Brought home a severely underweight BP baby. Please help me get her back on track

Here's an updated couple pics! Wound is closing incredibly well. She ate a few days ago. Very pleased with the progress. I'm really excited for her next shed to see how well it's doing once new skin truly starts coming in. I'm still surprised at how quickly snakes heal! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f789bd8886.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a0f3e22a27.jpg

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Originally Posted by Spoons

Here's an updated couple pics! Wound is closing incredibly well. She ate a few days ago. Very pleased with the progress. I'm really excited for her next shed to see how well it's doing once new skin truly starts coming in. I'm still surprised at how quickly snakes heal! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f789bd8886.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a0f3e22a27.jpg

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Great job on your part !

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..."With a little help from [their] friends..." :gj: Thanks to you she's gotten a chance.

Hi!

Not many more updates for this thread I think, because I believe she's finally leaving the woods - but I will post a few every so often til she's 100%. :) I finally was able to give her back her substrate, favorite basking branch and hides, and some foliage cover. She is THRILLED about it, because she's a goof and really loves to sit on her branch and channel her inner Green Tree Python (she will even strike, coil, and eat her meal from her branch). She will still get it taken away for sheds because the last 1/4 of her body is still really soft fragile skin, but she's in no danger of tears when she isn't in shed anymore.

Now that her wounds have scarred and healed over, she can take appropriately sized prey items instead of smaller but more frequent. She get small adult mice and has the voracious feeding response of a starving dragon, and I think if I let her she'd eat every day. When it's not food time she is a wonderful curious little thing and likes to watch the goings-on of the house.

She has one bump (cyst?) That needs vet attention, as when she shed several times ago her skin peeled over it and instead of healing over it, the skin healed around it. So, I'm guessing she will need that professionally removed and skin stitched back together, but as of now it's dry and hard and 'healed' and doesn't seem to bother her so it's not a top priority, I'd like to wait a few more sheds for her skin to fully recover and for her to gain weight. She's healthier but still a little skinny. :)

She's at about 150ish grams now. We've been fighting this for a full year now, and she's gained 100 grams. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at where she started...a decent amount of that has been gained in the last 3-6 months. I'd guess it takes a huge amount of calories to heal that much, so she's been mostly maintaining with an ever so slight upward trend until recently when she started packing on the grams. Huge relief, huge difference.

Overall I'm extremely pleased and she has shown me I made the right call helping her through everything and now she's growing like a weed and I'll get to give her a bigger tank than a 10 gallon!!!! (Argus outgrew his in weeks, she's lived in it for a year but it's getting a little tight finally!)

(Full disclosure, she does have a cool hide, it was soaking in the sink. All temps are spot on per heat gun and regulated, she just really likes her branch).https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8ab3f0151c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3044f9d680.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2a068540f7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f29bfa01c0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d6b35ab9ac.jpg

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Wow, she's really looking good! She never would have made it without your help, you've worked so hard to save her & very few people would or could have done
what you've done. :sweeet: Now if only the retail stores would quit "supplying" snakes in this condition...:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Spoons

... I finally was able to give her back her substrate, favorite basking branch and hides, and some foliage cover. She is THRILLED about it, because she's a goof and really loves to sit on her branch and channel her inner Green Tree Python (she will even strike, coil, and eat her meal from her branch)...

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:rofl: Thank you again for this update...you made my day!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Wow, she's really looking good! She never would have made it without your help, you've worked so hard to save her & very few people would or could have done
what you've done. :sweeet: Now if only the retail stores would quit "supplying" snakes in this condition...:rolleyes:

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The pet store I got her from doesn't seem to sell snakes any more. I don't think it's related to this snake in particular, but it's still a nice change.

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Originally Posted by Spoons

The pet store I got her from doesn't seem to sell snakes any more. I don't think it's related to this snake in particular, but it's still a nice change.

