I rescued one today

[vgibbens]

A friend of mine at work called me on Saturday out of the blue asking me if I know anyone who wants a Ball Python. His daughter's roommate moved out about a month ago, leaving the snake behind. He knows I have snakes, so I guess I was the obvious call. He said it was a two and a half foot snake, that no one had fed in the last three weeks. The last time it ate, my friend's daughter threw in three mice and let the snake go after them. I was told it was in a tank about 30 gallons and had a heat mat that didn't work very well. My wife and I talked about it for about 10 seconds and I called him back and said we'd take it. We arranged a meet today, we're both on vacation, for me to pick up the snake. I couldn't believe how she looked. She's about 4ft. and very thin, obviously dehydrated with stuck shed everywhere. The tank is about 40 gallons with one stupid log hide on one side, of course, opposite from the unregulated UTH that was way too small. I checked her over, no obvious signs of mites, mouth looks good, no scale rot, just looks like she needs some TLC. I took her over to a local breeder and he checked her over just saying that she may need to see a vet for some fluids. We brought her home and put her in a warm bath and she instantly started drinking, which kinda surprised me. My wife cleaned the stuck shed off of her, including her stuck eyecaps. I set her up in a 40Qt tub with two hides and a large water dish should she decide to soak. Right now her warm side is 93 degrees and her cool side is 81. She's been drinking almost non stop since I put her in. I'll see about getting some pictures up later, right now I just want her to rest. How long should I wait to feed her? I was planning on trying to feed her on Thursday night along with the other snakes. I just can't believe that people would let an animal deteriorate like this.

[stratus_020202]

Poor girl. I don't know how long to wait, but I wanted you to know how great that was of you and your wife to take her in. The owner will probably never tell you, "Thank you for saving her life!" So, I'm going to say it. Good luck with her, and I hope she survives

[BeastMaster]

Thats awesome! Make sure you post pics when she is doing better.

[llovelace]

I would offer her a small meal on thursday, if she doesn't take it wait another week.

[Ladydragon]

congrats on the rescue and kudos for doing it. now that the snake is in better hands I'm sure it will bounce back nicely. look forward to pictures.

[mechnut450]

congrats as for food I wait until monday/next week cause you must give her body time to adjust , specailly if she dowing water like crazy. She trying recover the lost fluids and you may possible send her system into shock if offered food while she still sucking water down.. I personally would wait until you know you will be home a full day to offer her food. this way if sher regurates it you can clean up asap. I am so temped to aquire the bps from the local pet shop ( they all in poor shape) but I would seriously push my limits (and mom's patiance with mom ) lol.



I think there should be a class(S) you must take to be cert o care for a reptiles. I also think you need a second ( longer,harder class ) to run a pet shop. Then ther would not be the need for as many rescue and such done by others, and the animales would not need to suffer like this.

[vgibbens]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. We are having a bit of a humidity issue with the tub this morning. The Acu-Rite just said 'Hi%', lol. I doubled the amount of holes on the sides to help bring it down. When we opened the tub, she was sitting on top of the hide. She did look better than yesterday. Her scales looked soft and not papery and her skin folds were more rounded and not as creased. She let me pick her up and put her in a bag so we could get a weight on her. She's about 4' long and weighs in at 906g. My male BP, who is just over three feet is right at 1000g. When I picked her up, I thought I heard some "popping", but I held her up to my ear for almost a minute and didn't hear anything else. My wife held her in the bag while I was putting the extra holes in and she said she didn't hear anything. So, we're gonna keep on eye out for an RI. Dang it, I didn't even think about getting pics this morning. If I have to add more holes in the tub later, I'll try to remember. Thanks again to those who replied.

[vgibbens]

Alright, I know people may flame me, but I went ahead and opened her tub again since she was still sitting on her hide(s). This time I did take some pics. Like I said above, she does look better than she did yesterday since she had a soak and a lot of water, still skinny though...

[stratus_020202]

She has really nice coloration on her. She almost has a granite look to her. I hope its her natural color. She's still beautiful.

[grim reaper in NY]

She is one gorgeous baby! You should have many years of enjoyment with her. Keep us posted on her progress as she gets back on her feet...so to speak.