How to know if healthy?

I assume the best would be to find a vet, but I cannot seem to find someone specialized in reptiles close to where I am? If anyone knows one in Quebec, that would be great, but as it goes I seem to only find the "listen to me and no one else because I know all about BPs because I breed then". Not personal and not meant to point fingers at breeders, I just have the same happen to me with cat and dog breeders and I would have hoped to get less of them with balls... I might just be really unlucky

My "problem" is the size and muscles of suposed 2 month old, 68g female I bought from a "really great breeder". I bought her from a guy that sold this breeder's snake in his petstore but he only knew the info he had in his computer (morph and price) and that she was maybe about that age.

So after I get home I notice that she is smaller then my month old 87g male. To add to that, when handling her I noticed that her butt is really squishy and not at all as strong as my males? He can hold himself from my finger with only his tail while she does not keep hold at all except with the muscle on the first half of her body. He tail moves, but the end of her body just flops and falls if I dont hold it in my hand. She seems small and her skin seems too big for her, I wonder if she is " just" underfed or if there's something else I should check for.

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0xppqijj.jpg

She looks like she's going to poop. Her skin to me looks weird. As if she hasn't shed yet but is about to shed. I don't know as far as health. She doesn't appear underfed to me.


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Before rushing her off to a vet, give her a couple weeks in her new home and get her eating for you. It looks like you have her in a tub, which is great. I agree she has "sausage butt" which probably means she needs to poop. I noticed that many of my new arrivals would release that poop within a day or two of getting setup in their new home (when they finally can relax...lol).

As for strength, it seems to vary for BPs. Out of the 6 in my house, one of them was a similar runt at 2 months old and only weighed 66 grams. Even at that size, he was the strongest of all my snakes (even a firmer grip than snakes a year older than him) and also the most efficient at killing his meals. In comparison, the other 2 month old Mojave I got from the same place was fat and healthy at 100 grams at the same age and would not grip at all and would fall off your arm in a heartbeat if you let him. He's gotten better as he has gotten older. Remember, they are just babies and have to learn how to cope with their environment.

As for my little guy, after moving him to a small tub (15qt) and covering it with a cloth during the day, his entire temperament changed and he began consistently eating. Now he's up to 115 grams less than a month later and is seems much happier and healthier.

So get your husbandry spot on and let her settle in.

Adding to the above, I find that skinnier/slightly under average weight ball pythons tend to have stronger grips, and are "harder" to the touch. Once they gain more weight, they become chunky and weaker on the back end, and likewise feel more like pudding...

I'm sure there's exceptions amd other factors though. :P

If you mean Quebec as in the province of Canada you kinda need to be more specific as to exactly where you are because Quebec is huge... lol I'm in Ontario but I drive the two hours to Longueuil, QC to go here: http://www.animosante.ca/ The exotic animal vet they have is Dr. Andreas Brieger and he's amazing. :)
I'm not experienced enough to say anything on your BP's condition, but I hope she's OK!

Thanks for the answers guys! Found out there is only one vet in the city of qc and its a few streets away so yay!

She as not eaten and still no poop even though she still seems bloated. But tonight she started flopping/rolling around and "yawning". All I can find is Inclusion Body Disease and I'm really sad for her and hoping for the best for my other snake since I got him only a month prior to her. He as no signs of anything so changing rooms for her and hoping it was not too late for him. I'll try to bring her to the vet tomorrow morning , but if it's really IBD then there's only euthanasia... I'm really sad (bawling my eyes out) right now, dying animals are not my forte.

omg your BP is dying? i'm so sorry. :(

please update.

What is her current status now?

Is she eating for you?

Can you give us more details on the food she eats if she does, prey type, size?

If she does not eat for you can you tell us how you offer food? In or out of the enclosure? What type of prey are you offering live? f/t? rats? mice? how often?

What size enclosure do you have her in? Type of substrate? Temps? Humidity? Hides, are they tights?

How often you have been handling the animal. How long as it been in your care for?

Etc

IBD is not very common and people often jump the gun, googling symptoms whether it's for human or animals usually never does any good.

Have your animals been quarantined?

While a vet visit is a good idea make sure it's a herp vet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

googling symptoms whether it's for human or animals usually never does any good.

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True Story! I Googled causes indigestion one day... 43 minutes later, according to symptoms and signs on the internet, I was quite sure I was about to die. :weirdface

I had her since the 21 of November. She never ate for me.

I feed Frozen fuzzy, I only tried twice, I was starting to think smaller, mice or live might be an option. The shop I bought he from contacted me and told me she was eating, though they did not say when and how. I'll be talking to them directly tomorrow, hopefully we will figure something out then. I feed inside enclosure. Ceasar (other BP) took a month after I got him before eating anything. Now he eats like a champ so I did not think more of it. I feed him every 5 days he just busted the 100g and his seconds shed (with me and forever since I got him at week one)

6tb tub in a rack, temp in the 28-30C (85ish F I think, its on a termostat so its lower when it stops and higher when its on), paper towel, humidity at around 45%. Small exoterra hide and water bowl, she fit snug in both but never saw her in the bowl.

I handled her maybe 3 times since I got her to take her weight (70g the 25/11) or to give her two warm baths becasue she seemed constipated. She never pooped or pissed so I only had to change her water.

She died during the night. I still went to the vet and she was sent for a necropsy, I will hopefully get a first responce in a week, but no idea if they will find anything then or later. I read more on IBD after it first popped out and yeah, I may have jumped the gun there. I was pretty wrecked yesterday and I'm still a little sad but now its more interested in knowing what the heck happened and hoping it's not contagious. The place I bought her from also had Boa so it was a possibility in my head.

Ceasar is my only other BP and I got him a month prior to Hime. I also have a gecko in his own enclosure. they never touched anything from the other and since I read that its 3-6 months for quanratine I did not really know how to do since both were new ? so I just made sure to keep them on their own stuff and wash between them and never touch the gecko (I dont know if he can catch snake stuff but I dont wanna find out)

The vet I went to was recommended on a FB group I follow for local herps.

Ceasar just shed and is to be fed tomorrow. Hopefully he'll poop soon and do all the other things BP do so I can stop worrying about him...