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It's hard to say...I know there have been petitions circulated asking that pet stores stop supplying live animals for reasons just like this. I must admit to being on the "fence" about it: seeing unfamiliar exotic animals up close in a local store is very enticing...especially when they can become your pet...but I also know the inherent cruelty & spread of disease that goes along with them being on display in a retail world. There are some good shops around, but the bad ones seem to outnumber the good ones, and the un-enlightened "average pet buyer" has no idea. It's ultimately the pets that suffer. You many never know if that store had an outbreak among their snakes that affected their profits enough to change their minds, or if they realized (with a little help from customers) that they were in over their heads?

I'm a little late in the game here, but I just finished reading through your updates. It's great to see success stories such as this- you did an amazing job!



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Thanks for the updates Spoons. I don't post on these threads often - prefer to lurk and follow - but you've done an amazing job with this little girl. I tend to look at an animal's eyes as a testament for their care - whether dog, cat, snake, etc, you can really tell a lot about their eyes. Hers were so dull in the first pics, like she'd given up on life. In the pics you just posted, they're super bright and alive, and she looks so much happier. All because you didn't give up!

I sometimes think about the fine line between not saving these poor critters from the big box stores and not supporting the habit. I think it's easy to get jaded - how can we save them all? I, however, prefer to live by the tenant of the starfish story:

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.


You made a difference to this little noodle, and that's what counts.

Thank you! I really enjoy that story as well. I've gotten a little flak about the effort it's taken but I stand by my choices and now have a gorgeous little snake. What one person looks at as a 'normal' boring snake is still worth the same care as a more expensive coloration. "It's just a snake, get a new one" is something I've heard more than once, which makes me a little sad that people have that outlook on something that relies on 100% of its care to come from the person who CHOSE to buy it.

Bogertophis, RE that pet store that no longer sells, I wonder if it was the doing of the employee who helped me get the stuff I needed to take her home at such a steep discount. He was a snake owner himself and knew that the care they were providing was not up to par but couldn't change it due to store policies. One can only hope.

Bonus post shed pic from just the other day [emoji16]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a25dc5f73c.jpg

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Originally Posted by Spoons

...I stand by my choices and now have a gorgeous little snake. What one person looks at as a 'normal' boring snake is still worth the same care as a more expensive coloration. "It's just a snake, get a new one" is something I've heard more than once, which makes me a little sad that people have that outlook on something that relies on 100% of its care to come from the person who CHOSE to buy it...

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As if "just a normal colored snake" is somehow less deserving of good care...because the price tag was lower & it's less "exotic"? :( No way!
"Normal" is what nature created, it's what survives best...:gj:

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Originally Posted by Spoons

Bonus post shed pic from just the other day [emoji16]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...a25dc5f73c.jpg

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I've got to say I really respect what you have done here. It speaks volumes about you.

Thank you :) I take pride in the care I take of my animals, and I'm a total bleeding heart when it comes to those in need. Seeing them flourish with proper care and vet assistance and love - regardless of animal - makes every penny worth it. I feel very lucky to have a fiance who's a total enabler in that regard.

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Thank YOU for sharing this journey here...you're a wonderful influence & a "tough act to follow" :D...you make this forum a much better place, showing what can
happen when snakes don't get proper care, and that there is still hope for their recovery in the right hands. :gj:

Periodic update time :) she shed once more. She did get a small (pinky nail sized) red spot behind her head this time, even in her shedding tank of soft damp rags. The skin by her head and tail end is still somewhat soft - it's small and doesn't seem to be toughening up like a scab though so I'm not worried about it.

The little 'cyst' spot I wrote about before is also going down, and looks like it may be gone in a few sheds with no surgical intervention.

