I think my snake has IBD! Please someone help!

Another question, how long would it take my female to begin showing signs that she has IBD as well (if she does)?

I am going to go mental at the petshop tomorrow, it disgusts me that they can openly supply people snakes without knowing how to care for them properly.


TEK

Hi,


It might be helpfull if you described exactly how you went about force feeding but I agree he sounds really really ill.:(

What are the temps in the tank at the warm end? is there anyway you can get an accurate reading (the little round thermometers are useless) and , as previously mentioned, extreme temps can cause neurological problems as well but you obviously don't want to change them if they were right in the first place either.

Is there a wallmart anywhere near you? People use the accurites available from there with great success - I beleive they were $14 or something.


dr del

You're in the UK I'm assuming from the way you spoke of money spent (not in dollar amounts) so WalMart's not an option for you.

That pet store should be closed down for openly selling non-feeding babies to customers with no snake experience, then saying they require force feeding! None of that is correct information! I would be more than angry with that kind of heedless husbandry information.

Please take both snakes in as soon as possible to your vet, you may well have to do some sort of payment plan and you may need to face the loss of one or both of these snakes but best to face up to that eventuality up front. None of us can diagnosis or should but what you are describing is so far from normal hatchling behaviour that I have to be honest in saying it's not a situation that I'd want to be facing. IBD is not the only possiblity but only a good herp vet will know what it wrong and if it's fixable.

Sadly you've learned three very harsh lessons here. One is to never buy from pet stores if you can avoid it unless they are specialist in snakes. Reputable breeders are by far the safer way to go especially for someone new to snake keeping. Two, you didn't quarantine the newly arriving snake and may now face paying a harsh price for that. Never skip quarantine, it's never worth what can happen. Three, you didn't take the responsibility to fully research ball python ownership prior to purchase...that one falls squarely on you and that's the one that's going to haunt you. Always know upfront as much as you can when taking a living creature into your home that you have no experience with.

Once you've seen the vet, I'd be sending a copy of the vet report to that pet shop. If it's a chain sort of one, a copy to both that store manager and their corporate office. This is shameful behaviour and very, very poor customer service let alone the damage this can inflict on helpless living creatures! Other than the toll on you emotionally you face a dollar loss both in the purchase of these snakes and the attendant vet costs. I'd certainly be addressing that with that store and/or it's corporate headquarters as well as questioning their sanity in selling non-feeding hatchlings and encouraging mindless force feeding by unskilled new owners!

I think everyone hear can read your anguish through this thread and we'll do what we can to support you through this mess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

That pet store should be closed down for openly selling non-feeding babies to customers with no snake experience, then saying they require force feeding! None of that is correct information! I would be more than angry with that kind of heedless husbandry information.

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I think I'm going to tell our reptile specialist at the store that I work at this story. She'll have a heart attack! :O

I have left the male over night and its seems like he has barely moved, and is still "star-gazing". I will be taking him to the vet today, however I am almost certain I will be told he needs to be put down.. :( :(

My other worry is my female, what do you think the chances are of her managing to avoid catching it. She is a great feeder and is substantially bigger than him. Poo is fine and in general seems happy. I cant imagine loosing her as well as him to this evil desease! :(

Their cages were not next to eachother, one is on the top of my desk, the other is in a cubby hole in the desk about a meter away. Like I said before they have been in contact, however the male seemed perfectly healthy the last time I held them together.


I am still very worried and confused about what to do about future snakes and re-infection. I have the worst luck in the world.


Thanks again, you have all been a great help so far.

TEK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tobiasking

I already explained, I was told by the petshop I got the snakes from that they were not feeding and had to be force fed. The female was fine after the first 2 force feeds so I assumed what they told me was correct. I am an animal lover and I felt very mean force feeding them, however at the time I thought I was doing the right thing.

Once again I am sorry and please do not have a tainted view of me and my care over my snakes. I am really worried about both of them, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt my snakes.


TEK

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I would register complaints. Just browsing UK consumer and animal law there appears to be a rich set of laws there:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welf...t/affect.htm#3

http://ts23.gazettelive.co.uk/2007/0...wners_fac.html

Tobias, until you see your vet and get a proper workup on the snake and a diagnosis as hard as it is, there's just not much you can do. Common sense things of course like not handling or bringing in new snakes and just keeping these two comfortable are about it at this point. Please make sure to write down your questions so that when you see the vet you can take notes and get each concern addressed fully during that appointment. Let us know how it goes.

I have been monitoring the male all morning trying to get a vet appointment. They said there was nothing until tomorrow morning so I was planning to keep a close eye on him to see if he recovered at all. After going out for under an hour I have come back to find him dead. :(

When I first read about people having bad experiences with petshops I assumed it would never happen to me. Now here I am with one dead snake, and maybe even a sick one as well, all down to bad instructions and no regard for the animals whilst they are in-store.

I have spoken to the petshop and he claims that force-feeding is needed because they don't know what the food is until they have had a few "tastes" for the first couple of weeks. At the time it sounded like the right thing to do, and no where on any caresheets did it say not to force-feed hatchlings.

I have learn't my lesson not to ever buy a reptile from a petshop ever again, and to find out how to care for them from an experienced breeder. This is a very sad day :( . Thankyou everyone for all advice you have given me, I hope to move on from this disaster and learn to become a much better BP owner and to make sure my female is treated like the lucky star she is.


R.I.P King


TEK

I am SO SORRY. :( I know exactly how you feel because this very thing happened to my first bp, and you never feel like it will happen to you. You will learn from your mistakes. Keep a close eye on the other snake. I know you're hurting right now. I'm very sorry. :hug:

I am so sorry to hear that he didn't make it. :(


As it was so sudden I would still take him (and the other) into the vet. They can do a necropsy on the dead one to find out what killed it and then hopefully help the other from getting sick too.

Also, I would go after the pet store and see what resolution you can get from them (directly or legally)

Keep us posted.