Tips for nursing a very under weight poorly cared for BP back to health?

If he took frozen then he's not a live only! People, I swear....

Here's a few pics of the little guy:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...-1494x2656.jpg

He was being EXTRA squirmy today. Desperate to get back to his tub. I guess that's a good sign? Him being more active now than he was yesterday. His color has drastically improved too. He must have been real cold or something. I think his soaking did him some good too. His skin isn't as crape paper-y as it was yesterday. I don't think this picture does justice as to just how pronounced his spine is. I can count and feel the details of each vertebrae

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...-1494x2656.jpg

Every time he coils he has these deep folds of loose skin, kinda has loose skin all over. Like he is wearing a snake suit 2 sizes too big.

He was 238g when I brought him home yesterday. And 259g this afternoon. So I'm pretty sure he put on 21 grams of water weight in 24 hours unless my scale is off. Which was nearly 10% of his weight and that makes me feel bad for the little dude.

Warm water soaking is going to be as good if not better than a stressful round of fluids under his skin at the vet.

BP's don't eat if they're dehydrated, and considering his prior conditions he may not have been kept warm enough, which would also cause a regurge. If he took in that much water and is looking better, you can try offering a live mouse or rat pup. He might just take it now that his husbandry has improved.

He looks pretty good to me! His hydration status also seems improved. Good job! :gj: Pedialite is a great fluid to mix into his drinking bowl also.

I never realized you could use Pedialite. That website you posted is pretty good Albert. I went to check it out and ended up spending a couple hours reading. Lots of good stuff there. Thanks for the info!

Update: he is still among the living! Been doing pedialyte soaks and still letting him have a water bowl big enough for him to soak himself in his tub. He's put on another 9 grams in water weight the past 2 day. He's like a little sponge.

This afternoon is the first time I've seen him out of his bowl and in his hide. He's chilling on the cool end. But I've got the ambient in the room at 80 ish during the day and down to around 70ish at night.

Another Update for anyone who cares:

The bathroom I have him quarantined in is the same one that I use to soak and disinfect the rat's stuff. I brought in a bunch of dirty rat hides and dropped them in the tub. Within minutes he was wind shield wiping the front of his tub and sticking his snooty right up against the air holes.

I figured that was a good sign he wanted to feed.

So I offered a pre killed tiny little soft fur weanling. Didn't even need to do a puppet show for him he struck it before I even had it all the way in the tub.

So much for him being only a live feeder :rolleyes:

He's also put on another 8 grams of water weight.

He was still cruising looking for more food while I finished cleaning the rat stuff. Hopefully he won't have an issue with this little fuzzy and I can offer him a more satisfying portion next go around.

Right on! Glad to hear he is doing so much better!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by voodoolamb

Another Update for anyone who cares:

The bathroom I have him quarantined in is the same one that I use to soak and disinfect the rat's stuff. I brought in a bunch of dirty rat hides and dropped them in the tub. Within minutes he was wind shield wiping the front of his tub and sticking his snooty right up against the air holes.

I figured that was a good sign he wanted to feed.

So I offered a pre killed tiny little soft fur weanling. Didn't even need to do a puppet show for him he struck it before I even had it all the way in the tub.

So much for him being only a live feeder :rolleyes:

He's also put on another 8 grams of water weight.

He was still cruising looking for more food while I finished cleaning the rat stuff. Hopefully he won't have an issue with this little fuzzy and I can offer him a more satisfying portion next go around.

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This makes me happy. You are doing a great job of giving this guy a better home. :)