without pestering him too much showing the shape he's in, but you can see here how he's got a lot of damage from either live food, fighting with cage mates, or who knows what. I know he's in shed, but he looks particularly dry :( Hopefully me getting him a nice soak and getting his humidity up is in time to help make this shed go smoothly. He also seems pretty small, and though not emaciated or anything, a bit skinny for a ball.

[infernalis]

Has to be better off with you, at least you would ask for advice rather than just do as you please like the prev. owner.

Best of luck.

[Lankyrob]

Hard to tell from the pic but is he on aspen? I would use a substrate that holds moisture fairly well so that it helps with humidity and helps him rehydrate and get well.

Let us know how he goes - he certainly seems to be in better hands now!!

[alessia55]

Congrats on the little rescue. He sure looks like he could use some much-needed rest and care. Reptibark as a substrate will help you get that humidity up nicely. Hopefully the soak and high humidity will help him shed in one piece. Best of luck switching him over to f/t food. If you do a search on this forum, you'll find lots of helpful threads with techniques that might help you out in the switch-over.

I really hope your friend separates his other 2 remaining ball pythons. Maybe you could talk to him about the consequences of having multiple ball pythons in an enclosure and feeding live. It could go a long way to help the other two poor BPs out. Now is your chance to take what you've learned and pass it on :)

[jaleely]

Aww, poor baby! He's so cute! You're going to get him up to tip top shape in no time! He'll settle in, and probably eat after he feels nice and safe, and is done shedding. Poor thing, you can see the lose skin from dehydration and being underweight :(
You should get the other snakes from your friend and take them too :)

[SpOoKy]

Hard to tell from the pic but is he on aspen? I would use a substrate that holds moisture fairly well so that it helps with humidity and helps him rehydrate and get well.

i am going with Rob on this one. i recently switched my ball back to coco husk from aspen. i found an improvement on many levels. he is shedding better, more active, and is eating f/t better then before (i was having issues for a few months). many people keep their balls on aspen and don't have problems but it is something to consider since this guy is starting off a few "legs" behind :)

[candyraver69]

Thank you for the substrate ideas, that actually has been something I've been experimenting with on my boas, having a hard time keeping it up without mold/mildew. I was too late on fixing this shed but his next one will be better. I found pieces of shed everywhere this morning. His humidity is sitting at about %70 but it's work to keep it there with a 95F basking spot. I'd like to see the humidity a bit higher and consistent. I need to get him a slightly bigger bowl too, and that should help.

When using coco husk, do I want to basically keep it just moist enough to be able to hold together? Any tips for keeping it out of the water dish (mine seem to plow it around the tub and fill half their dish)? How deep should I have it? I have been playing around with this for a couple weeks and trying to read about it, but can't find many people that use this rather than newspaper or aspen.

[candyraver69]

Oh and as far as convincing them the proper way to care for their snakes, I have tried so hard. People that have been doing things a certain way for so long are hard to convince, especially when they think their way has no ill effects. I want to show them this guy after I've had him a few months to see if that makes them sway at all. Even more so after I've got him up to proper weight, but that will take time.

The same people have corns, and their corns are in fabulous shape. But corns don't need the humidity balls do, so an aquarium with a screen lid is not the end of the world. They are feeding the corns live... but feeding them rat fuzzies... so rat fuzzies aren't prone to do a lot of damage compared to a weanling rat. And they are keeping the corns... wait for it... SEPARATE! No idea why their balls aren't kept separate. They have a much larger enclosure then the corns do, but I'd sacrifice space than single living any day if I was cutting corners.

I'm trying to slowly work my method of leading by example, because simply trying to give them tips didn't work, and in my experience being harsh with people almost never accomplishes anything besides getting ignored. Hand holding isn't the way to go, but I think I made it clear how I feel with their methods, now I can show them what the difference is in a few months.

[candyraver69]

His left eye looks nice and clear, but the right one I am a bit worried about. It doesn't look like a "retained eyecap" but possibly a partial one, or worse permanent damage to his lens from previous retained eyecaps :S Going to keep giving him soaks and hope for the best, but he might be in store for a vet visit or two.

This is what his right eye looks like today close up:
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/94802/84798_185162_VeryLarge_FdQzn2jPbv.jpg

[candyraver69]

Updates:

He seems to be done shedding, man that was rough looking. I haven't seen a shed like that ever in person. His eye looks clear, but still scratched if that makes sense. It may be permanent or take a few sheds for that to go away I'm afraid. I am going to take him to the vet for good measure I think, get him a good full check up.

On the good side, he took a f/t XL ASF without much hesitation. He seemed to have a heck of a time actually swallowing it for some reason, but didn't give me issues trying. The ASF was smaller around than him, I wanted to start with something a bit small because he looked a little bit weak. Glad I did because it took him a really long time to swallow it. He is a lot weaker than I had originally thought even. Poor fella. :(

For whatever reason he has a fetish with squishing himself between things. I gave him a few hides in various places so he could feel safe no matter where he wanted to be... but he likes to squish himself between the biggest hide and the top of the tub. He has no privacy there, it's not the coolest or warmest spot in the tub... but that's where he likes to sit. :S No idea how that can be comfortable. But now he has a name! I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine... and he shall be my Squishy. LOL.

