Leucistic Rat Snake Problems

MKeim1989 · 04-20-13, 07:37 AM

I'm having a problem with my four year old leucistic texas rat snake. I'm not certain its relevant, but about a week and a half ago I went to the pet store and bought him a feeder rat as I had run out of frozen rats. This rat was especially vicious and put a few pretty deep scratches into my snake (the main reason I avoid feeding live at all costs). I put him on paper towels for about a week in a clean tub on a rack and put some neosporin on his deeper cuts for the first three days to prevent infection and everything seemed to close up nicely.

About three days ago, he urinated and knocked over his water bowl right before I went to work so I didn't get to clean his tub until I got home eight hours later. I put him back on aspen that night and since then he's been soaking in his water bowl quite a bit, which is not out of the ordinary for him.

The problem I'm having is that his scales seem VERY soft to the touch compared to normal (almost like the skin on a young ball python) and the skin on top of them seems to be coming off on my hand when he crawls over me, almost as if he's shedding scale by scale. He has a slightly pinker hue than normal, which I've noticed happens right before he sheds. Has anyone ever experienced this type of shedding before? Should I be worried?

MKeim1989 · 05-01-13, 04:15 PM

Just figured I'd let everyone know he's doing fine now. I'm pretty sure its a case of dehydration. He just had his shed and it was awful. After a soak and a good rub down with a wet towel, he's looking much better.

Starbuck · 05-01-13, 08:03 PM

out of curiosity, why buy the live feeder? Snakes can go weeks without food; i can;t see the harm in just waiting until F/T were available, or just stunning/dispatching the rat yourself?
Could have saved you the worry/hassle. Glad he shed ok and is looking fine now.

MKeim1989 · 05-02-13, 03:13 AM

Well, I had waited but he had gone almost a month without food because I missed the last local reptile show and I didn't want him to have to wait any longer. As far as taking care of the rat my self, I've tried that before. I ended up just hurting the poor thing (somehow its jaw broke). Like I said, I don't like feeding live and I won't be doing it again (especially not with this particular snake!)

He certainly is better now though. He shed his scars right off.

h3h · 05-02-13, 04:12 AM

Baking soda and vinegar does the trick pretty well....

- h3

MKeim1989 · 05-02-13, 07:59 PM

Yeah, I've read up on the CO2 euthanasia thing since this happened. Never really considered it before. I really haven't fed live since I got my first snake two years ago and that was only because I was new to the snake scene and was unaware that frozen thawed prey even existed. If I ever end up having to purchase live prey again, that's the route I'm going to take. My snake got out pretty unscathed but I've seen pictures of much worse.