My adult male Argus has long since outgrown his tank - it's a large Exp Terra that he's put up with far longer than he should have to - so his new big PVC enclosure is in the works, and Hera will move into his tank. I think she will LOVE it - tons of fake plants and hides and clutter for her to feel secure, a branch for her to climb since she loves her current one so much, and space to roam. Ill stuff the hides so they're smaller inside and she can bourrow them out as she sees fit and as she grows. Her current tank will turn into a shedding tank she will live in for the week she's in shed, as long as she may need it
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fa89dcc130.jpg

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Originally Posted by Spoons

Periodic update time :) she shed once more. She did get a small (pinky nail sized) red spot behind her head this time, even in her shedding tank of soft damp rags. The skin by her head and tail end is still somewhat soft - it's small and doesn't seem to be toughening up like a scab though so I'm not worried about it.

The little 'cyst' spot I wrote about before is also going down, and looks like it may be gone in a few sheds with no surgical intervention.

My adult male Argus has long since outgrown his tank - it's a large Exp Terra that he's put up with far longer than he should have to - so his new big PVC enclosure is in the works, and Hera will move into his tank. I think she will LOVE it - tons of fake plants and hides and clutter for her to feel secure, a branch for her to climb since she loves her current one so much, and space to roam. Ill stuff the hides so they're smaller inside and she can bourrow them out as she sees fit and as she grows. Her current tank will turn into a shedding tank she will live in for the week she's in shed, as long as she may need it
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fa89dcc130.jpg

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She's looking so much better, Spoons! [emoji171]

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Wow, she's looking really good...she's come a long way, thanks to you. :gj:

This is one of my favorite threads on here. Thank you for sharing Hera's amazing journey. I hope you continue to share as she grows into the beautiful, proud python she's destined to be! I really appreciate the love and dedication you have shown this amazing animal. You both should be so proud!!! <3

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

This is one of my favorite threads on here. Thank you for sharing Hera's amazing journey. I hope you continue to share as she grows into the beautiful, proud python she's destined to be! I really appreciate the love and dedication you have shown this amazing animal. You both should be so proud!!! <3

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This is my first post but I've been lurking and learning a great deal of info on the care and husbandry of ball pythons. I've been following your thread and have been cheering you on throughout your journey, rejoicing in every milestone! You are truly amazing and inspiring. Thank you for sharing with us!

Time for another quick update. She just switched to rats and took her first rat pup! I don't think she's going to get very big, she's two years old now and just a little thing - but she's cute! She just shed for me and is looking sleek with fresh paint. :)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...032b444ec8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e9a4ebbf52.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0e6b2301e5.jpg

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Very cute...and EVER so special. She's so lucky you came into her life, great job! :gj:

Just read through this thread all the way for the first time... wow. My heart broke when I saw that first photo of her you posted. It's so amazing how far she's come now and how much you two have been through (the skin tearing was very scary to see!) You are an absolute angel for rescuing this poor snake, I know people (including me) always say to not buy from pet stores or get a snake because you feel bad for it but there's no denying that you saved this BP, made a world of difference in her life, and gave her a loving home she might otherwise never have had to the chance to experience. You've truly done something amazing here, I wouldn't have expected this snake to live given the condition she was in when you got her. Thank goodness you got to her in time :) I hope you'll keep updating us every once in a while on how she's doing! She's a real trooper.

I know this post is several months old, but I just wanted to throw out there that I really appreciate this thread. It brought tears to my eyes to see Hera's recovery because this is what my girl is going through currently. After a while of food refusal, she started developing the fluid pockets and her skin started rupturing like your baby's did. I brought her to the vet and they gave me injections of fortaz, SSD cream and the advice to be ready for her not to make it. I'm EXTREMELY happy to say that she has been showing immense amounts of progress and it's only been a week since bringing her home. She is finally back to her old self, is eating every time I offer food to her and has a protective layer growing over her wounds. She is also not leaking blood tinged fluid everywhere anymore. I was in tears and thought I was going to lose her when I came across this thread, and it gave me hope. Luckily, my hope for her making it through this has steadily increased because of her steady progression. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. You have impacted much more than you are probably aware of. :)