Need help python may be sick! - Page 2

Chu'Wuti · 03-01-09, 05:04 AM

It's OK that it isn't a big enclosure; in fact, it's probably good, as it will be easier to manage the humidity. Most of the guys assert that smaller enclosures are less stressful for the snake as well, though not everyone agrees, and IMHO, a larger enclosure can work with the proper set-up. At any rate, that's not an issue of concern here.

I'm not saying your snake cannot have blister disease, only that I feel, given the information you've provided, that burns are more likely. I've never had to deal with blister disease myself, so I could be mistaken; that's why I went & begged for help for you.

Julian, thanks so much for dropping in & checking on this.

Butters, get your dad to bring the camera home today if at all possible--those photos are going to be essential for us to make a proper identification of the problem. TTYL!

mykee · 03-01-09, 12:03 PM

After reading this entire thread, this is the most important question so far and will DEFINITELY help determine what is wrong with your ball python. What do you have to regulate heat on your UTH's? A thermostat? A dimmer? So what I'm really asking is what are the temperatures ON the glass over the hot spot.
If it's over 95 and you haven't done anything about it, you ar actually cooking your ball pythons insides very slowly and he WILL die unless you fix the issue. Blisters are caused from burns. Burns are caused by heat. Yours is far too high, obviously. Fix it fast or start shopping for a new ball python.

butters5620 · 03-01-09, 12:22 PM

mykee I have layered more aspen and cloth over the heater so if it was too hot that problem has been solved. My bp seems to enjoy his hide a lot more now that i've cooled it down. I dont have any regulators or dials on my UTH. it just stays a constant temperature and thats why I have to layer it. It should be around 90 degrees constant temperature without layering. It has a 2 year warranty also so if the temperature is over the limit, I can get a new one or just use a smaller UTH that I own. would you guys recommend putting my smaller UTH under his hide? not sure if the temp differs from the bigger UTH but it could help. but like I said i'm trying to get those pictures posted I need the code to get into my dads shop and get the camera but the itiot doesn't answer his phone. I put a damp towel over 3/4 of the top of the cage to hopefully increase the humidity. thanks i'll have those pics posted soon!

butters5620 · 03-01-09, 01:37 PM

Hey I just got the camera back from my dad's work. Unfortunately the battery was completely dead so I'm going to have to wait about an hour for it to charge. So hang in there! Haha my name is Jordan by the way. I'm 16 and I'm jobless so thats why my dad should be helping me out as much as he can. And that's a little bit about myself! I will get those pics posted within the next hour and a half though hopefully so keep a close watch on this thread. Thank all you guys for your time and your help!

butters5620 · 03-01-09, 03:34 PM

Okay I've finally got an album made on photobucket. Just paste this URL into your web browser and it should take you straight to the album!

Pictures by butters5620 - Photobucket

Inside the album is various pictures of the snake and his enclosure. They have discriptions so be sure to read those for full understanding. Please take a look at these photos and tell me what you think! Thanks!

**Aaron_S** · 03-01-09, 06:05 PM

Ok, so first things first, good news he's still eating so he won't die from that. It also doesn't look like burns from the underbelly shot.

Here are my suggestions. First, get a dimmer or thermostat for the heat pad (any heatpad should have one attached). This way you can rule out over heating. Make sure the humidity is brought up to proper conditions because the first thing to get rid of is the left over shed(s) the snake has on it. To help with that, my suggestion is to dampen a pillowcase entirely, place the snake in it and tie a knot in the top. Leave it for 30 - 60 minutes and it should do the work on it's own, and if not it should have a really good start to the job for you.

Next, it's got a lot of what looks like bloating. I'm unsure of what causes that but my best guess is it has to do with the shedding. It also looks like the snake has some scars on it's back, but those could be blisters you're talking about?

