emaciated rescue

While perusing in a local pet store a worker asked if I had any pets, I told him about a few of the geckos, the corn snake, but he stopped me after I mentioned I had a Ball Python. He mentioned they had one that hadn't eaten in 5 weeks. I saw the little fellow and couldn't leave him there. I left with what could be considered a long term foster agreement.

He has a vet visit scheduled for Monday, assuming he lasts that long.

He is in terrible shape, 17" long and 55grams after being assist fed a pinky mouse. His undercarrriage is concave, he is extremely weak. When being assist fed the pink, he did latch on to my friends finger and draw blood (go little guy go!), around 6 pm Saturday. While it would be nice to let him settle in for a day or two, the thouht was that he would expire by then. I happened to be up around 4am today and he had moved his head, but his body was in the exact same position. I moved the water bowl closer to him and he did drink, a lot.

As of 8am today, he is chilled (on a working UTH) and has no fight left. He is unresponsive and look like death. He has his head twisted around almost corkscrewed, so looks that much worse.

If he is still alive when I return home tonight, any suggestions as to how to proceed? I'll post pics later this evening. I would love to save the little guy, but if he is beyond saving he may be euthed at the vet tomorrow.

He is in a ten gallon tank right now, as far away from my collection as is possible. He is setup with matching hides on warm and cool side, and a therrmostat on the hot side.

If I do give him a pedialyte bath, where do I find the best instuctions, I've found varying opinons.

Thanks, for any help or healing thoughts that could help the little guy.

Bump

Hope he pulls through for you.
Go slow with him.


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Thanks, I will. He had a tiny pinky yesterday, maybe 4 grams. Would tonight be to soon to give him a pinky head?

If I come across another in this shape or similar, what is recommended to have on hand for a rehab? I'm thinking pinkies, good disinfectant, spare setup and heat managed enclosure.

When is it appropriate to use Hill's A/D dog food? I've heard of that being used as well. My assumption is that high calorie easy to digest foods are best, with mice being the most natural, but it appears some use other foods.

I don't have experience with this but hopefully someone else can help.. Hang on little guy

Here's another bump for you, I really hope he pulls through. What timing, that you talked to this pet store worker right when the little guy needed someone to care...

That sounds like it must've been more than just 5 weeks, unless he came down with something disastrous...

on snake bytes tv. i forgot what episode it was. it think it was snake eats my cake or something like that. he talks about problem feeders and he used ferrit food blended up with water.

Bump

goodluck

How is he? Did he make the night?


I think it would be fine to feed him the pinky head. Get a live rat fuzzy and see if he'll kill it, if not try assist feeding it to him prekilled. It would be good to get food in him now but make sure he's keeping his food down.


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Surprisingly he's still here, though not by much. He's not even holding his head up now. Fingers crossed hrs here tomorrow.

Wow, good luck with him. I hope he pulls through for you!!
Hopefully someone with experience can weigh in.. pictures might help them too

If he was willing and able to take a pinky, there is not reason to force feed him dog food, or to feed him only part of a pinky. Give him 4 days, feed another pinky, wait for more days, another pinky. Once he puts on a little weight, you can switch him to rat pinks/fuzzies and continue to work up from there. Honestly, I probably wouldn't even take him to the vet yet due to the extra stress so soon after eating. My guess is that this guy has never eaten, period, which is why he is so emaciated after seemingly so short of a time. You have to be patient and not rush into feeding too often just because you want him to eat.

Why a pinky head? With his weight and length, why can't he take a full rat pinky?

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Alright, a couple things that might help... A pedialyte bath is done with 50/50 mix of unflavored pedialyte and warm water. You want to put just enough in a rubbermaid container/sink so that the snake is in the solution but not going to drown as he sounds pretty weak. Because of that, I would keep a constant eye on him while doing this and let him soak for 20-30 minutes.
For feeding, Annarose is right by saying not to feed everyday. I would look at small meals every 3-4 days but as weak as you're describing him, I would not be force feeding. Honestly, I would be tube feeding this snake because it ends up being less stressful and you can get more nourishment than a pinky head in them. Your vet should be able to show you and if not, I'll get some pics of how to do this. The mixture that I've used is ferret food, water (pedialyte works too), and probiotics added right before feeding just to make sure everything is there. You blend the ferret food with the water until it makes a medium weight gruel. It should be as smooth as possible. Right before feeding, I'll open a capsule of probiotics (bought at any pharmacy) and mix it in. They will help if the natural flora has been diminished and won't hurt if not. For corns, I fed the equivalent of a small pinky. For a snake this size, I'd go with 10% by weight because the stomach isn't used to food. As he gains some energy, you can switch back to offering normal food. It will help get him back on his feet with less stress than force feeding. Once the tube is in, they don't even seem to notice anymore.

about feeding, i wouldnt feed more often than every 5 days, or if he is so small, maybe 4 days.

and then, try to increase food size as soon as possible, by either trying to notch up the food size 1 step, or by feeding / assist feeding a pinkie, followed by a second 10 minutes later and maybe even a third 10 minutes later. 55 grams is really small, for now, if he ate a 4 grams pinkie, maybe try 8-10 grams next. meaning two of these small pinkies or a fuzzy mouse.

just 5-day shedule and do what works to bump up food quantity, since he has already eaten for you this is what you should try first. a goal would be to get him to 100 grams, with 12-15 grams of food every 5 days. (hopper mouse / small mouse). if he makes it that far, he should get better.

