Serious problem with Jennifer

[CarissaREVV]

Originally Posted by mykee

Just toss the thing in your freezer.
It will take roughly a very painful hour or two for all the blood in its body to completely freeze.
IMO, that's a better death than the one you're providing currently.

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Personally I think you would be better to crush her head. You are reluctant to get her the help she needs and she has a slew of problems, this gash is just one of them. You obviously have other priorities and this is low on the pole. Stop making her suffer and just put her out of her misery. She has suffered long enough.

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Carissa, euthanasia may be your best option at this point, but it is up to you to decide if things have gotten to that point. You obviously cared enough about your snake to make a lot of beneficial changes over the last week or two, and i firmly believe that it is your decision to make r.e. euthanasia or waiting it out... But please keep your snakes welfare in mind. Suffering can be hard to detect in reptiles, but do understand that your snake is NOT in a very good place right now in regards to its health. Not having known the conditions it was kept in before you got it, it could have been a pre-existing condition that was exacerbated by sub standard care.

I think no one can fault you for the effort you put into making things right up until this point. While a vet visit would be ideal, i understand that not everyone has the money to spend.
I think you should seriously consider jennifer's quality of life, and in the mean time do everything you can to make sure Kyle has every chance to thrive.
Best of luck.

All of you talking about Euthinizing her are insane. Would you euthinize any other animal that had malnuritment problems and dyhydration issues? Probably not. luck has a rare occurence in my life and i was fortunate to get a reptile vet speak to me for a few min while i was at pet store with a vet clinic inside and guess what when i told him what was going on he asked about the temp of the cage her eating habbits the humidity and her behavior. i told him everything that was going on and he said try offering her food again and if she doesnt eat i will have to go in so i can get her onto a soft food diet that can be force fed. I was told to leave her alone so she can recover. BUT, If she gets worse or does not improve with in the next week to 10 days to bring her in and he would look at her. Oh and everyone as for the wound on her head it looks alot better it is smaller which means it is healing. As i keep trying to say sometimes all you can do is be patient. Those who are commenting about me not doing research as i posted on my other feed about her and kyle. I can go on google right now and find four different ideas how you are suppose to keep the snakes houseing. as for kyle he is doing great he likes his under belly heat. I have been keeping an eye out on him to make sure it wasnt a virus she had that she could have given him. I will be attempting to feed her again tonight. and i hope that she continues to get better fo i honestly want her to be okay.

[smy_749]

You are being stubborn and ignorant. The whole point is your relying on "luck" while your animal is suffering. And if your luck doesn't pay off? You just seem stingy in my opinion, and you shouldn't ask for advice if your not willing to take it. How can the 'vet' you saw give you an analysis of whats really going on and he hasn't even seen the animal. Thats the whole point of bring your animal in, otherwise all vets would consult from the telephone....

I guess you shouldn't buy any animals anymore unless they are atleast 10 times the price of a vet visit, then would it be worth it? Or is 1/10th the price you paid for him too much as well?

[CarissaREVV]

its a her by the way. and i was going to be taking her in tomorrow if i hadnt been lucky. I do have pictures of what she looked like i am not going to upload them because i dont need any more heat for how she looked. I am doing the best i can with the resources i have. alot of people would have never taken the time to even ask and try and fix the situation. i know plenty of people who would say **** it and just ignore her until she died i am atleast makiing the effort to improve her situation and get her better even if i am not jumping to the vet every five min for something. I am willing to take advice but tell me to kill my snake by putting her in a freezer or crush her skull is a little dramatic dont you think.

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by CarissaREVV

its a her by the way. and i was going to be taking her in tomorrow if i hadnt been lucky. I do have pictures of what she looked like i am not going to upload them because i dont need any more heat for how she looked. I am doing the best i can with the resources i have. alot of people would have never taken the time to even ask and try and fix the situation. i know plenty of people who would say **** it and just ignore her until she died i am atleast makiing the effort to improve her situation and get her better even if i am not jumping to the vet every five min for something. I am willing to take advice but tell me to kill my snake by putting her in a freezer or crush her skull is a little dramatic dont you think.

If I was dying (a probably very painful mind you) death, and my family refused to give me treatment. Instead they just gave me a bunch of baths and put more blankets on me, I would ask them to smash my head with a rock as well. Also, its never a good sign when you compare yourself to those who are worse than you to justify what your doing. If your snake had a bad shed, refused a meal, or something along these lines then fine, try to change up some husbandry. Your snake has far greater issues than this, don't compare yourself to the people who leave animals in boxes to die...that doesn't say much. Compare yourself to the people who spend MONEY, time and effort, and you will see your shortcomings. Give him to someone who cares, euthanize him, or take him to the vet. Stop playing with the idea of husbandry, your snake is dying.

[CarissaREVV]

She 98% of the time since day one has refused to eat by the way and has had bad sheds every time because i didnt know about the humidity and all of that. so take a snake that has refused to eat for the past few months and she is sick would you be all that shocked that she was having problems with her health. if you take a dog or cat or what ever animal that hasnt eaten in a while and lived in not the ideal conditions all you can do is give it time to get better once you put it in better conditions and then you ensure that it eats wheather it wants to or not and you do get them looked at epecially if they are not improving. i was already told to bring her in if she didnt get better which is what i will do. I will be a good pet owner and take her in if she gets worse or doesnt improve.

