My new BP - Would like some help

[Kyle6203]

Hey all, after my first unsuccessful attempt at owning a snake ( I was much too young, and after my snake contracting blister disease and biting me (was my fault as I was being careless feeding it) although it didn't really hurt, it basically just scared the living :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: out of me) I decided this wasnt the right time to own a snake. So here I am 5 years later with another ball python.

This time I decided to do as much reading about the care and behavior of bp's as I could to make sure what happened the first time didn't happen again. Before buying the snake I decided I would set up its home and make sure it was in a suitable environment.

Habitat details:

-20 gallon tank
-Small UTH and 100w Infared heat lamp on the hot side (this seems to keep my temperatures at 90.5-92 degrees on the hot side, and 80-82 degrees on the cool side at all times).
-Recycled pet bedding substrate
-Medium sized exo terra rock water dish
-1 cave hide on hot side, 1 hollowed peice of drift wood that acts as a perfect hide on cool side.
-Digital thermometer with probe monitoring hot side cave, regular thermometer with humidity guage on cool side. Humidity remains at 55-60% throughout the day.

Ok now I only seem to have 1 problem but im pretty sure I tok care of it (I hope ). Today I went to pick up my bp and when I did I noticed what I think was a mite on his head, I removed and killed the bastard and checked the rest of the snake for more mites, I didn't find any. I checked the tank for more infestations and I noticed a small chunk of snake poop hid within the fir bark I was using at the time. There were mites (at least I think their mites) crawling all over it! I panicced and went immediatly to the pet store to buy new subrate, quarantined the snake, cleaned out the entire tank with bleached water, put in fresh recycled paper pet bedding so that I could more easily see the poop without it camoflouging in with the fir bark, re-checked the snake for more mites but didn't find any, and put him back in his cage.
Should this be sufficient in taking care of the mites? I keep checking him about every 2 hours and have yet to see anymore.

Oh one more question, i'm a smoker so unfortunately for the snake hes getting some second hand smoke, exactly how bad is this for him?

I named him Smoke and he is a docile sweetheart. Hes not even the slightest bit headshy when im holding him. Heres a pic:



edit: Forgot to mention that i've had it for 2 weeks now, its eating live fuzzies regularly, has yet to shed, and seems to be thermoregulating very well. He also has some patches of discolored dull somewhat rough scales on his body (not his belly) but i've been told this is normal and happens sometimes after a shed, this is correct right?

[Icatsme]

IMHO second hand smoke is a bad idea for your little guy. I too, am a smoker, and when I smoked in the house I had a few run ins with RI with my 1st snake. After I quit smoking in the house, I haven't had any problems.

Could be coincidence, but I don't think so. Just my 2 cents.

[juddb]

Im also a smoker. But i keep my racks in there own room. I do suggest you do the same. Second hand smoking snakes is a terrible idea.

[juddb]

Also if you saw one mite there are probably100 more or eggs. I would consider ordering some prevent o mite. But good luck. Ball pythons are the $hit.

[lord jackel]

Smoking is deadly (there is no way to deny this anymore ) - you have 2 large lungs to ruin your poor snake has only one very small lung (comparitively). I recommend you quit smoking for both your sakes...if not at least move the snake to another room or smoke outside.


As for the mites...unfortunately all your efforts (though good) won't get rid of them. While you might have gotten rid of the adult mites (though they can hide really really well) you will for sure have eggs that you couldn't get. The best option is to go online and buy some "PAM" (Provent-A-Mite) - it has been tested on reptiles to be extremly effective against mites both adults and eggs. You can pick some up from Rich as www.reptilebasics.com

[jglass38]

Smoking is deadly (there is no way to deny this anymore ) - you have 2 large lungs to ruin your poor snake has only one very small lung (comparitively). I recommend you quit smoking for both your sakes...if not at least move the snake to another room or smoke outside.


As for the mites...unfortunately all your efforts (though good) won't get rid of them. While you might have gotten rid of the adult mites (though they can hide really really well) you will for sure have eggs that you couldn't get. The best option is to go online and buy some "PAM" (Provent-A-Mite) - it has been tested on reptiles to be extremly effective against mites both adults and eggs. You can pick some up from Rich as www.reptilebasics.com

I agree on the smoking. I think its wrong to subject any animal to second hand smoke.

By the way, Rich doesn't carry PAM. You can get directly from the manufacturer www.pro-products.com Use it EXACTLY as the directions say and your mite problem will go away.

[lord jackel]

By the way, Rich doesn't carry PAM. You can get directly from the manufacturer www.pro-products.com Use it EXACTLY as the directions say and your mite problem will go away.

Well crap...did he ever? :eek: For some reason I thought I remembered buying some from him....guess I need more coffee...oh well good catch.

[jglass38]

Well crap...did he ever? :eek: For some reason I thought I remembered buying some from him....guess I need more coffee...oh well good catch.

Not that I recall but its possible.

[Kyle6203]

Ok well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is is I think the mites are gone, havent seen any on Smoke in the last 3 days. I'm not even sure they were mites, as they weren't really on the snake when i found them, more or less just devouring his feces.

The bad news is that I think he may have an RI. I've been reading alot about the symptoms and although he has some, he doesn't have others. If he does have an RI however hes had it since I bought and its not from my smoking so don't bombard me with hate please lol. When I first got him I noticed that whenever I held him he would yawn frequently, maybe like once every 5-7 minutes. (I read that this was normal whenever they were exploring so I didn't think anything of it.) However I also just recently started hearing a "popping" or "clicking" sound. Heres the weird thing, he only yawns and "pop"s when i'm holding him, if I put him in his cage and watch him he rarely ever yawns, and no popping can be heard. He doesn't rest his head on things like the glass or tree limbs I have in his viv, and he also doesn't have any mucous coming out of his mouth or nose, and when he yawns I look in his mouth and see no mucous in there either. He has a great appetite and will have the mouse dead and completely consumed within 5 minutes whenever I feed him (which is once a week). I read that causes of RI can be caused by too low temps or too low/high humidity, I don't think this was the cause however since my humidity is at a constant 55-60%, temps at hot side being 88-91, and cool side 80-84.

I would take him to a vet, but I live in bum :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: West Virginia and we don't have any herp vets anywhere remotely close to us. What should I do?

[lord jackel]

I would take him to a vet, but I live in bum :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: West Virginia and we don't have any herp vets anywhere remotely close to us. What should I do?

It is a tough call as none of us are vets to tell you yes/no it is/isn't an RI. You have described the symptoms correctly which could be the early stages of an RI...but it could also be just him adjusting his jaw.

My suggestion is to find the nearest reptile vet and call them...describe what you are seeing and hearing and let them make the call. Yes you might have to drive a ways but it is better then a slow painful death because you waited or did nothing.

Just my 2 cents.