Sick snake???

[Tamara]

Okay, I just posted this a minute ago, but had a computer crash, so I'm not sure if this is going to show up twice.

Anyhow - I'm new here and like I said in my first post - I'm going to jump right in with a concern I have about my year old Ball. A bit ago I noticed that he had diarrhea (or perhaps vomited) in his tank. It was brown and looked like poo, except it was loose and had these yellowish globule things mixed in. Also, his skin seems to be "baggy" and wrinkly. He is in the process of shedding...which doesnt seem to be going well - the skin is coming off in small patches and clumps.

So, I don't know what's going on here or if this is something I should be overly concerned about. His behavior is still the same, he's not overly sluggish or anything...

Has anyone seen anything like this before or does anyone have any information about what might be going on? Is this something that I need to get vet checked?

Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

[dr del]

Hi,

Well we have a sticky on bad sheds you could look through.

How has his eating been lately?


dr del

[Tamara]

Hi there,

Thanks for pointing me to the sticky. I'll definitely give that a try.

As for the eating - he hasnt taken any food for two weeks. Prior to this he was a good eater. However, he hasnt had another case of diarrhea so I guess that's good.

I'm really concerned about the look of his skin, though. It looks so loose, almost as if he's malnourished. And there's a ridge of skin that runs along his sides...I don't know how to better explain it. Kind of like his skin is too big and is bunching laterally, if that makes sense.

Perhaps his pen is not humid enough. How do you increase the humidity? (I'm a new snake owner - I'm trying to learn everything I can from the people who know best so that I can do things right from the start.)

Anyhow, thanks in advance for any information you can give me!

[dr del]

Hi,

Well it depends on the kind of tank/ enclosure you have so if you give us a few details about that we will definately try to help.

Ridges of skin running along the snake can be an indicator of dehydration so the soaking idea from the bad shed sticky is definately a good idea.

Make sure you do not make the water too hot or too cool though.

Aim for around 85f and you should be fine.

I think it might also be helpfull if you could get us some pictures of the snake if possible. A little history on when you got him, what else you keep etc might also be a good idea to help rule other possible problems out.

But remember no online forum full of people who have never seen the animal can ever hope to be as good as an actual hands on examination by a good qualified reptile vet so if his weight if falling quickly, or you have other reasons to be really concerned, then I would have to say it's a good idea to locate a good vet and get an appointment.

Depending on where you are we might be able to help with that too.


dr del

[Tamara]

Well, I actually found this snake. I work at a university environmental health and safety department and one of our jobs is to take care of unwanted animals found on campus. I got a call this past summer from the people who were cleaning out the dorms that a snake had been found. When I went over, I discovered it was a ball python (probably abandoned or escaped from a former student) so I picked it up and brought it home. I went to the local pet store and bought all the equipment they recommended to keep him healthy and happy - with the exception of a hygrometer. He's set up in a ten gallon glass aquarium with some kind of bark substrate used as bedding. He has a large water bowl, a hiding rock and a heat lamp. I try to mist his cage every day to provide the needed humidity.

When I first brought him home he was kind of nippy, striking at me almost every time I put my hand in the tank to pick him up (I wasnt informed at the time that one does not feed a snake in the enclosure in which they live - once I started putting him in a separate bin to feed, he settled down and became quite a friendly little guy.

As for eating - he ate the second day after I brought him home - a fuzzy mouse and had eaten every week thereafter with no problems at all. It's only been lately, when I noticed he had begun to shed, that he's been refusing food. He seems interested in it, nosing around and "tonguing"...but no striking at all.

I'll try to get a picture sometime this weekend to post, if that will help. In the meantime, I'll start calling around for an exotics vet. I never really considered that a snake could lose weight! The thought just never crossed my mind - but then, I'm new to this type of pet. Thanks for your time and information! Like I said, I'll try to get that picture taken and up this weekend!

(Oh, I'm located in Pennsylvania, USA)

[littleindiangirl]

Here is a quick listing of some herp vets experienced with snakes.
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/#vetlist

http://www.arav.org/usmembers.htm

I would recommend looking over our glass tank set up

Here for a baby snake in a ten gallon -(with pictures on how to hold in heat and more importantly humidity)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55849

And here is another general tank set up (no pics, but an excellent write up)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56846


Try to fill up his tank with clutter like fake plants, newspaper/ paper towel balls to make it full and feel more secure. He will enjoy that and will be more likely to feed after a week of acclimation.

[Tamara]

Thank you so much for the information!!!

I found a vet not too far from where I live. (well, a little over a half hour away, but still...)

And I'll begin to clutter up his tank as soon as I get home this evening!

[dr del]

Hi,

Looks like Connie covered most of the links I was thinking.

Feeding in their tank is actually perfectly fine and possibly even a better idea.

I don't think its the reason he isn't eating though if he had a good feeding routine going with it in the past. Are you feeding him live or Frozen/Thawed?

Once you get a good digital thermometer/humidity gage and get everything dialied in and he is happy and eating well again you might want to think about bumping up the size of the prey though - even hatchlings can usually handle small hopper mice.

If you know what weight he is we might be able to suggest prey size - but the pics would make it easier.

Since you don't know his original origin then the parasite check is probably on the to-do list at the vets as well.

And well done for taking him in in the first place.


dr del