i have a tough one here. please help

alright so i got a new ball python from my old boss which she got given to her and i have only had her for about a month and a half now. she is about 3 feet long and i have only got her to eat once and it was only one mouse and i had to kinda make her mad to eat it. i took her to the vet to get a check up and the vet gave her 2 shots and one was a dewormer adn i cant remember the other. she just got done with a small case of mites and still didnt eat. then another problem poped up. she keeps shedding like get done with one and start another like 2 days later. and its almost like she is shedding all her skin away. its at the point where red stuff(which i think is blood) is starting to show. and still has not ate and when she sheds there is like a foul smelling puss or slime that is inbetween the old skin and new skin. i tried raising the humidity and dropping it. its weird. idk if she is going to make it? any suggestions would be nice and help.

Wow...that certainly does sound strange. Is there any way you could get some pictures up? Does she have any cuts or wounds on her? How long is she taking from start of shed to finish? Does it come off in a single peice or in patches?

I would be heading back to the vet with her - it's certainly nothing anyone can diagnose online.

Agreed,

The vet needs to see her by the sound of it.

In the meantime what are the details of your tank?

How do you heat it, how do you control what's heating it and what are the temperatures and how do you measure those?

The answers might give a pointer to any possible problems.


dr del

i dont know exactly how to get pics up on here and i have a under tank heater and and i have a couple gages and my room stays pretty hot around 80 and probably hotter in the tank. it comes off in pieces and there are dry patches even if i give her baths. the vet here doesnt seem to rely able. i live in alaska. and i have cypress mulch for bedding and i normal water dish. i am really worried.

i agree that you need to see a vet, but out of curiosity - is there anything obviously wrong with her skin? have you ruled out scale rot/burns? when you bathe her, you're not using any thing on her but water, right? is her humidity nice and high?

also what did you use to treat the mites? have you given her fresh bedding since the mite treatment? Perhaps there is something in the bedding that she is having a reaction to? Try paper towels for a little while and see if it helps?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aksledneck907

the vet here doesnt seem to rely able. i live in alaska.

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Not sure where you live in AK, but here's some sites that may help in finding a good vet.

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/alaska.shtml
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/alaska.html

Please note that these are not guaranteed to be the best vets. Like Melissa Kaplan says, the best way to find a good herp vet is to look up your local herp society, and find out either an email, phone number, or meeting time. Those people will know which vets in the area to trust and which to stay away from.

Edit: I went ahead and did a search, and found this contact info for the AK Herp Society.
Alaska Herpetological Society - Ph: (907) 350-1572, email: akherpsociety@yahoo.com
http://www.greenigsociety.org/herpsocieties.htm#ak

Your completely guessing the temps in your enclosure. You CANNOT guess, you need to know exactly how hot it is at any given moment.

What your describing sounds very serious and is not anything you should continue to seek online advice for. Take him to a vet, at this point, I wouldnt even worry if it were a snake vet since skin problems should be quite obvious to any Vet and he will be able to prescribe something to help you.

You need to take a closer look at your husbandry. Get rid of that mulch! It's too loose of a substrate at this point in time for a skin problem. If you have access to a large chain store like Walmart, ditch the tank and buy a tub.

When you buy a tub, your going to find that climate control is going to be superior to any glass tank. A sick or injured snake needs extra care and having correct husbandry will help you meet that.

At the store buy:
a 32 quart sterilite tub
a thermometer/hygrometer. Accurite is the brand that many people use. It has a probe to measure the hot spot and it display all 3 measurements on the screen.

You need a thermostat! Thermostats control how hot your heating device gets. If your room is truly 80 all the time, you really need one to avoid burns.

Put newspaper or paper towels in the tub. Melt some holes in the tub to control the humidity and air flow.

hot spot: 90-92
Ambient (air temps) : 80-83
humidity: 60%.... 70% for shedding.

A UTH (under tank heater) will be plugged into the thermostat, and the thermostat gets plugged into the wall. The thermostat should be set to 90 degrees. It only covers half of the tub to allow a hot end and a cool end.

Again, do not guess the temps and leave the heater without any controlling device!!

It is important for you to get her to a vet before her skin infection becomes worse!

i will do the tub thing with the thermostat. and thank you very much. i am trying to find a vet that is not to expensive cause i am on a budget and that knows what they are talking about.