snake from petsmart

thi everyone.

im new here so first off just wanted to say hello.

this past weekend my family purchased our first ball python. we are taking it to the vet tomorrow to get it checked over. i gave it a pretty good once over before purchase, but as im not by any means a snake expert i missed a few things.

his/her vent looked good. movement was good. (as opposed to the other one in its tank. not moving, red nasty looking vent) didnt notice ticks/mites. i know petsmart is notorious for not taking care of their animals. once home i noticed that he/she has quite a bit of skin left on him from his last shed. this includes one eyecap. im guessing he may be dehydrated. we have been soaking him at night to help loosen the cap. im not brave enough to attemp to remove it myself for fear of hurting him.

we are going to try to feed him tonight. dont know how well he will eat. he didnt eat last week at the petstore, so im nervous.

is there anything else i need to look for or do to make sure that he gets more healthy now that he is away from petsmart?

Now that you have him home just concentrate on providing the best environment possible. He/she probably won't want to eat the first couple of days anyway. Focus on your cage/enclosure setup. Hotspot, hides, water, humidity. Once those are nailed and your new addition has settled in I would move on to feeding. Good luck :)

http://www.royalconstrictordesigns.c...hon-care-sheet

Unless he's acting sick, as long as you aren't housing him with anyone else, I probably wouldn't bother with the vet. Just keep an eye out for mites.
What I would do is wait for him to poo and then take in a fecal sample to a vet just to check for anything odd, since the other one in the tank with him looked sickly.

He probably won't eat for several days till he settles in though.

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Originally Posted by sunn_maiden

thi everyone.

im new here so first off just wanted to say hello.

this past weekend my family purchased our first ball python. we are taking it to the vet tomorrow to get it checked over. i gave it a pretty good once over before purchase, but as im not by any means a snake expert i missed a few things.

his/her vent looked good. movement was good. (as opposed to the other one in its tank. not moving, red nasty looking vent) didnt notice ticks/mites. i know petsmart is notorious for not taking care of their animals. once home i noticed that he/she has quite a bit of skin left on him from his last shed. this includes one eyecap. im guessing he may be dehydrated. we have been soaking him at night to help loosen the cap. im not brave enough to attemp to remove it myself for fear of hurting him.

we are going to try to feed him tonight. dont know how well he will eat. he didnt eat last week at the petstore, so im nervous.

is there anything else i need to look for or do to make sure that he gets more healthy now that he is away from petsmart?

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can you explain this a little more? if you get his husbandry correct, the eye cap should come off with the next shed without any issues.

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Originally Posted by don15681

can you explain this a little more? if you get his husbandry correct, the eye cap should come off with the next shed without any issues.

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ive read that soaking the snake in luke warm water will help with the removal of the eyecap. the other snakes ive had in the past (wild caught garters) never had a problem with shedding incompletely, so im not very familiar with it.

also, my husband did feed our guy tonight, and he ate like a champ.

Pictures always help. You may just want to soak him in a small plastic container overnight, but a picture first would be helpful. Don't mess with it for the next 2 days though, just let it sit and digest. Pictures are ok, but don't move him around too much.

he is lounging in him warm hide right now, so i cant get a decent pic. are you wanting a pic of him in general or of the eyecap?

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Originally Posted by sunn_maiden

he is lounging in him warm hide right now, so i cant get a decent pic. are you wanting a pic of him in general or of the eyecap?

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Both, but there's no rush.

i uploaded a couple pics of him to the gallery, but you cant see his eyecap