[bighillreptiles]

congrats on taking him in now the fun begins watching him grow im sure with come tlc he will be beautiful in no time

[alessia55]

Updates:

He seems to be done shedding, man that was rough looking. I haven't seen a shed like that ever in person. His eye looks clear, but still scratched if that makes sense. It may be permanent or take a few sheds for that to go away I'm afraid. I am going to take him to the vet for good measure I think, get him a good full check up.

On the good side, he took a f/t XL ASF without much hesitation. He seemed to have a heck of a time actually swallowing it for some reason, but didn't give me issues trying. The ASF was smaller around than him, I wanted to start with something a bit small because he looked a little bit weak. Glad I did because it took him a really long time to swallow it. He is a lot weaker than I had originally thought even. Poor fella. :(

For whatever reason he has a fetish with squishing himself between things. I gave him a few hides in various places so he could feel safe no matter where he wanted to be... but he likes to squish himself between the biggest hide and the top of the tub. He has no privacy there, it's not the coolest or warmest spot in the tub... but that's where he likes to sit. :S No idea how that can be comfortable. But now he has a name! I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine... and he shall be my Squishy. LOL.

Poor little guy... I'm sorry to hear he had such a rough shed. At this point I wouldn't say it's completely necessary to take him to the vet. But if it'll give you peace of mind, and you can afford it, then by all means do it. Feeding him a smaller food item was a good idea. I'm glad he ate- that's definitely a good sign. As for squishing himself into places... Are your hides the right size? If they're too big, he might not feel secure in them. BPs like to feel all the sides of their hides when they're in there. You'd be surprised how they can squeeze in there! Maybe give him slightly smaller hides? It's worth a try :) Good on you to be taking such good care of him. He definitely needs all the TLC he can get!

[snake man12]

Squishy is cute, but it looks like he had a rough life. Good luck:):)

[millertime89]

lol, squishy, I like it.

[candyraver69]

As for squishing himself into places... Are your hides the right size? If they're too big, he might not feel secure in them. BPs like to feel all the sides of their hides when they're in there. You'd be surprised how they can squeeze in there! Maybe give him slightly smaller hides? It's worth a try :)

The ones I started him off with were probably a bit too big. I was expecting him to be WAY bigger a 2 1/2 years old than he is, and didn't have something appropriate when I brought him home. I tried a few different things over the last week, moving them around to different spots, and I think he'd be happiest if I just stuck a rock in there for him to sit under. It's like if the hide is a size that he can get in, he doesn't like it, if it's any smaller he doesn't like it because it just pushes right up, so he tries to get on top or under his water dish depending how much room is between the lid and top of hide. I think he may be a special case I have to actually go buy a heavy hide for instead of cut food containers. Maybe an upside down plant water guard thing? I forget what they are called, but those orangish ceramic pots have a dish at the bottom about 1 1/2" deep... if I were to drill a hole in that somehow...

[candyraver69]

Well I'm in luck. With patience, lots of soaks, and keeping his humidity up for a bit, his left eye finally cleared and he's looking like a new snake :D

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377954_10150405357770488_549355487_8639664_7545169 65_n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/393754_10150405357870488_549355487_8639665_1075897 88_n.jpg

I think he'll be in great shape before I know it. Just gotta get some weight on him and wait a few more sheds for all the nasty cuts to clear up.

[bighillreptiles]

100times better congrats

[Hurrok]

Awe, he's looking so much better! Good thing he is in good hands :)

[candyraver69]

Just wanted to give a little update. Squishy is doing great! He's been eating f/t for me without fail every time. He seems very comfortable with being handled and he's getting a little more comfortable with his surroundings now and will move around rather than only perch on his hide. He's putting on weight very rapidly (not excessive) rather than looking all starved, though he is still pretty small for his age. I've been tracking to make sure he is actually pooping in between meals and he has been. I'm still feeding him ASF's instead of moving to something weight appropriate because I don't want to cause any tears and he was so skinny, but I have been feeding him two the last two feedings instead of just one, so it works out to a small rat weight wise. I think I can move him to small rats after another shed though.

[Rogue628]

Wow! He's doing great! Great work, Candy! This is why I love rescuing...it's so rewarding. :)

[ZARADOZIA]

Oh I love his eyes! Sasha's are black, I can't see her pupils / iris contrast :(

[millertime89]

his name always makes me chuckle, squishy, makes you just want to hug him.

[Norm66]

That's cool. Good on you. :)

[candyraver69]

Wow! He's doing great! Great work, Candy! This is why I love rescuing...it's so rewarding. :)

It really is so rewarding, but it also comes with risks. My rescuing rats is catching up to me, as I have somehow managed to bring in KRV, and it's devastating my breeding program. There's really no way I could have known without serology testing each individual rat I take in (that would cost a fortune at over $200 per rat). Gotta take the bad with the good though. In the end I think if you are careful the benefits outweigh the occasional disaster.

Oh I love his eyes! Sasha's are black, I can't see her pupils / iris contrast :(

:(

I can't see his like this without looking in a picture all blown up with great lighting. :P Getting him to sit still in the right position long enough to tell, forget it haha. But it looks great in photos!

As a side note, I love taking photos and blowing them up to see detail I could never see with my own eyes. I also just wish I could have more daylight hours where I got to see everybody in the light better, as I'm always sleeping most of the day when the lights are on for them.