[CarissaREVV]

Seriously it is a she not a he.

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by CarissaREVV

She 98% of the time since day one has refused to eat by the way and has had bad sheds every time because i didnt know about the humidity and all of that. so take a snake that has refused to eat for the past few months and she is sick would you be all that shocked that she was having problems with her health. if you take a dog or cat or what ever animal that hasnt eaten in a while and lived in not the ideal conditions all you can do is give it time to get better once you put it in better conditions and then you ensure that it eats wheather it wants to or not and you do get them looked at epecially if they are not improving. i was already told to bring her in if she didnt get better which is what i will do. I will be a good pet owner and take her in if she gets worse or doesnt improve.

She is getting worse, and shes not improving, but your too stubborn to see it. And I don't care if its a he, or a she, or both, its irrelevant. I think we are done here, let me know when it dies.

[CarissaREVV]

She is not going to die. how is she getting worse if her wound is healing and her sides and color look better then they did 4 days ago?

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

I'm sorry but you don't seem qualified to tell how healthy your snake is.

No need to add to this.

[CarissaREVV]

I have a question in regards to feeding I recently read that some ball pythons and royal pythons will never eat on their own and I have only gotten Jennifer to eat on her own twice and that was in one day. I have always had to force feed. Have any of you ever had a snake that you had to force feed every time and if so. Were you able to force feed a small mouse or a rat fuzzie to them. because she needs to eat i got her to eat two mice fuzzies last week but those are small and easier to get into her. I am not sure how force feeding a small mouse will work if you guys dont know then i will just talk to that rep vet again and see what he suggests other then a soft food diet because there are problems that can arise with soft food diets with her already weak i dont need her to get any of the stomach problems that they say can happen if they are given soft food diets.

[CarissaREVV]

Originally Posted by smy_749

No need to add to this.

By that logic sir you are not qualified to say how your own health is. hell by that logic no one except medical professionals can say how you or anything else is doing. you see a little kid getting over being sick and you say they are looking better and seem to be improving but according to you how is that any indication because you are not a medical professional? 99% of the time you can tell when something seems to be getting better.

[KORBIN5895]

First off you are a fool. You are ignoring the advice of people who have been keeping snakes for over 10 years. As a matter of fact you are ignoring the advice of a royal breeders that have been doing it for ten plus years. But hey you're so lucky to have a vet that hasn't even seen it give you advice on what to do! Tell me what the difference is?

Secondly you are also ignorant. Blunt force trauma to an animals head (cranial destruction ) is one of the quickest and most painless ways to kill a snake.

It took you six months to realize something was wrong with your snake but you are telling me it's okay after four days? Right.....

Finally if a snake is a non feeder it should be put down as force feeding is stressful on a snake and it's not fair to subject a snake to it for life.

From what you have said and shown you are not a capable owner and should take some serious steps to rectify this. You obviously own too many animals if you can't provide the professional help they need without it hurting you financially.

[LadyWraith]

Snakes are not "dogs, cats, or whatever else animal". They are resilient to a point but they go down hill much, much quicker. They have very specific requirements comparatively and if those needs are not met, they die. Period. Your snake needs a freakin'vet. The longer you wait it out, the closer you are to killing it. They're telling you to kill it because you are slowly killing it by not getting professional help. And they are infuriated to watch it happen. I don't understand why you think you know more about what is proper in this situation when this is your first snake. In comparison, the people here have years and years of experience with these animals.

[Will0W783]

If the OP lives in the DC area, I am not terribly far away. Perhaps I can help, take the snake and get her to a reptile vet that can treat her? I would like to help this snake if I can.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by CarissaREVV

I have a question in regards to feeding I recently read that some ball pythons and royal pythons will never eat on their own and I have only gotten Jennifer to eat on her own twice and that was in one day. I have always had to force feed. Have any of you ever had a snake that you had to force feed every time and if so. Were you able to force feed a small mouse or a rat fuzzie to them. because she needs to eat i got her to eat two mice fuzzies last week but those are small and easier to get into her. I am not sure how force feeding a small mouse will work if you guys dont know then i will just talk to that rep vet again and see what he suggests other then a soft food diet because there are problems that can arise with soft food diets with her already weak i dont need her to get any of the stomach problems that they say can happen if they are given soft food diets.

re soft food diet
tube feeding is what i would consider a soft food diet,i use high protien cat/dog food (it can be bought from a vet) watered down into a paste,so that it moves freely through the syringe and tube,attatched to the syringe is a baby infant feeding tube,cut to the appropriatte size,its the exact same tube used on human babys,when they require a tube down their nose into the stomach,for feeding when they're ill ...you buy the tube from your vet,then cut the tube so it goes far enough back the snakes throat,so the food goes down into the stomach and not back out the mouth

re amount of cat/dog food per feed
i give the samer weight as the prey the snake should be eating...

if it should be taking a 50gram prey item...i wiegh out 50 grams of cat/dog food,then water it down,load it into a syringe and tube,then insert the tube far enough down the snakes throat,so the food does not come back out the mouth

tube feeding should be done when a snakes too weak or run down to eat for itself

re force feeding
force feeding should be a LAST option,as it causes a lot of stress to the snake

if your having to force feed a snake everytime,then their something way off with the husbandry or the snake has health issues

cheers shaun