Hatchlings or young BP....what to expect

[TanyaL]

Last week I went to Petco to pick up some new hides and I took a peek at the bp they had. To put it mildly, I was disgusted!

I was wondering what a hatchling looks like. This little bp was pretty small in the girth but had a big head. It's head looked like it was twice as big compared to the body. Even worse, there was a fold, a deep fold along the poor things side that went from head to tail. It looked so sickly!! I wanted to say something but I wanted to learn more about hatchlings first incase something like this is normal. And, I was afraid of loosing my temper which wouldn't be a surprise.

Can somebody post some pics of hatchlings or really young bps? I'm assuming it was a hatchling because of how small it was but it may not have been.

I will be going back in a few days for some aspen and if it is still there and if it is indeed in trouble, I'll be sure to say something. I would have asked sooner but I totally forgot about it until my son mentioned that we needed some more substrate. Unfortunately I don't have much of a choice where to shop. I would go somewhere else but the other petshop in our area is super nasty! The other pets in Petco look to be ok, it's just this one little bp that I'm concerned about.

Thanks a bunch!

[frankykeno]

Tanya, here's some young ones to compare to.

These first three pictured are all well under 100 grams and were captive hatched imported babies. They were not, at the time of these photo's, good eaters and some had to be assist fed to keep them alive. All three are now healthy snakes eating very well and gaining appropriately but it was a long road for them at first. However, they weren't as bad off as what you've described.







For comparison, here are three other babies. These three were good eaters, well started babies that were significantly bigger and hardier than the three pictured above.







Hope this helps to visually compare to that pet store baby. It sounds from your description that it is underweight and likely dehydrated. You may want to bring this to the store manager's attention with a caution that you will notify their corporate office and local humane law enforcement that they have for sale an obviously unfit animal.

[dr del]

Hi,

These are my babies from last year at about a day old.

Not a lot of use to you I just wanted to post them again.







And yeah it does sound as though the little fella in the store might be a little dehydrated.


dr del

[TanyaL]

WOW! The little guy that I seen looking NOTHING like what you are showing here. It looked HORRIBLE! I can't imagine anybody buying the poor little guy unless they had no clue or felt sorry for it. I've got a race to go to this weekend but when I get back, I will make it a point to get to the store to see if he is still there.

If I had to guess the depth of the fold, I would say it was probably a bit over 1/4" and the head was enormous compared to the rest of the body. I would have taken a picture but my cell doesn't do a good job, especially through glass.

I'll update once I visit the store. Thanks for your help!

[TanyaL]

Let me add also that if I had to guess the poor things weight, in comparison to Foster when we first got her, I would say the poor thing migth be 50 - 75g. Foster was 140ish when we got her and she was skinny.

There is a water source in the tank but I know at one time there were 5 or 6 housed together. Could it just be stress?

[frankykeno]

There's just no way of knowing what it could be Tanya. It could be that this baby snake was never properly hydrated after shipping, it could be that it's never taken a feeding or it being dominated by the other snakes so doesn't get much access to a water source. It could have a load of internal parasites.

Whatever it is, that store has a responsibility to address the issues, have the snake seen by a vet and house it appropriately so it can recover it's weight and health. It thoroughly disgusts me to see a pet store putting any animal that is obviously less than fit out on their sales floor for some poor unsuspecting newcomer to buy and then end up with all sorts of problems.

[TanyaL]

Whatever it is, that store has a responsibility to address the issues, have the snake seen by a vet and house it appropriately so it can recover it's weight and health. It thoroughly disgusts me to see a pet store putting any animal that is obviously less than fit out on their sales floor for some poor unsuspecting newcomer to buy and then end up with all sorts of problems.

I couldn't agree with you any more! But, this snake was so sickly looking, I can't imagine anybody, even somebody who doesn't know a lick about snakes, would purchase it. I'm dying to go back to the store but I can't until early next week.

Based on the pics that Dr. Del showed, the poor fella looks nothing like that.

If he is dehydrated, how long would it take for a snake to reach the point I'm describing? Could it be just days or does it sound like something that happened over weeks? I want to get all my facts straight before I say something.

[rabernet]

You know - my local pet store takes horrid care of their imports - there were two today, soaking in a water dish, the neck was as thin as a twig - I'd be surprised if it could even take a rat pinky.

I do check with them about once a week for any adult surrenders and try to get them out of there before they have a chance to deteriorate in their care.

I know that I'm putting money in their pocket, but at least these are owner surrenders who are relatively well cared for, for the most part.

They don't get adults often, but often enough for me to have added a few nice females to my and some friends' collections.

And they really, really, really want to buy babies from me to sell - I'm always very vague and non-commital with them - there is no WAY any of my babies will be sold in that store.

[rabernet]

Now, these are four girls that I picked out in May 2006 from Will Bird. They had just come in from Africa as CH imports. These are what well started, well hydrated CH animals should look like:

Pretzel:


Bailee:


J-Lo:


Mackenzie:


The day they arrived:


And here they are today!

Pretzel:


Bailee:


J-Lo:


Mackenzie:

[rabernet]

A couple more examples since I'm strolling down memory lane! LOL

This is Sophie at a couple of months old, produced by kavmon here:



and today:


And Echo:


Now - almost a momma: