is my ball python dehydrated?

[harleyquinn83]

I just got my first two ball pythons about 3 weeks ago. A female and a male. Both rescues. I have experience with king snakes, milk snakes, and corn snakes. But, no experience with large constrictors.

The male came to me with scale disfiguration, and thanks to people on these forums, I figured out it was scale rot and treated it.

I'm hoping to find out if my female is healthy, or possibly dehydrated.

I keep two water bowls in her cage, one at each hide on either side of the tank, (cold and hot). I have kept the humidity at 45-55% because when I got her, she was going through a shed. She shed in pieces, even though I gave her several 85F baths, and kept her at higher humidities.

I apologize I don't have pictures. My bf takes my camera for on-site pictures for his job, and he is currently out of town. i will try to be as descript as possible.

My female does not show and "wrinkling" on her main body. However, from her head to about 4 inches past that, she has severe wrinkling. There are 3 scales that pop out at a 90 degree angle from her body. When she coils her head back it is abundantly obvious it is a not normal scale configuration. She seems to have a small fold from her jaw line back about 4 inches.

Do I need more water bowls? Her cage is the correct temperature, but, I have deep water bowls. Is the water too cold for her? I have a water thermometer and it reads at 78 degrees.

How do I fix this?

Thanks for reading.

[The Serpent Merchant]

This is what a dehydrated ball python looks like:



With out seeing it I can't say for sure but if she doesn't look like the snake pictured above then you should be ok. You have more than enough water available to her and the temperature of it seems fine. (How often do you change it?) If you are worried about her you can give her a 20 minute soak, and raise the humidity in her cage.

[kitedemon]

Hey I take in a lot of rescues myself and have seen very dehydrated snakes in the past. Soaking before a shed often generates a patchy one so that in itself is not a mager concern. HOWEVER I would assume that they are dehydrated and take some steps. Do you feed FT? If you do I do this and it works well Take a well thawed rat and a syringe and add as much water down the throat of the rat as you can get to stay in. (it can be messy) than feed it This returns some of the water loos due to freezing and can add a little extra as well. There is no direct science that says soaking will help re-hydrate a snake but it is worth the effort if the animal is reasonably accustom to handling. If soaking stresses the animal greatly I'd stop. try 84-87º water for 20 min I like to use a wide low tray (no deeper than 1/2 way up the sides) and cover it with a dry towel to keep it dark. (don't let the towel get wet (ok very wet)

Folded scales are not uncommon I believe they are from a small hide and tight coils the scales sometimes fold.

[Annarose15]

I keep two water bowls in her cage, one at each hide on either side of the tank, (cold and hot). I have kept the humidity at 45-55% because when I got her, she was going through a shed. She shed in pieces, even though I gave her several 85F baths, and kept her at higher humidities.

Soaking her while she was in shed likely caused the bad shed (or didn't help, at the very least). It sounds like she has bowls if she wants to soak or drink, and that water temp is fine. I'd use kitedemon's suggestion with the rats if you are concerned, but otherwise just bump the humidity to stay closer to 60% (maybe move the hot side water bowl directly over the UTH). If she's dehydrated, she has what she needs to rehydrate. With being a rescue, she could also just be underfed, which could make her skin seem saggy (will also remedy itself as long as she's eating). I wouldn't worry about the folded scales for the reasons stated in previous posts.

[Slim]

Those flipped out scales should correct themselves over time.

Soaking a snake before a shed can sometimes lead to patchy sheds. Soaking them leeches out essential oils produced by the snake to help them get the old skin off.

It sounds like you have more than enough water bowls for drinking purposes.

[harleyquinn83]

omg no, that snake is so skinny! she's so fat --- just NOT around her head, it's so confusing. I will have a camera back on Saturday.

[harleyquinn83]

also... /sigh. I was told that bathing her when she was shedding in patches would help her, not hinder her. I won't do that again.

[The Serpent Merchant]

ok, it doesn't sound like there is anything to worry about, at least nothing that can't wait until sunday. as has been stated it sounds like you are doing everything right. if she's dehydrated she has access to water and that's all that really matters at this point.

[harleyquinn83]

I've never taken in rescues before -- maybe I should have thought that through before taking on a new species rescue. However, I am completely committed to getting them both in tip-top shape, I'm hoping that I can.

thanks for the replies.

~B

[The Serpent Merchant]

also... /sigh. I was told that bathing her when she was shedding in patches would help her, not hinder her. I won't do that again.

It isn't good to bath them BEFORE they shed. once they have started and you see that it isn't going well soaking them will help get the stuck shed off.