Special needs baby.

[satomi325]

I would hold off on the betadine till she sheds, which doesn't sound that far away.

The whole point is to have her shed in one piece to see if the eye cap and scale rot come off. After that we can reevaluate everything and give further advice accordingly.

Op: please stick around. I hope you update this thread. We really want to help you and this girl.

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[NinjaKittyz]

As requested, I'm updating the post. Inferno shed last night.

She's been getting daily rubs w/ shedding aid for the last 3 days. As well as the daily spray to her eye w/ shedding aid. I've kept her humidity a bit higher than I normally do, right around 65-70%, temp has been 80-86 (Depending on time of day and room temp.) The majority of the enclosure has aspen substrate, and approx 8-10" of one side is damp moss.

At about midnight last night, I was double checking everyone ( We had a major storm last night and were in a Tornado alert, so I had pillow cases on the ready in case we needed to make a quick get away.) Noticed she was shedding and watched for a bit, She got her belly shed off nicely, and the scale rot looks to be mostly gone. One small spot (The worst of it) remains, plan on keeping an eye on it, and dropping humidity down. Already replaced the moss w/ a less damp 'bunch' of it. So nice, clean white belly. Her topside, despite the raised humidity, shedding aid and soaks, was being a pain. So I did what I've done for other rough shedders. Picked her up, and helped her along, running my thumbs down her topside, easing the shed along, getting them wet now and then. It took a while, and some spots were a lot thickers than others, but it all came off.

Now, for the amazing part. You all know the reason I initally posted was because of her eye. Several layers of retained cap, the eye was 'flat' and smaller than her other eye. Well. She had a nice head shed, the left eye cap came of just fine. Her right eye cap.. It was a giant.. callus. Thats the only word I can really use. (The pics will speak for themselves.) Her eye looks so much better, it looks like there's still a layer of retained cap, which is a lot better than I was expecting, honestly. I was 'sure' she'd lost that eye, that it had died under the retained caps, and that she was going to be blind in it.

While I'm not sure about her sight in it yet. She's still got her eye and it looks really good, considering. She's still not responding to things moving infront of her right eye, not how she does with her left, so I'm still wondering about the possibilty of lost sight, or partial lost sight in that eye, only time will tell.

All in all, She looks good. It's simply amazing what poor husbandry can do to an animal, just as it's amazing what good husbandry can do. Now, I know there are things I could have done differently, No one is going to agree on what should be done. I did as I felt best, and went with my gut, and took into consideration the knowledge, tips and information given to me by those who know more/better. So thank you all for that.

Now. On to the pics! (I know. TLDR.)


So you don't have to scroll... The Before Pictures..



You can clearly see the retained caps, as well as a bit of.. scar-scales along the top of her eye.



She looks normal! No scar-scales, no lost of her eye. I'm really pleased with the outcome. I couldn't have hoped for better.



This is her head shed. You can clearly see where the eye cap is. It felt like a thick callus when I touched it. Also. The tip, where her nose is, it felt almost the same which leads me to believe that she had retained shed on her nose as well.

And just cause.. a partial body shot after shedding.




Once again, Thanks for everything!

[Annarose15]

Fantastic! I would stop your treatments now, since it looks like she might have gotten all of the retained caps off. If there's one remaining, leaving it is less of a risk than it is to try to "remove" if it actually isn't retained. Just monitor her next shed and keep her humidity up and her substrate fairly dry (for the last remnant of scale rot to go away).

[NinjaKittyz]

I'm not planning on doing anything more, treatment, wise with her. Mostly just keeping an eye on the belly spot, and keeping humidity stable. She already ate, so she's a happy camper. Have to admit, I've been grinning all day about her eye.

I know some people will try and remove a retained cap, I'm not one of those. I've heard of using tape, and tweezers and scratching at it... The only retained cap I pulled off of her was already loose, and broken, it had a split down the middle that I gently rubbed off. If she does have another layer, it should come off with the next shed.

[satomi325]

Awesome! That is so good to hear. Sounds like everything is looking up for her.

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[UltraViolet]

Yay! Congratulations on a job well done. The before and after shots are startlingly different.

A word about snakes (pets) and finances (forgive me if I sound defensive): I don't have a lot of money. None, actually- about $160/month for food, gas, etc after bills. But I was given a free snake. I came on here to find out about optimal care to keep her healthy. I spent the money to get her husbandry right, even tho it wiped out my carefully hoarded reserves. She eats before I do. If she were to get sick, I would come on here to get as much advice as possible and treat her as best I could before resorting to a vet visit I can't afford. But if she absolutely needed a vet, I would find the money somehow (car payment can wait...). I've really really REALLY wanted a BRB for years, and one showed up on craigslist for only $50 while I was looking for stuff for Pandora- and I didn't get it because I decided I couldn't afford it while I was still getting Pandora set up. And now that she's set up, I still can't afford to set up another snake so I won't be getting one.
BUT: If I came across a snake that was in super bad shape and the owner was planning to throw it in the freezer- I'd have her home in a heartbeat. Regardless of finances. I couldn't in good conscience do otherwise. I don't consider that irresponsible or harmful, and I would do my best with what I had- as the OP clearly did.

[Andys-Python]

You saved a life!!! Congratulations!

Andy-

[Marrissa]

I was watching this thread and I'm so happy to hear and see she is doing much better. Hope she continues to do well for you and it was awesome of you to save her from neglect and death.

[Tigerhawk]

You have nothing to be sorry for. You saved a life and he seems to be recovering just fine. So if someone does not have a helpful solution to a problem they should stay out of the conversation. Again you did what most normal animal lovers would have done thanks.