Need some help with a rescue

So I went to pick up a cage today from craigslist, and they had a ball python that was in really bad shape. They had it in the cage I was buying, which was in no way acceptable for a ball, plus they had other animals in with it as well (an anole which I also took, a bearded dragon baby with mbd, two hermit crabs, and this snake). I just had to take it and try to help, I'm going to re-home it if it does get better. Anyway, I was wondering if you guys had any advise? It's very skinny, and the girl said it was blind, but i'm not sure if it is or if it's just retaining eyecaps. I soaked it and tried to give it a mouse, but it wouldn't take it. She also said it likes live, that's going to be annoying since I feed F/T and finding live around here is difficult, but it really needs to eat, so if it doesn't take a f/t in the next day or so I'm going to go find live.
Also there is something up with it's cloaca, not sure if it's a prolapse or what?
Sorry for the bad pictures:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps47936908.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps40abf94e.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3f4c8aa8.jpg
I have it set up correctly now, so hopefully it will improve =/

You should report whomever you got her from. That's neglect, cruelty, etc.. Some people should be limited to taking care of themselves, and even that's scary with some.

That snake needs medical attention. I give you credit for taking it from the person who abused it so badly but I have to say that by doing that you have now accepted responsibility for that animal and right now it should be seen by a vet and given proper medical treatment. If you are unable for whatever reason to provide it with medical assistance then I would highly recommend finding a local rescue to turn it over to so this poor creature can at least have a fighting chance at a good recovery and happy life.

From the look of things the BP looks dehydrated - First item of order is a vet visit, then get him/her nursed back to prime condition.

Good luck with the rescue.

Looks like severe dehydration and lack of humidity. Make sure to let that snake have a lot of water and pump up the humidity. Give it a few days, and go from there.

I would keep her on moist paper towels so that the cloaca region doesn't dry out- it looks awful.

Unfortunately the person I got it from said they got it from someone else and blah blah blah.

It's in such terrible condition it breaks my heart, it's a very sweet snake. I have been soaking it, and keeping the cage really humid. I called the vet but they didn't have anything until Friday. Someone messaged me and said they could possibly take it, so if we can work that out that's what I'm going to do. I don't mind taking it to the vet, but I'm not sure I have the experience with Balls to help as much as this animal needs.

Hi guys,

Update: I met Angel and picked this little guy up yesterday. Here's what I already know before the vet appointment happens:

He's severely dehydrated and has several layers of stuck shed. He's tiny, neonate sized, so I'm not sure if this baby has ever shed. His eyes are particularly concerning and I'm not sure once the retained eye caps are removed her will be able to see. The right eye looks phthisical (shrunken/shriveled/dead), however he maneuvers alright so maybe he is partially visual from the left.

The reason he doesn't look teeny and looks like he is in good body condition is because his entire body is edematous. He feels like a little water balloon and his skin is very fragile. There's no sign of any skin wounds or infection so as of right now I'm assuming it's because he is severely malnourished. Under the edema, he has no muscle mass at all, so my unofficial diagonals is hypoproteinemia, which causes this type of edema. If that's the case, it means this little guy is already in kidney/liver failure and is unlikely to survive. I am going to attempt tube feeding him tonight (in order to give him a calorie source that will be absorbed more rapidly than whole prey) and see how it goes.

Despite all of this, he is incredibly active and interested in life, so there's a glimmer of hope there......

I will keep you posted. It's pretty sad that most of his issues come down to basic neglect.

you write it in the update, and its the first thing i noticed in the puctures: he skipped a few sheds, full-body. almost looks as if the shed skin is constricting him, the first picture shows it very well. i dont think he will eat normal until he managed to shed.


good luck.

just one suggestion: maybe give him some UV light, one of the thing that can crush reptiles organs and bone structure is lack of vitamin D, normaly snakes dont need UV light because the livers of rhodents contain it. But snakes can still produce it with UV light. or, if you tube feed anyway, most likely you already did add a vitamin supplement to that.