Onto the set up. Get rid of the aspen. Use paper towel until this problem is solved. It's a better substrate for now. You won't need to use anything to insulate the heatpad with a dimmer or thermostat. You also need at least one other hide box. On the cool side. The snake needs to thermo-regulate but also feel secure. Hiding behind the water bowl won't cut it. You can remove the log, it doesn't need it, and if you like it, put it back after it's healthy again. You could add a third hide box as well, known as a humid hide. As mentioned already, place some of it dampened into a hide and this will raise the humidity for the snake to shed from. Start with this stuff and we'll go from there. Also, you don't need to buy expensive hides. Just anything will do. I have used shoeboxes. Best thing about cardboard is you can throw it out when it's soiled. You can also cut a hole in a margarine container type thing for the humid hide.

butters5620 · 03-01-09, 07:18 PM

hey just a couple more quick questions before I get started on the 'makeover' haha. What is the best way to regulate the humidity? I have a screen top and found the damp towel idea on the internet but I'm not sure if that brings it up enough or not. I'm going to go buy some moss, a controlled UTH, and a third hide tomorrow along with a hygrometer. If there's anything else I need to get to help regulate humidity plz let me know and i'll do my best to make it work. any good idea will help. Thanks for helping me out btw its nice to know I'm not the only one who cares about my bp haha.

As for those scars you are seeing... They're from the time he escaped his cage! My fat cat sat on the screen and broke it and I think he must have cut himself getting out. When I found him I was concerned about the cut so I cleaned his cage to make it sanitary. I wouldn't think that this adventure would have anything to do with his current problems seeing as this happened in August '08.

mykee · 03-01-09, 09:07 PM

Those pictures almost made me cry. I've never in all my years seen a ball python is as bad a shape. I'm going to bow out of this thread and Aaron can offer you some awesome advice.

Kmef07 · 03-01-09, 10:19 PM

im confused if when looking at those pics if that UTH is keeping the whole cage hot enough??????? also along with the bloating thing im not trying to scare you but before my bp died a while back it bloated like that a couple times and died the last time. it is supposedly caused by constipation. im not really that good with the bps yet so this is just suggestions have this confirmed by aaron first or julian or mykee. the humidity being down could be causing the constipation. also there could be some sort of parasite that is causing the bloating. i don't really konw what else. It could be really dehydrated though. There could be some internal bleeding going on and that is why there is blood seeping but i would assume that would be fatal really fast so i don't think that could be going on but i dunno again just suggestions and thoughts.

butters5620 · 03-02-09, 12:35 AM

Okay well tomorrow i'm going to get a bunch of things that I need but i need help on how to get the humidity up. I am certain that it is way too low and has never been at the right level. The pet store told me not to bother with humidity and they were wrong. Thats why I'm trying so hard now to make everything right. Do you suggest I give my snake Tums or Ex-Lax? Haha ya i just need some experienced people to help me with this. Before I can diagnose the problems I need to give him the proper environment because the one he lived in before is what caused all the problems. And I've pretty much confirmed that the blisters were caused by heat when I went to pick up the heating pad today and tested it. The bottom was a little discolored and it was well over 100 degrees! My snake could have burrowed under the aspen and sat right on the glass it was under. It also had a smoky scent to it so the temperature of the pad must change a lot. Well I have a smaller heating pad i'm using temporarily and its doing fine. tomorrow I will go get supplies and an adjustable UTH but I'm really gonna need help from you guys to get the temperature and humidity to the right level and give him the best environment possible. That's all I have to say for now so if anyone has any good ideas on how to bring up the humidity and temperature of the cage, please please please let me know ok? I will post a picture of the redone enclosure within the next couple of days and next sunday I will post another picture of my snake to compare and see if he's getting any better. KEEP POSTING IDEAS!!!

**Aaron_S** · 03-02-09, 04:12 AM

Don't buy a new UTH you just need a dimmer or theromstat. DImmers cost like 10 bucks.

To raise humidity is to use a humid hide and spray. Also a large water dish. Also a non-screen lid. Like I said you need to get rid of that shed. Start with that.

Chu'Wuti · 03-02-09, 08:10 AM

Jordan, I am soooo glad that these guys have come to help you out, because I have never seen anything like what your snake has in 30 years of snake-keeping. I hope the guys can help you solve the problem and save your snake.

