help please, Bought a Piebald from Petsmart, something is not right.

Hi there!

I'm brand new to Ball Pythons. I bought one for my son a few weeks ago, fell in love with it and decided to get my own. I found a Piebald at Petsmart yesterday, but I think something is wrong.... Do I need to go to the vet already??? I don't know how to upload pictures, so here is a link to one.

https://goo.gl/photos/kT7YcWdvkz1e6aXj6

On the feeding chart they gave me it showed that she has only eaten one small mouse in 5 weeks. The last time she ate was 2 weeks ago. It doesn't surprise me that she won't eat right now since I just introduced her to her new home, but I'm not sure if it is going to be an ongoing problem.

I'm far from an expert, but that BP does not look right at all. The color if nothing else has me concerned. I'd at least get it looked at. I know the box stores have a health guarantee, but you'll want to have documentation to back it up just in case something is wrong.

Dave

Would help to see a picture of the belly. That's an abnormal coloration along the lower part of her body, but it's hard to tell much.

What do you think is wrong?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BallPythonNewbie

Hi there!

I'm brand new to Ball Pythons. I bought one for my son a few weeks ago, fell in love with it and decided to get my own. I found a Piebald at Petsmart yesterday, but I think something is wrong.... Do I need to go to the vet already??? I don't know how to upload pictures, so here is a link to one.

https://goo.gl/photos/kT7YcWdvkz1e6aXj6

On the feeding chart they gave me it showed that she has only eaten one small mouse in 5 weeks. The last time she ate was 2 weeks ago. It doesn't surprise me that she won't eat right now since I just introduced her to her new home, but I'm not sure if it is going to be an ongoing problem.

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The coloring is definitely off and doesn't look good. If it were me I would take it back to the store and get a full refund. Then shop around with a reputable breeder or go to a local reptile expo and buy another pied. Just my .02

Could that be a burn? Do you have a heat rock in her enclosure?

Did you examine the animal and bought it like this?

Or did you set it up using a heat source without a thermostat which led to this?

If number one bring it back, get a refund and buy from a reputable breeder.

If number 2, unplug your heat source, make a vet appointment, and do some research on proper setup and care.



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The animal is clearly unhealthy! However it does need to be determined when this happened and how. Petsmart does have a 2 week health warranty where the animal can be returned but it (warranty) is void if it's determined that the customer neglect was the cause. Pet smart has contracted vets so see what they say first.

Looks like a burn to me. Hope you take it to the vet. It's a beautiful snake but I personally wouldn't buy an animal of any kind from Pet Smart.

Would like to see better photos of it and enclosure......

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Post-Pictures

To me that looks like a burn like he was laying on too hot of UTH or on/against a heat rock. I'm in no way sticking up for box pet stores but I bought my little pied girl from a PetSmart by me and she was fine. She was scared and hadn't eaten for almost 3 weeks but other than that, looked fine. She was checked out by a well known reptile vet in my area so I was confident in her. She started pounding rats 2 days after I got her home and now just over a year later, she is a terror and destroys her cage and loves to explore. But anyways, it is probably different for each PetSmart but the local one here keeps their reptiles clean and stuff. The only downside is they usually keep them too cool.

So like Deborah said, if you bought the snake like that, take it back for a refund and do more research on what a pied should look like as well as symptoms of illnesses. And if you did it, then get a good quality t-stat and find a good reptile vet. Good luck.