EDIT: if he survives but goes blind im sure you can still find a new home for him and that he will live a good life, blind BPs have a reputation of still doing well because heat pits and sense of smell are so well-developed.

Please keep us posted. People that do this to defenseless animals should be shot...IMO

Interesting turn of events today. I worked an overnight last night and came home and basically went straight to bed. After I got up and posted the above update I checked on the little guy. He was curled up in the warm spot and the edema was quite a bit better. There are some spots I can see now where he does have some erythema along his scales, but it still doesn't look like blister disease or anything. This fluid is not related to his scales, it's under his skin completely.

Anyway, I did some warm compresses on his eyes just to see how retained the eye caps are and the bad news there is that they are not going to come off easily and the right one doesn't respond to light at all (if you shine a light in there, the pupil remains dilated). The left one is well formed, moveable, and the pupil does respond to light so I have some hope there.

Because he is still so active, I decided to forgo tube feeding as the first option and see how he reacted to a prey meal. I offered him a f/t fuzzy and once I put the nose of it in his mouth, he swallowed it with no trouble and with enthusiasm. So far, there has been no regurge and he edema seems pretty comfortable. We will see.....

If he's stable, a vet visit and blood work, as well as a sample of the fluid will be next.

He's pretty friendly!

I don't think I've ever seen an eye that looked as bad as this. Hope he pulls through okay! :(

What's sad is that that's a picture of the "good" eye....

It's so good to hear he's getting better, the poor guy.

This enrages me so much!! :mad:

I am very glad someone experienced has taken him in, I hope he gets back to good health.

My first BP is a rescue. That was about 10 months ago, and so much has happened since. " Lily " is my first Normal Female that i rescued from a CL ad in my home town. she was thin and cold. I took her to the vet within that very week,after i got her home, warmed up, and fed. My personal vet has been my doctor since 2007 and he is my reptile expert. A Barrium Test was administered to her.(blood analysis) and she came out clean. Thank GOD! Internal parasites are dangerous and can infect others. I separated her for 30 days and do so with new arrivals. All separate tubs within a rack system.

The other kids i got along the way, I bought from reputable breeders and collectors. Good luck with your continuing work with your rescue. Best gift to give oneself........Information, Information, Information.:D



1.0 Spider
1.0 pinstripe
1.0 lemon pastel - blushed out
0.1 Lemon pastel
0.2 Normals
0.1 Amel Corn Snake
1 Oscar fish

Update: Still alive and getting feisty. Now that there is less edema, I may change my mind about the cause. He has what seems to be a dent, where I can feel his ribs, then not feel them so well, then feel them again. Maybe broken ribs? It's hard to tell because of the swelling unless I were to really press on him and I see no need to torture the little guy. Back for x-rays next week I guess.

Trooper had x-rays this weekend. No broken bones, but the edema he has all looks to be caudal to the heart (i.e., there's none from his head/neck, then once you get past his heart he's all puffy). So we were considering heart failure as a possible cause. We saw a veterinary cardiologist and friend yesterday who did an ultrasound. His right aortic branch looks really dilated and his right atrium looks like it might be enlarged (hard to say because they are usually bigger than the left atrium anyway).

We are not doing research as to whether it makes any sense to try him on some sort of heart medication. As long as I can get something injectable I might give it a go, as he is still eating and seems pretty happy otherwise.

He's very famous at work now!

Thanks for the update, keep them coming! Go little one, go!

Trooper!! This is why these snakes are around today after millions of years. :) pretty hearty. Best of luck to you and your critters!

Can we get an update on this snake? Is he doing okay or has he not made it?

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Originally Posted by Inarikins

Can we get an update on this snake? Is he doing okay or has he not made it?

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Ditto!

I'm particularly interested in the eyes. I just picked up a Bp and I'm almost sure her right eye is colapsing inward and she's going to be blind in it. She's got several layers of retained caps, but I can't see that being the cause of her eye sinking/shrinking.