*sigh* Rescued one. ;/

whoaxmary · 06-27-11, 11:06 PM

So - got a call from a guy asking me to come get his ball python and set up as he is moving tommorow. Guess it was his sons, him and the kids mom divorced, and the snake has suffered ever since. To be fair - the guy seemed to care; was just iggnorant about how bad of shape the python is in. When I arrived he let me know the snake was shedding... Well, he had shed, many times, and just has pieces left behind. For a heat matt, he has one of those heating pads people use. ;/ He set me home with a nice set up with matching under cabinet - all for free - but when I got home I realized all the lights were still from the orginal fish style aquarium. (Plain 15 watt tube lights, don't say anything about UVA/B) So obviously the bad shed accounts to no humidity and little heat. -.-

He's a 3 1/2 (so I'm told - I have yet to see him unballed) 8 year old normal. I was told he was fed last week, but I don't belive that.

He's still sitting in a pillow case upstairs... Poor guy. I just needed a few minutes to sit after the long car drive after work to get him. Gotta whip a new solution of nix, and get him set up in the quarantine tank.

Do you guys think I should give him a rub down with mineral oil tonight to help with all the shed, or wait a week after he settles into the quarintine tank? Layers are still stuck to his eyes, and I can hear whistleing from his nose, and I'm thinking it's most likely shed stuck. Hpefully not RI but I guess it is possable.

Wish me luck all, off to work now I guess.
Pictures will come later.

TeaNinja · 06-27-11, 11:13 PM

id suggest just giving him decently high temps and some high humidity and maybe even a humid hide, i bet he can work it out. if not after that, he could probably use a soak.

vendettaseve · 06-27-11, 11:17 PM

Sounds like a pretty poor situation, kids should not be allowed to keep reptiles in my opinion. Attention span is too short especially with the minimal gratification that the animals can deliver to an immature mind.

Dont get me wrong, I think kids should be exposed to reptiles, should be made mandatory to prevent silly phobias, but it should be owned and primarily cared for by the parent. I shudder every time I see kids parents caving in the reptile section at the local pet store (shudder every time I see the reptile section too... but Iv come to accept it and the manager knows what hes about)

Im glad you managed to save another one, looking forward to the pics :3

whoaxmary · 06-27-11, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vendettaseve

Sounds like a pretty poor situation, kids should not be allowed to keep reptiles in my opinion. Attention span is too short especially with the minimal gratification that the animals can deliver to an immature mind.

Dont get me wrong, I think kids should be exposed to reptiles, should be made mandatory to prevent silly phobias, but it should be owned and primarily cared for by the parent. I shudder every time I see kids parents caving in the reptile section at the local pet store (shudder every time I see the reptile section too... but Iv come to accept it and the manager knows what hes about)

Im glad you managed to save another one, looking forward to the pics :3

Very much agreed. Doesn't help that it seemed/smelled like this guy hit the bottle so I'm sure that didn't motivate him to take great care of the thing. Atleast he was willing to GIVE the snake to a home rather than turn a profit. Besides, between gas, tim hortons stops, vet visit asap, and everything else - he isn't exactly free anyways.

youngster · 06-28-11, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vendettaseve

Sounds like a pretty poor situation, kids should not be allowed to keep reptiles in my opinion. Attention span is too short especially with the minimal gratification that the animals can deliver to an immature mind.

Dont get me wrong, I think kids should be exposed to reptiles, should be made mandatory to prevent silly phobias, but it should be owned and primarily cared for by the parent. I shudder every time I see kids parents caving in the reptile section at the local pet store (shudder every time I see the reptile section too... but Iv come to accept it and the manager knows what hes about)

Im glad you managed to save another one, looking forward to the pics :3

*most* kids, not all. though i think a bp is a little much

vendettaseve · 06-28-11, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngster

*most* kids, not all. though i think a bp is a little much

Sorry about that little guy :P I forgot you were lurkin..

whoaxmary · 06-27-11, 11:19 PM

Yup , he's already going into quarintine tank - which is smalled and easy to keep hot and humid. Just feel so bad for the guy. If he and the entire set up wasn't 100% free(wasn't orginally offered free, Ithink the guy could just tell I was going to be a good home and I was driving from three hours away to get him), and I wasn't worried about what they guy was going to do with him if I didn't take it, I may not of gotten him, but I just couldn't turn him away. ;/

KD35WIN.AS.ONE · 06-28-11, 01:16 AM

Respect, nice rescue.

**Aaron_S** · 06-28-11, 07:53 AM

Whoa Mary! Take a step back and DO NOT put mineral oil on ANY scaled animal! You'll do damage to the scales! Water will suffice for helping the shed.

whoaxmary · 06-28-11, 08:23 AM

Really? Thanks so much for telling me that - it's just what I had been told.heard a few times. Never considered it until this guy came along since I've never had deal with such a horrable shed. He's already started to work peices of it off himself though in the quarantine set up I have him in.
Will throw a big water dish for him to soak in at the end of the day - just waiting for 24 hours to pass by since he got treated with nix last night.

whoaxmary · 06-28-11, 08:51 AM

Quote:

*most* kids, not all. though i think a bp is a little much

You're right - MOST kids.

I wasn't allowed to bring any reptiles into the house besides wild caught things that I kept for 24 hours until I was done highschool, probably a good thing seeing as I would not of had the time and focus to do what I do now with my animals as much as I would like to.

The only reason this guy has come in was because I've decided not to go to college yet this year - wanted to give myself a little pick me up/project instead.

stephanbakir · 06-28-11, 08:56 AM

Good luck with the new bp, yeah don't use mineral oil. On a side note, I punch a hole into my humid hides and place a tight fitting piece of wood directly in the middle. It's solid and goes all the way to the floor, so while they are in the hide they have something to rub against.

whoaxmary · 06-28-11, 09:01 AM

Thanks for the idea.

So I'm sitting here in my living room where the new guy is - since the rest are in my bedroom - watcing him and I'm noticing he keeps 'yawning' a lot. A minute ago I thought something was wrong with his tongue because it was akwardly sliding around the side of his mouth when he opened his jaw. o.o Now he's back to moving around checking things out just fine. ;/ Little odd?

stephanbakir · 06-28-11, 09:04 AM

Should be ok. I've been known to yawn repeatedly on occasion.
Wait patiently with your camera and snap a few pics. You only get 1 second to look with his mouth open but you can stare at the picture and nitpick for hours just to be sure.

whoaxmary · 06-28-11, 09:10 AM

My camera is at my boyfriends house and the little bugger forgot to bring it to me last night when we went to pick the snake up. X_X

Lol, it was more or less seeing his tongue so weirdly move around. He seems pretty content right now, still just moving around checking things out. Every once and a while he comes and presses his face right up to the glass right in front of me...

Awez. Tried taking a picture with my webcam but it didn't work .x.x