I think my BP is almost dead :(

I got my baby ball python just under a month ago. Set up the tank with UTH and heat lamp, water bowl, hide...all the necessities.

Temp was always around 80 in the middle, with it being a little less on the cool side, and more on the hot side. Humidity was usually around 60%.

When I got him I thought he was a little thin, but didn't think much of it. After a couple days he started exploring the tank and seemed to act normal. About 5 days after I got him I tried to feed with a thawed fuzzy mouse and he didn't react at all, didn't take.

Since then I tried feeding him about every 5-7 days and he has never eaten anything. He never was really active, but seemed normal up until a couple days ago. I have to admit though that when handling him, he never really gripped hard or constricted at all. He kinda would just tuck his head under my hand like a hook and hang there.

A few days ago he started acting a little lethargic. The past couple days he didn't really move from one spot. Yesterday I noticed he was tucking his head strangely. And now today he had his head and neck twisted very awkwardly, almost like putting a kink in a hose.

I picked him up today and he was almost totally limp. For a second I thought he was dead but he moved his head a little. Also the literally feels like skin a bones and nothing else in his middle. Definitely not what he felt like last week. I very carefully untwisted him and coaxed him til he straightened out. Checked on him about an hour later and he was twisted again. Picked him up again and he was totally limp, but moved his head a bit again.

I'm fearing he is about to die. I'm not an expert at all, but from researching a little it almost sounds like IBD.

Anyone have any advice or opinion?

I am not an expert by any means at all, but was it a wild caught/ born from a wild caught female? I wonder if parasites and that's the reason of the rapid weight loss? What are the temps on the hot side? There is a post a while back on here about how rare IBD is, or at least how more times than not it's not IBD. Is the cool side way cold? Where is he spending most of his time?
Do you have a qualified reptile vet anywhere in your general area? That's always your best bet.
Is his skin wrinkled? I wonder if he's dehydrated? Maybe a soaking in like 1/4" of 85* water in a tub for an hour or so?
I hope everything works out for you and your snake!

Take him to a herp vet!!! Have you tried assist feeding him ever?????

I would take off that heat lamp. It is unneeded. I would have also tried feeding him live after a few refusals.

Hi,

Vet.

You need to know the temps inside the hides on either side of the tank - that's where the little guy lives.


dr del

Vet visit.

Babies can go downhill quickly because reptiles tend to not show anything until it's severe. You'd need precise temps especially on the hot side, and a lamp tends to overheat things easily.

If he'd never fed(was sold freshly hatched) he probably wasn't started correctly which makes it harder to get them to eat. It doesn't sound like IBD to me, but you need a vet visit ASAP.

It may be too late, but you could have tried force feeding him. Force feeding is different from assist feeding as you actually force the mouse down the snake's throat and hold his mouth shut, forcing him to swallow. It helps to gently coax the mouse down the throat from the outside.

Thanks everyone. He's still looking pretty bad, not moving much at all. And he coiled up all weird again.

I tried soaking him a little...I'll do it more, it was just making me nervous. I tried soaking him a couple days ago and he was very responsive...he didn't seem to to like the water much and did everything he could to keep his head as far from the water as he could lol. (not that I was actually trying to put his head in there tho.) But today when I tried to put him in he did react at all and actually just let his head slip all the way under the water. That's why it was making me nervous.

The heat in the tank is normal from what I've seen everyone say it should be.

Dr. Del - another strange thing with him was with the hides. When I got him for the first week he didn't go anywhere near the hides and just usually stuck himself next to the water bowl against the glass. I basically had to put him in the hide myself, and it wasn't until then that he actually started using it. Then he used it for a couple weeks normally, and once he started getting bad a couple days ago, he stopped using it again.

Also he never really chose a specific side that he preferred since I had him. When I first got him he mainly stayed to the cool side. Then after handling him once, I put him on the branch I had on the warm side and he mostly stayed to that side. Then he switched back to the cool. And this is with the temp of the cage not changing much.
When he would be on the cool side he would shove himself next to the glass and the water bowl, and when he was on the warm side he would shove himself between the branch and the glass. I don't know if that sounds peculiar or not.

Jessica: I tried assist feeding him today and couldn't even get him to open his mouth.

try feeding a live rodent before you force feed him. It doesnt sound like IBD sounds like lack of food to me. Feed him a live rodent and I bet he will take.

I doubt that baby would have needed force feeding but assist feeding would have helped.

He should have been offered a live mouse crawler/hopper. I bet he never ate if he is that small and skinny. This is why we say to never purchase from anyplace where you can't get exact info on it's background and feeding history.

If you think your snake is dying... go to the vet.
A vet can force feed, check for parasite, give vitamin injections, and ultimately save your snake.