Another Ball Rescued!

OSMDEATHOWNER · 08-22-12, 06:19 PM

So I been tryin to talk this girl I kno into giving me her python for the longest. She brought it for her boyfriend but he got locked up and shes so scared of it, she wont go near it. It hasnt had any water since his dish evaporated forever ago, he hasnt ate in 3 to 4 MONTHS! the tank is disgustin, no heat source at all. just a snake in a dirty viv with old sheds, no water and they keep the AC in the house on all day!!

Well last night I convinced her to finally give him to me over Facebook. it was 1 oclock in the morning and I was gonna go get him then lol but she wanted to sleep. So i got up this morning and picked him up. I gave her 25$ just because. Hes about 4 to 5 feet long, a normal bp. Hes looks really skinny for his lenth to me but i will work on him and pay close attention. First thing I did was check him for mites, none visible to me and i looked really close. But i cleaned his whole tank out, brought a new water dish, hide, i had an extra uth and a dimming lamp wit an infared bulb. I figured in a couple months his weight should be back up a lil. I put cypress mulch beddin in there wit em and im carving him out another hide right now! Just wanted to tell you about my experience! Please let me kno if its anything else I should consider checking or just anything. Thanks for reading! I think Ill name him Lava, because the one i named lava was suppose to be a guy but it was a girl. This one is indeed a guy!! So Lava it is!!

Also I offererd food and he ate it about 6 hours after he got back in his viv. I couldnt resist, I kno he was hungry. I just didnt offerer anything bigger then his girth(think thats how you spell it) so it wasnt that big, cuz hes skinny but I want him to gain because hes a nice looking friend.

Hurrok · 08-22-12, 06:22 PM

Awe, well thankfully you got him! That is so sad how she treated her BP. No living creature deserves to be treated like that, nor should they. Make sure you update us with pictures and stories along the way

jaleely · 08-22-12, 09:50 PM

I'm really glad he took the food. Next time you offer food, you can inject the prey item under the skin (with a syringe) with fresh filtered water, just to make sure he gets some fluids in case he's too stupid to drink on his own (lol it could happen).

He will probably go through a couple bad sheds...flaking scales, then bits and peices, then a whole shed each time he sheds. After that meal he will probably go into shed fairly soon.

I would feel his stomach and his vent area...if you feel a hard ball....that is probably a urate ball that forms when they become dehydrated. you can gently work it out of him through his vent. Sometimes they can form and plug the snake up or make it difficult to poo or pee.
I've had to do this for at least three snakes.

If you don't feel anything, that's good.

Check on the "tail" side of his vent...like, towards his tail. If you feel any lumps or bumps there, it is probably a plugged scent glad. We can get into that, but it's not too likely.
Just the belly to vent area for the urates.

Other than that, once he starts shedding try and see if you can make sure his eye caps are coming off as well.

In the meantime, you should be able to look at his eyes and if you see dents, cracks, or wrinkles, then you know he's dehydrated. You can soak him in a warm (not hotter than your body temp) bath for a while. I'm sure he'd enjoy that anyway, actually.

Good job on not feeding him too big of a meal. I look forward to hearing more about him, and thank you for saving him! I can't believe someone would be so cruel just because they didn't like snakes.

Terranaut · 08-23-12, 06:17 AM

Also keep him in another room from your collection. Any nasty infectious stuff might take a while to show itself so a quarentine is a must. Good luck. Pics would be great

OSMDEATHOWNER · 08-26-12, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaleely

I'm really glad he took the food. Next time you offer food, you can inject the prey item under the skin (with a syringe) with fresh filtered water, just to make sure he gets some fluids in case he's too stupid to drink on his own (lol it could happen).

He will probably go through a couple bad sheds...flaking scales, then bits and peices, then a whole shed each time he sheds. After that meal he will probably go into shed fairly soon.

I would feel his stomach and his vent area...if you feel a hard ball....that is probably a urate ball that forms when they become dehydrated. you can gently work it out of him through his vent. Sometimes they can form and plug the snake up or make it difficult to poo or pee.
I've had to do this for at least three snakes.

If you don't feel anything, that's good.

Check on the "tail" side of his vent...like, towards his tail. If you feel any lumps or bumps there, it is probably a plugged scent glad. We can get into that, but it's not too likely.
Just the belly to vent area for the urates.

Other than that, once he starts shedding try and see if you can make sure his eye caps are coming off as well.

In the meantime, you should be able to look at his eyes and if you see dents, cracks, or wrinkles, then you know he's dehydrated. You can soak him in a warm (not hotter than your body temp) bath for a while. I'm sure he'd enjoy that anyway, actually.

Good job on not feeding him too big of a meal. I look forward to hearing more about him, and thank you for saving him! I can't believe someone would be so cruel just because they didn't like snakes.

Thanks and will take all advice. Hes looking really good, Ill go backk over him to make sure tho