Connie the caprecious one

[dixie_2007]

We inherited a Burmese that had been slightly neglected. Apparently the owner had gone off to collage and not taken his pets with him. Mom and Dad refused to feed them, and the owner never came back to take care of them as promised. He had been feeding live rats but under feeding in order to keep him small. We started him on small frozen mice and he is more active than ever. However, if you touch him, his skin brakes like an old persons skin. I want to know if thin skin is a symptom of Mal-nourishment? He had several bad scrapes when we got him and have left him alone for about 2 months. Not handling him seemed to be smart due to the stress of being moved, then a month later moved again, only to be moved yet again. Now that we feel we can start to handle him, his skin rips. What causes thin skin in a snake?:sad:

[infernalis]

Raise up the humidity. It sounds like the skin is very dry.

(Take that with a grain of salt, I have never experienced this, but it seems to make sense.)

[Lankyrob]

If you csn post pics of the snake, enclosure and post the temps and humidity that you are keeping him at we should be able to help :)

[rmfsnakes32]

Not to scare you but I would get him vet checked I had an old boa years ago that got skin tears and it was his kidneys causing the skin to fall off in spots

[KORBIN5895]

Is there blood or open wounds?

[dixie_2007]

They seem to have blead very little and are are not gaping. I will try to take pictures today, but I cannot post them. I will have to load them onto my blogger. He has hidden himself and is not wanting to be touched. When I tried to look at him yesterday, he was very aggressive and acted as thought he wanted to strike at me. We are letting him rest.

[Pirarucu]

How is he being housed? Temps, humidity, substrate, etc.?

[dixie_2007]

I have posted 2 pictures Dixie Photography. (http://dixiegirlphotography.blogspot.com) it would not let me post it as a link, so you will have to copy and paste.

The humidity is at 60 and temp stays around 80. He has not gotten in his water since we did the water soak on Christmas Day. However, we have been spritzing him down. Most of the rips are along his spine, the sub strait is not causing any issues.

[Mark Taylor]

Sounds like he is in a lot of pain id get him to the vets. or at least soak it in the bath for an hour a day and maybe put mineral oil on your hands and gently stroke to try and moisturise but you might want to check with a vet first if its got sores/tears

[Mark Taylor]

just seen the pic i would just use newspaper substrate.

I feel so sorry for that poor snake.

[Jay]

That death rock isn't plugged in us it?

[dixie_2007]

The rock is plugged in but he only uses it after he has eaten. He does not lay on it at all. He prefers to hide in the box, next to the box, or in his water.

His skin started splitting after we soaked him. If we hold him, he gets more splits. Rubbing him with mineral oil is not possible at this point.

[EmbraceCalamity]

The rock is plugged in but he only uses it after he has eaten. He does not lay on it at all. He prefers to hide in the box, next to the box, or in his water.

His skin started splitting after we soaked him. If we hold him, he gets more splits. Rubbing him with mineral oil is not possible at this point.Jay called it a "death rock" because they're known to have "hot spots" that can seriously burn a snake, and one with a serious skin issue like this is much more at risk.

~Maggot

[Jay]

Unless you have 24/7 monitoring, for all you know he spends 50% of his time on it.

Loose the rock, sorry if I come of harsh, but I'm sick of seeing inexperienced keepers taking injured reptiles. You could go support a local breeder, purchase a nice healthy burm.

[Pirarucu]

I agree, get rid of the rock and get a nice overhead ceramic heater or something.

Also, that's a Blood Python, not a Burmese.

[beardeds4life]

^^^^ that isnt a burm.....

On a side note I would take it to a vet and up the humidity. I see you have him on shavings which are not the softest things in the world so I would switch.

[Lankyrob]

Paper substrate and get it checked by a vet ASAP!! They look rough :( Poor snakey

And i agree that itis a blood not a burm :no:

[dixie_2007]

wow...I will do some more research. thanks for letting me know. We just took it for granted that he was a Burmese.

[Lankyrob]

That picture is NOT of a burm, its a blood python which some would say need more specialised handling than a burm. Can we see a pic of the whole smake just to comfirm this?

[dixie_2007]

Wow, I looked him up. We just took it for granted that he was a Burmese. We both did hours on hours of research over the last 2 months on how to be kind to a Burmese, since my experience has only been with Balds. He is in fact a Blood. That changes the rules quite a bit. We will be changing out his sub strait to paper. His temp and humidity are fine. Since the only thing that has changed is that he is in a warmer environment (it was quite chilly in the classroom) it still does not explain why his skin is ripping, especially since the temp and humidity are on track for a Blood. We have turned off the rock (we had that to keep the temp up in the cold classroom.) I will post more pictures if he comes out of hiding today.

