Noob to the Rescue

[Meerna]

I picked up my first BP yesterday, and I was absolutely shocked at the conditions I found him in. This woman had him in an aquarium that used to house fish, with the aquarium hood still on! No screen top, just a normal aquarium hood. That's just the beginning. He had nothing in there with him other than a sweater (why?) one hide, and the smallest UTH you can find. He didn't even have a water bowl! No thermometer, no hygrometer, no additional heat source. Clearly this woman had absolutely no idea how to care for reptiles. I'm honestly surprised he's lived this long, and he doesn't seem to be in bad condition considering. It was too late at night to pick up supplies from a pet store yesterday when I got home with him, but I'm heading out soon to get a properly sized UTH and the AcuRite I had ordered last week. I did managed to find a suitable bowl at Walmart yesterday to make him another hide, and a water bowl. I also got him a clip lamp and a reptile bulb. This is just temporary though, until the plastic tub I ordered from Amazon comes in next week. Then I'll have him set up so much better, and I'm tossing that awful aquarium.

I am still worried about the little guy though. I'd already scheduled an appointment with him with a herp vet before I picked him up, but I still worry. He was only being fed a medium rat every two weeks, but he seems slightly underfed. I haven't weighed him yet, didn't want to mess with him too much after the move, but when I'm fixing up his aquarium later today I'll get a weight and try to get a measurement on him. I'm far from an expert on anything, but I've read about underfed BP's before and how you can feel their spine sticking out, and I can feel his. It's not awful, but I'm still concerned. The woman said he hadn't eaten in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping he'll eat for me soon. I know he probably won't want to straight away because of the move, but I'll feel better once he does.

I'll keep you guys updated on his condition though.

[Reinz]

Good on you!

Yeah when I look on CL I'm amazed at some of the living conditions I see.
I want to rescue all of them, but I don't have enough money or room!

Glad your snake has a better place now.

[Meerna]

Quick update: I've got the aquarium set up the best I can right now, given that it's an aquarium. I couldn't find a screen top to fit it, apparently it's a really old one, but I'll figure out something for now. I went ahead and bought a rat for him, and the second that rat hit the cage floor he struck it. He ended up wrestling it into the water bowl though, so his paper towel is soaked... I'm glad he felt up to eating though. I realized after he was working it down that I forgot to get an initial weight on him, but I'll get one in a couple of days.

[Meerna]

Another Update:

I've verified that my tub will be here Tuesday. I've also ordered a thermostat and a better heat pad, both of those will be here Tuesdays and Wednesday respectively. So by Wednesday night I'll have my tub setup complete and I'll honestly feel so much better for this little guy. (I say little, but he's 4-5 feet long lol)

[Sauzo]

Actually feeding every 2 weeks isn't bad if its over 1000g. I feed Dottie every 2 weeks also as that's the same time I feed both my boas so they all get food then. I generally do feed all my snakes smaller prey though. Dottie is over 1000g(don't have the exact number as I need a new battery for my scale) and she gets a small rat every 2 weeks. Now when she was a 90g worm, she did every 3 days until 500g. Then she ate every week until 1000g. And she went from the 12" 90g worm to now about 4' 1000g+ destroyer in about 14 months. Babies are really the only ones that need to eat more frequently. Once constrictors get larger, then really don't need tons of food. You will actually do more harm than good. Now like I said, I do about every 2 weeks for feedings or sometimes I will wait until they poop and then give it a couple days and feed them. Good deal though with the rest of the stuff, poor guy sounds like he was in a very suboptimal set up. Hope he does good for you

[Meerna]

Good to know Sauzo

[Meerna]

I got a weight on him today. My scale isn't digital so it's not exact, but he's close to 1420 grams. I also attempted to measure his length, but he wouldn't uncurl all the way. Still, he's slightly over 4 feet.

[Meerna]

Update: I took him to the vet last week, he is indeed a he, and they said he looked like he was in good condition. I named him Emrys. Bought a rat on the way home after work today possibly expecting him not to eat because last time I looked his eyes were cloudy and I honestly thought he'd be busy shedding and I'd be stuck with a rat for a week, and was surprised to see not only had he pooped, but he'd also finished his shed. It came off in 2 pieces, but it looks like he got it all. He weighed in at 1200 grams, I weighed the rat at 300 grams (last time I weighed him a day after he ate, because I forgot to do it before) and I did remove his water bowl so we didn't have another spill to clean up this time around. He got it down perfectly fine and is now in his favorite hide.

[Aercadia]

Glad to hear everything is working out! He has a much better home now.

[O'Mathghamhna]

I hope you didn't pay her anything for it. I hate these circumstances because I want to save every snake but I also don't want to encourage irresponsible people Either way, thank you for saving it and investing time, money and care into it!