Snakes at local shelter- HELP!

[Katiashinkle]

Hi guys! First post here, long time lurker.
I've always loved snakes, and have been researching ball pythons for the last few months and was planning on getting one at the Reptile expo in Pomona in January.

However, two days ago, I went onto Petfinder on a whim and looked to see if there were any snakes in my area. I saw that my local shelter had two ball pythons and two red tail boas (at least they look like red tails, could be BCI's or some other type). From the one blurry picture of the snakes they looked like they were in really poor condition, so I decided to go to the shelter and check them out.

When I got to the shelter, they were WAY worse than I had imagined they would be, and there were five snakes, not four. Three boas and two ball pythons. They were kept in large metal kennels just like the ones the cats are kept in, except with glass doors instead of wire ones.

They didn't have any sort of heating element, except for the five and a half foot long and three foot long boa, which were kept together, had a CHE in their kennel... Right on the floor of the kennel, uncovered so that the snakes could slither right onto it and burn themselves. One ball python had a little log hide, but the other snakes had nothing.

They were all COLD when I picked them up, really skinny, their spines looked sunken in, their skin was wrinkled as if they were dehydrated, and three of them were covered in pieces of left over sheds, and two had stuck on eye caps. The biggest boa and the little one housed with it were wheezing and had mucous coming out of their nostrils... Sounded like a respiratory trac inflection to me. They looked AWFUL. I handled all of the snakes, and they all felt cold. The room felt dry, even to me!

I'm definitely going to adopt one of them rather than buy a snake at the expo, but I can't take all five. I don't really know how to choose which one to adopt, either. Anyone in the LA area that can take one of them? I'm going to be contacting local reptile rescues to see if they can take them in, these guys really need help.

I attached a pic that I took of one of the boas, should have taken more but I was too saddened by their condition to think clearly. The sad part is, this was the best looking snake there. The smallest BP was in the worst shape, it was really difficult to see this kind of neglect. I know it's just a lack of funding, but it was still just awful.

[Spoons]

oooh If I was nearby I'd snap one up. Was it me I'd probably take the one that looked to be in the worst shape and give it my best, as the rest have a bit more time if nothing changes - but there's always a risk with adopting a sick animal. Those poor snakes.

[KMG]

Be prepare to spend about $300 getting the RI taken care of. I would not pay any money to adopt them as it is not going to be cheap to get them back on track if they do have a RI. Good luck!

[Shamri]

Although I recognize that shelters don't have unlimited funding (I used to work at one), I also feel that it is their responsibility to provide the best care possible. Sometimes that is accomplished with foster homes; other times a shelter might partner with a more specialized rescue. Whatever the case, the conditions these snakes are being kept in is unacceptable. I would encourage you to voice your concerns and ask what the shelter's plan is for these poor snakes. Thanks for starting this thread, and for doing what you can to help!!

[bcr229]

When you say "LA area" do you mean Los Angelos, CA or Louisiana?

If you're in Los Angelosthere was a reptile rescue out that way that helped out after Bill Buchman's snakes were seized - IIRC it was the Southern California Herpetology Association and Rescue.
http://socalherpassn.com/

Hopefully they can take in the other snakes.

[Katiashinkle]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I did ask the employee who let me into the reptile room if there was a reptile specialist there who fed them or anything like that, and he said he had no idea. Makes me wonder if these little guys are getting fed at all.

To clarify, I'm in Los Angeles. Thank you for the reference, bcr229, I'll make sure and contact them.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

A little reminder here, NO advertising or adoption on the main forum, to advertise or to put an animal up for adoption you must

A/ Be the owner of the animal and place your ad in the proper for sale / adoption forum http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...tion-or-Wanted

or

B/ Refer a shelter and place the ad in the following forum following those specific rules http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...scue-REFERRALS

1. The purpose of this forum is to REFER people to a particular shelter, rescue, vet's office, etc...that has a specific animal in need of a good home.

2. This forum is NOT to be used for:
---- Linking to CraigsList or Kijiji or other similar advertisements
---- Adopting out your own animals (Use the Sales Forum for that)
---- Telling folks your friend doesn't want his snake anymore (Have your friend sign up here and use the Sales Forum. )

3. All threads started here will be moderated and must be approved by staff before appearing publicly.

4. Contact information for the entity trying to place the animal must be provided in the thread.

5. Members will not be allowed to reply to threads. If questions need to be asked, please address them to the Original Poster via Private messages.

6. The Original Poster of the thread will be allowed two free "bumps" that can be used to add more/new information, pictures, or simply to push the thread back to the top of the list. After two bumps have been used, the thread will be locked.

7. Members must wait a minimum of 30 days after the last bump of the original thread before repeating an ad for the same animal.

8. Threads created in this forum will NOT count toward the annual ad limits in the original Sales Forum.

These rules and procedures are subject to change at any time. Please contact any staff member if you have questions or comments. Thank you.

Now to comply with those rules some post will be edited out

[Katiashinkle]

Hey guys, just wanted to update this for anyone who is still curious as to what ended up happening to these snakes. Thankfully this story has a happy ending! One of the rescues I contacted was able to come and pick up all five snakes. They're receiving antibiotics and I was told that they're starting to show signs of improvement. Thank goodness for reptile rescues, and thank you guys for your support!

[Shamri]

That's great news!!

[platinumbp]

Hey guys, just wanted to update this for anyone who is still curious as to what ended up happening to these snakes. Thankfully this story has a happy ending! One of the rescues I contacted was able to come and pick up all five snakes. They're receiving antibiotics and I was told that they're starting to show signs of improvement. Thank goodness for reptile rescues, and thank you guys for your support!

Thank goodness you happened to go by that shelter in time. I feel so much better. I didn't even want to finish reading your post. I can't stand to hear horror stories or animal abuse and neglect. It sounds like this particular shelter just didn't know how to care for them, but they should have some type of resources or a reptile specialist or something. Maybe they will know who to contact in the future, since you made the efforts for them this time. You were a blessing for these snakes.