(sometimes a bit of vitamin supplements for reptiles added into the food also helps; if done correctly why not, but then im not sure how necessary it is).

good luck!


EDIT: i agree, force feeding or pinkie heads is not a good idea. Im talking assist feeding, if that fails, i agree tube is the next option. assist feeding is to just put the food item halfway into the mouth, head first, not deep, so that the snake can freely decide to drop it or swallow it. and dont do it often. and tube feeding, i mean, you still need to put the tube in the mouth....

I'm not sure if it would be considered assist feeding, a friend put a small pinky in his mouth and by stroking the throat the mouse slipped down about half his body without resistance, it was just before his stomach that any muscle was felt. What I was told that was if he wasn't used to eating, a few small portions would be less taxing on his system. I asked about the Hill's food for reference, not as a planned meal, just wondering how/ when it's used.

As I said before, I want to help the little guy, and am looking for help. If I could find a qualified rescue/ rehabber locally to either help me or take him on, that would be great. He was looking pretty rough when I left for work today, not even able to lift his head. Striking or taking even a f/t mouse would be impossible.

I've added pics of him when I picked him up Saturday, it's not pretty.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...o/DSCF0068.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a...o/DSCF0067.JPG

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gS...7/DSCF0066.JPG

Third picture is from a diferent moment than the first two, right? Looks almost dead in the first two pics.
Keeping him hydrated is a must. And personally I would give him a rat pup every two or four days. He needs food now and pinkys are almost all water.
Good luck!

Oh what a tiny guy...

Pups are going to be much too huge! If he's 55 grams, that's 1/2-1/3 his body weight! Stick with pinks. That first picture is horrifying. I really hope he pulls through but there comes a point when you wonder if it's just not worth putting them through the stress...

Mminx,

I just recently took in a rescue that looked just like yours. She ate the first day we brought her home but crashed just a couple of days later and we couldn't save her. I would suggest forgoing the rats/mice, etc, and possibly go for tube feeding some kind of gruel type food. I think if I had done that with mine, she would still be here, but trying to digest a full rat pup was too much work for her worn out little body. He needs liquids STAT and some chicken baby food mixed with plain pedialyte/water (keep it warmish) and some probiotics would probably be the best thing for him. It's easy to digest and practically all liquid which is what he needs most. Handling should also be kept to a minimum. If I learned anything with my little rescue it was that she needed the time to rest, hydrate and recover from the stress of a move/feeding. I was constantly checking on her and as much as I hate to admit it, it probably hastened her passing.

I truly hope yours makes it. I'll keep you in my thoughts and will keep checking for updates. Remember, liquid liquid liquid and rest. It's going to take a lot of patience to get yours through. Good luck!!

He's gone. I wish I been able to get him out of there sooner. This morning he hadn't the strength to lift his head, I got home from work and he had passed.

Thanks for the thoughts and support. And a tip of my hat to those who rescue and risk the heartache to help the ones who need it.

And... All three photos were taken at the same time. From the top he looked thin but not horrible, in the pic where he looks " better", he was resting in the position he settled in, no movement or exploring.

Sorry you lost your little one. Sometimes we try our hardest to help them but if they don't have the will or the strength, there's really nothing that can be done. He was probably just too far gone by the time you got to him. I don't think there was anything anybody could have done. Thank you for trying, though. Thank you for attempting to save a life and even if you didn't succeed at least he died in the care of somebody who tried to make him better.

I'm so sorry for your loss. It must have been heart-breaking to find he'd passed. It was wondeful of you to try your best to save him.

I am so sorry you lost the little guy. I am so glad that his last days where with someone who cared for him. At least he know what love was before he died.

Dude that sucks. Good heart for trying. Sorry that it happened

Ugh, every time I see things like this I seriously have to fight back tears of sadness and rage. How can people let animals get that bad yet claim that it's not that serious?! How could someone look at that little guy and say he's not starving to death?! It's things like this that make me sick to my stomach...

Thank you for taking this little guy in and trying to give him a chance. I'm sure he appreciated knowing what care felt like for the first time ever. While it would've been wonderful if he could've pulled through, at least now he's no longer suffering... :please:

Those pictures need to be shown to a local humane society or similar organization. The pet shop needs to be prosecuted. They had to know that snake was dying, and they did nothing. That is simply wrong. Do not give them the excuse or opportunity to do that to another animal. Come down on them, and I mean hard. This is totally unacceptable in every way, that is animal cruelty plain and simple. If your local rescue/animal group is not interested, then get those pictures published in a newspaper with the name of the shop. If they allowed this to happen once, they will do it again if they are not stopped. A clear message needs to be sent. Just because it doesn't have fur or feathers, does not mean it doesn't deserve the same level of care a furry animal would receive. If this were a puppy or kitten, heads would roll. It's up to you to make sure they don't do anything like this again. I know this sounds harsh, but it needs to be done. To many places treat reptiles as disposable because they aren't cute and cuddly, and they have a much lower cost both to acquire and to replace if they die from neglect.

Gale