[Lankyrob]

I definitely think he needs a vet visit sooner rather tahn later.:)

[dixie_2007]

He will be going to the vet. I have put in a request for the local reptile rescue for a recommendation for one. They also do house calls.

[beardeds4life]

If you say you did research didnt you see pictures of burms? You say he was in a classroom, why would they have a fairly large snake in a class room?

[dixie_2007]

Connie is actually not that large. He is about 3 ft long and not much thicker than my wrist. I did the research, but didn't pay any attention to pictures. I am an English teacher, I pay attention to words...not so much pictures. My fiance, on the other hand is a Science Teacher, he also didn't pay any attention to the pictures. We took the word of the people that donated him to the class that he was a Burms. It was very gullible on our part. One of the snakes we believe to be a Madagascar Tree Boa, and the authorities have been notified. It is too aggressive to keep at the school, it has been moved to a safe and secret location (in case the previous owner comes to get him back.) The other was a bald python, it is very friendly and has settled in quite nicely. All 3 snakes were underfed, neglected, and malnourished. Up until this week, we have not had any problems.

[KORBIN5895]

This whole thread is making me sick.

[infernalis]

Hate to say it, but honestly, I would put that snake down.

The healing process (if any is even possible) will be long and painful.

[EmbraceCalamity]

I just looked at those pics, and holy ****. When your snake's skin starts ripping, it's time to see a vet. IMMEDIATELY. Don't bother going to a forum. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine what rational person would go, "Hm, my snake's skin is ripping all down its spine. Well, screw the vet. To the internetz!" I agree with Wayne that the kindest thing is to just put this snake down at this point. Granted, you need to take it to the vet for that, so maybe they'll know what it is and what to do. But either way, see a vet. Like, a week ago.

~Maggot

[SnakeyJay]

So you choose to keep a blood python in a school instead.. Even though they are known for being very defensive and skittish.... Smart move.

Please get the poor thing to a vet, or is it easy to not bother as snakes can't whine or bark when in pain?

[Lankyrob]

I just looked at those pics, and holy ****. When your snake's skin starts ripping, it's time to see a vet. IMMEDIATELY. Don't bother going to a forum. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine what rational person would go, "Hm, my snake's skin is ripping all down its spine. Well, screw the vet. To the internetz!" I agree with Wayne that the kindest thing is to just put this snake down at this point. Granted, you need to take it to the vet for that, so maybe they'll know what it is and what to do. But either way, see a vet. Like, a week ago.

~Maggot

If the snake is going to be put down the quickest wnd least stressful way is a hammer to the skull completely obliterating the brain.

And to those that are having a go, think about it, this is a school teacher not a reptile keeper. We were all completely new to snakes at somepoint and took the word of people that owned snakes about their care and what to expect from them. This person has come here and is learning on a very steep curve, maybe helping them rather than bashing them will help this snake be taken care off sooner rather than later.

I myself was told by a "reputable keeper" (in fact an ex member here) that if a blood tagged you it remove "sizable chunks of flesh and result in hospital treatment as their teeth are the largest of any snake"........... :3eyes::)

[Lankyrob]

So you choose to keep a blood python in a school instead.. Even though they are known for being very defensive and skittish.... Smart move.

Please get the poor thing to a vet, or is it easy to not bother as snakes can't whine or bark when in pain?

They have already stated that the snake has been moved from the school, they ARE listening to the advice being given :)

[beardeds4life]

If the snake is going to be put down the quickest wnd least stressful way is a hammer to the skull completely obliterating the brain.

And to those that are having a go, think about it, this is a school teacher not a reptile keeper. We were all completely new to snakes at somepoint and took the word of people that owned snakes about their care and what to expect from them. This person has come here and is learning on a very steep curve, maybe helping them rather than bashing them will help this snake be taken care off sooner rather than later.

I myself was told by a "reputable keeper" (in fact an ex member here) that if a blood tagged you it remove "sizable chunks of flesh and result in hospital treatment as their teeth are the largest of any snake"........... :3eyes::)


I agree. Not everyone is like us. I applaud you for trying to get help. Most people dont even know that you can take reptiles to the vet let alone that their are reptile vets.

On a side note I agree that itt would be best to put it down.