"Rescued" a group of ball pythons, have a few questions.

Ok, side posting out of the way, I strongly suspect that this is indeed what was going on. I do know meth making produces a distinct smell, I live in Jefferson county Missouri, and about every other house here makes it according to police. I have just never smelled it. The best way I know to describe it is this: open a brand new prescription bottle of any sort of pills right overtop a heavily mildewed towel that someone spilled kool aid on and tried to clean it up with diluted ammonia and take a deep breath. It was sour, sweet, chemical and bitter all at once.

I have told my husband, and it was like a light went on in his head. He said, and I quote: All of a sudden, things make complete sense. He has agreed to make a new rack ASAP, and we will limit contact and exposure to the rack in the meantime.

The snakes appear to be in decent health for the most part. The younger ones seem very thin compared to the oldest two girls, I wonder if his suspected habit has anything to do with that?

Would wiping down the rack help any until we can replace it ? And no there is no way on earth he's getting anything from me anymore. Not even mice. All of a sudden, I think my mouse colony collapsed and I'm not getting babies from it.

Gale

Until the new rack is built, I would try wiping down the rack with a warm dish soap and water mixture. This might help break up any compounds on the surface, without risking a chemical reaction from bleach/ammonia/409/etc.

The babies are probably thin because he didn't keep track of when he was supposed to feed. Something about short-term memory...or something...I forget...;)

Kudos on your new babies, and best wishes that the little mojo RI is your only other glitch.

Glad to hear they are in your more than capable hands:gj::gj:

Good for you, saving all those poor little meth-snakes!!!

Good luck on getting them all in good health.

Update:

All of the rescues ate tonight, with the exception of the little mojave. That's the good news.

The bad news is, even being in that room for no more than a minute at a time, just long enough to open a tub and drop in food, gave me a raging headache and made me nauseated. Payday cannot get here soon enough.

Gale

Why don't you just buy a bunch of cheap locking storage containers from target or walmart, put the snakes in them temporarily and toss out the rack right away until you can get/make a new rack. If you have a small space heater you could keep the room heated at a safe temperature for the snakes. I'm new to ball pythons though so I'm not sure if that would hurt them or not but it seems like the logical thing to do :)

Bovine Baytil is okay for small animals like cats and dogs, as long as the dosage is correct (depends on the weight of the animal). I am not sure about snakes, but at least there is a chance that the Baytril has not done any further harm. Either way a trip to the vet can only benefit the snake. Just my 2 cents.

The 3 main items used to cook meth are, Anhydrous Ammonia, Litium, and Ephedrine. Later, certain solvents are used to clean, or refine it.
The strongest smell involved is the Ammonia, which if inhaled directly, can definitely be harmful. If what you are smelling, is residual odor of ammonia, absorbed by the wood of the rack, it may be annoying, but won't hurt you. But I can't say that it my not harm the snakes. Of course if they have been breathing it for this long, any harm would already have taken place.

bump. keep us updated!:(

Second Update:

The snakes seem to be adjusting well. They are all more active, and seem more..... with it? I guess it what I mean. They all actively explore at night now, and when held they all interact with me now instead of just kind of laying there listlessly.

Tomorrow is feeding day again, so if everything goes well they will continue to eat for me and only improve as time goes by. We will be keeping the Yellowbelly, Pastel, possibly the cinnamon, and for sure the two biggest girls.

The rack is gone now, and there is only the very faintest hint of a smell remains in the tubs. I might just scrub them out again and see if it goes away completely.

The little Mojave with the RI is much better now. And I am discovering that in addition to my own collection taking care of another 10 snakes is a job, but I think things are going very well. Of course, now I have babies hatching to add to the fun, so some days I feel like NERD.

Gale