trying to save a snake

so i went to buy a snake today from a girl i talked to. And when i saw the snake i just wanted to slap the girl and leave. it was some ladies husbands snake and he is in Iraq and the girls didn't know how to take care of it. it looks so bad the way they had there tank they never sprayed it so there was no humidity. i bet the only thing they did was feed it and they were not even sure when the last time they fed it was. i asked them and they were like uhhhh i think about a week ago. And there is dead skin all over her ( that looked like it had been there forever) and I asked the girl if she has always had problems shedding and she said "what do you mean she sheds normal". So, she isn't able to shed well do to lack of humidity, and proper care. eerrrrrr people like this piss me off so bad. I didn't even want the thing because it is in such horrible shape, but i thought if she kept it, it would probably die. It really is a beautiful snake though. I'll take a picture in a bit. you guys should have seen her setup ( horrible. the substrate has never seen a drop of spray, there was a petco tree branch with dead skin all over it, same with the water bowl, and the lights and heat pad was in a box upstairs. And well my new snake isnt looking too well, i am going to try my hardest to save her. We'll see what happens :( :(

good luck man, hows its weight, whats his/her age?

it looks a little saggy, dont have a scale so not sure the weight and she( well the lady said its a she so not really sure but it has a short tail so i assume it is) is about a year and a half they say.

Where are you going to house this new snake?

If she looks saggy rather than skinny, she could be dehydrated. Give her a good soak to get all of the shed off and hydrate her up a bit.

Make sure she's in full quarantine from your male snake. Make sure nothing you use with her (water dish, feeding tongs, whatever) gets shared with your other snake.

Soak her to get that old nasty skin off (there's a thread here to help you do that correctly). I'd put her on layers of white papertowels for now to watch for mites. Make sure she's warm, has hides and a clean water dish, leave her quiet with no handling other than necessary, after about a week or so offer her a small meal and see how that goes.

i am housing her in a glass tank in a different room from my other. i am not sharing my other snakes stuff with her. I got all new stuff, and yes she looked very dehydrated and starved so the first thing i did was give her a bath and then about 4 hours later i put a small mouse in there for her because she looked very very week like she hasnt ate in a month. And with the girl i got it from it's a possibility it has been that long. but yea I'm not going to hold her for a bit till she starts to feel comfortable. Thank you guys, I'll be sure to put up pictures tomarrow around 1ish and every once in a while let you guys know how she is doing because she still seems pretty messed up. I am going to take her to the vet soon if she doesnt get better. Thanks again you guys. oh and girls :)

Did she take the mouse? How big is she? Girth wise..

Sounds like she is kinda bad off, do you have a regular herp vet that you bring your other snake to? If so a visit would be in order I'm sure..
With the feeding since it was kinda left open w/ your last post.. If your snake is as weak as you portray please ensure the prey animal isn't causing havic on an already injured/weak snake (not starting any kind of F/T VS Live debate here).
Just ensure your new addition is isolated and cared for, I'm sure your doing just that.
Thanks
Rusty

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocky88

i am housing her in a glass tank in a different room from my other. i am not sharing my other snakes stuff with her. I got all new stuff, and yes she looked very dehydrated and starved so the first thing i did was give her a bath and then about 4 hours later i put a small mouse in there for her because she looked very very week like she hasnt ate in a month. And with the girl i got it from it's a possibility it has been that long. but yea I'm not going to hold her for a bit till she starts to feel comfortable. Thank you guys, I'll be sure to put up pictures tomarrow around 1ish and every once in a while let you guys know how she is doing because she still seems pretty messed up. I am going to take her to the vet soon if she doesnt get better. Thanks again you guys. oh and girls :)

---

If this snake is as stressed as you are portraying it to be then do not be trying to feed it yet.

Give it a week, like any other new snake and then attempt a feed.

It is not starving, and will not perish from lack of food before the week is out.

And agreed, you need to get it into see a vet. If you are going to start rescuing snakes, then that is the first thing you arrange for upon taking any new addition on.

Bruce