I'm really glad you're taking responsibility for this creature you have in your care; he has no one else to depend on for his life. I know it must be really hard to take the time for a snake when you're 16 and have a ton of other interests. So let's work really hard on this and get him into better shape fast! Good luck!

Chu'Wuti · 03-02-09, 08:16 AM

rrrrrghghg my whole post just disappeared into the ether. Let me try again.

Jordan, I am sooo glad these guys came to help out, because in 30 years of snake-keeping, I have never seen anything like what's wrong with your snake! I really hope that the problem was over-heating & now can be fixed easily.

I'm really glad that you're taking responsibility for taking care of this creature in your care, because he has no one else to depend on for his life. I know it must be really hard to take time for this kind of thing when you're 16 and have lots of other interests and things to do. So hang in there--let's work really hard on this to save your snake and get the problem fixed quickly!

Aaron, Mykee, Julian---thank you VERY MUCH for coming to help Jordan out!

citysnakes · 03-02-09, 09:45 AM

wow. that guy is in some pretty rough shape...

first off i would definitely suggest taking your ball python to see a good reptile vet.

to be honest im not really sure why the snake is all swollen and lumpy but you should stop with the feedings for while. get that extremely bad retained shed off of him by soaking him overnight and and then gently rubbing it off the next day. he looks pretty backed up so hopefully the soak and/or the removal of that retained shed will help him pass whatever he cant at the moment.

try that out first then show us some after pictures of what he looks like.

also you cant guess the temperature by how you think it feels, you need to measure it. go get a couple of digital thermometers and place one of the probes on the glass directly over the heat pad and that will tell you how hot the surface temperature is. use the other one to measure air temperature within the tank.

i think you may need a heat bulb to raise the air temperature inside the tank. i would remove the damp towel and wrap the screen lid with plastic wrap up until where the heat lamp will be placed. pour some water in the aspen and then mix it well. keep it slightly damp but not wet. this and daily misting, combined with the plastic wrapped lid, should help with the humidity within the tank.

im even thinking that since you cant control the heat of the UTH then get rid of it and heat the tank only with a heat bulb. this way if the air temp of the hot side is too high you can simply raise the lamp or if its too low you can get a higher wattage heat bulb.

i hope these thoughts can help you in some way. good luck.

Chu'Wuti · 03-02-09, 10:04 AM

Now both posts have appeared! Crazy!

Julian, Aaron, do you think the snake has fecoliths? I wondered about that possibility, although Jordan did say the lumps are soft, not hard. But fecoliths--or at least severe constipation--seems like a possibility with the low humidity & maybe poor ambient temps in the rest of the enclosure--he might have been staying in a too-hot hide because the rest of the enclosure was too cold, and he might not be digesting his food properly for the same reasons.

Jordan, has your snake defecated within a week after every meal? If he's not defecating, then he may have developed fecoliths or at least is badly constipated. As bad as he looks, I have to agree with Julian that this may be a really good time for a vet--can you find a good herp-certified vet in your area? If your snake has a serious case of fecoliths and the warm-water soak doesn't help, only a vet can help.

As Julian said, soaking him in warm water (85 deg F) might help. When you do that, get a plastic bowl with a lid. The bowl should be big enough that he can coil up in it fairly comfortably. Put some air holes in the lid. Fill the bowl about 3/4 full and put the snake in--he should be able to keep his nose above the water even when you put the lid on the bowl. Put the whole thing back in the enclosure and lock the enclosure--that way, if he pops the lid off the bowl, you won't lose him. A good soaking will definitely help with the shed and may help if the snake has developed fecoliths, but there's no guarantee. If he's not to the fecolith point yet, there's a better probability that a warm-water bath will help.

This all depends on whether the snake has been defecating regularly or not, though, Jordan. If he has been defecating after every meal, then he's not constipated, and this treatment might not help the bloating/bubbles at all, though it will definitely help with the snake's dehydration.