Help! I've never heard of this before.

[Brelon Fairman]

I have a five-year old male ball python. Lately, I've noticed some odd pinkish colouring along his body on one side, getting darker toward the tail. It begins about ten to twelve inches down from the tip of his nose.

At first, I thought it was just a burn mark from a light (it happens) but then I had him out and noticed some odd things about his skin--more of that later. I lifted a couple of his scales and his skin looks normal under the marks, but I couldn't see very well.

He has a few places that seem "loose." Again, I thought maybe I should feed him a little more. (He gets 3-4 mice a month.) As I continued poking at him, I discovered two pockets of what I think are fluid around the base of his tail.

Instinctively, I want to just spear them with a sterilized needle, but I have refrained from such things.

As far as his behavior, he has been rather lethargic and he's done nothing but lie in one or two spots. He's usually pretty active at night, especially when someone is in the room with him. I've taken him out for a couple of hours. He's normally very active when out and I have to watch him very closely, but he just lied there.

Any ideas?

[shelliebear]

I'm not an expert in snakes, but a fluid build up in people is generally from some kind of repetitive irritation (blisters) or an infection (boils, carbuncles, etc).
:/
But none of that sounds like your snakey.
How's the humidity, and the temps? Has he been acting normally other than being tired? No star gazing or cork screwing?
At this point I think what I would do, if it was me, is wait and see if the build ups get bigger, and if they do, POSSIBLY nick one of them with a needle and check if anything drains out.
But like I said I don't know snakes! Wait for someone else to come along and they'll probably know.
Don't jab it just yet.

[llovelace]

First off Welcome to BP.net. Please read thru all the sticky's in the husbandry forum, please post pics of him, you can upload thru photobucket.com.

You need to et rid of the light source, and use a under tank heater with a thermostat. He may need a vet visit.

[Brelon Fairman]

First off Welcome to BP.net. Please read thru all the sticky's in the husbandry forum, please post pics of him, you can upload thru photobucket.com.

You need to et rid of the light source, and use a under tank heater with a thermostat. He may need a vet visit.

thank you for the welcome. ill try that and check on him to see how things work out in a few days...and meanwhile ill look into the vet...

[Brelon Fairman]

I'm not an expert in snakes, but a fluid build up in people is generally from some kind of repetitive irritation (blisters) or an infection (boils, carbuncles, etc).
:/
But none of that sounds like your snakey.
How's the humidity, and the temps? Has he been acting normally other than being tired? No star gazing or cork screwing?
At this point I think what I would do, if it was me, is wait and see if the build ups get bigger, and if they do, POSSIBLY nick one of them with a needle and check if anything drains out.
But like I said I don't know snakes! Wait for someone else to come along and they'll probably know.
Don't jab it just yet.

im highly tempted to do so but ill do my best to refrain...

[Lolo76]

How long have you noticed these symptoms, and how long have you had the snake? They do turn pinkish & "saggy" right before a shed, for up to a week or so... but if you've had the snake a while, I assume you'd know what that looks like by now. Not sure what else to suggest, aside from the obvious vet visit.

[Lolo76]

Oh yeah, and how's his weight? I don't know if this happens with BPs, but I know corn snakes can get "hips" (fatty deposits) from being overweight. I adopted a VERY fat (1100g) female corn, and she has these deposits around the base of her tail... vet said it's nothing harmful, but of course I have her on a strict diet now.

[anatess]

Oh yeah, and how's his weight? I don't know if this happens with BPs, but I know corn snakes can get "hips" (fatty deposits) from being overweight. I adopted a VERY fat (1100g) female corn, and she has these deposits around the base of her tail... vet said it's nothing harmful, but of course I have her on a strict diet now.

I was thinking he might be underfed - 3-4 mice a month for a 5-year-old seems way too little. 3-4 medium RATS a month is better - 1 every 10 days.

Yeah, please post pictures and describe his set-up. Then we can have better input to the situation.

[Brelon Fairman]

He is less than three feet long, and seems to have some trouble with rats (he's sustained two injuries and would rather starve than eat something frozen/thaw) so I stopped feeding him the rats. I can up the amount of mice he gets, but since the "incident" I've been reluctant to do rats again...

[Sammy412]

Have you tried prekilled? You can prekill the rat, then use tong or long hemostats to wiggle the rat, making it seem alive. if he's intimidated by rats in general, I'd try a small one first. Once he eats the small ones a few times, you should be able to go up to medium if that's not too big for him.