Help with new baby burm!!!

[graciefacie888]

Hi guys! I recently took in a baby burmese python. The previous owner got him from the everglades but couldn't get him to eat, so he gave him to my boyfriend and I. He's been with me for 2.5 weeks, and has refused all food. I don't have much information about him before he came to us, but I'm guessing he's about 1.5 months old. I've tried fuzzies, hoppers, small adult mice, live, frozen/thawed, nothing. When I first got him, I left him alone for 5 days to adjust as he had been moved around a bunch. I did remove 3 tics as well, so I figured that might have had something to do with his eating. He's so sweet and has never once flinched or acted in any strange way. He's active as hell and seems to be happy. However, his tail is concerning me. It has a lot of kinks and is extremely deformed. He can still move it, and also has no problem with me touching it. At first, I thought that since the kinks are near the end of his tail, that it wouldn't be a problem, but now I'm worried that it might be a bigger problem/related to his eating issues. I don't know anything about tail kinks or deformities, so I'd love some advice/feedback. I don't want to be irresponsible if this is something that's going to affect his overall quality of life. However, I'm hoping that he'll be okay, as he's truly the sweetest and most loving snake I've ever interacted with. Even being born in the wild/moving homes a couple times, he's literally nicer than my sassy captive bred albino corn snake that I've had for 3 years. I'm absolutely head over heels for this dorky guy (Colin). I would love to see him grow big and strong, but I don't want him to be suffering at all Please help! Thank you!!

[Aaron_S]

It's a wild animal first of all. We have no clue what may have caused the kinking. It usually is a random birth defect and if it's lower than the cloaca then the animal usually does fine.

You've had this animal for 2 and a half weeks. Five of those days you left him alone so in the span of 14 days you've tried a pile of different feeding options except patience.

Leave the animal alone until it eats. I would try live rat pups for the time being or possibly chicks. It's possible it may not live due to internal issues...possibly.

Also, I didn't think it was legal to keep burms in Florida without a permit and especially the invasive ones? I don't know where you're located though. Just a small assumption on my part.

[chairman]

So, it isn't legal to own or possess Burmese pythons in Florida. You can not even get a permit. If such a snake had health issues then I do not believe it would not be possible to bring it to a vet for care. Sadly, such an animal would probably need to be destroyed. I don't particularly agree with the ban but it is the law and members of the reptile hobby need to abide by laws as we lobby for common sense reforms.

We will imagine for a moment that the snake was removed from the Everglades AND the state of Florida.

As a wild snake, the kink could very well be damage from a predator. Almost looks like a creature with a jaw an inch wide took multiple bites and broke bones in several locations. The damage is very close to the vent, which would not be a good thing, as there could be trauma and/or infection to the digestive tract (at least the last part of it). If the snake will allow inspection, I'd check the area for puss (chunky white stuff, not necessarily oozing like a person would).

I'd make sure the snake was hydrated and offered water because I'd want to see if it is capable of passing waste properly. It should eventually pass urates. If waste is being passed properly and there are no signs of infection then having a poorly healed tail (or even a kink due to incubation issues) should not affect the quality of life for the snake, especially one that will not be bred.

Food-wise, I'd try quail or rodents scented with low sodium chicken broth.

Once the snake is eating I would strongly consider bringing it to a vet for a fecal so any internal parasites can be dealt with.