Meet Ishimura.... and then please tell me what's wrong with her and what to do!

I've had her about four years, but I'm not sure of her actual age. She was given to me by someone who didn't want to take care of her anymore, and I had a snake before her who was at a rather 'intermediate' care level (I raised a Brazilian rainbow from a hatchling), so I took her in. I have never had a single issue with her, and even though I know ball pythons can have a stigma about being fussy eaters sometimes, she doesn't even do that. She's never bitten anyone (ever), has always been healthy, no problem.

So today I take her out of her cage and see this.. and I'm scared! I clean her cage out about once every two weeks. The bottom of the cage is little glass stones, and she has her tree to climb in which doubles as a hide, another hide, plus two water dishes (big and small) and a non-toxic plastic vine. Her cage is a tall open-air one, and I have the light up against one side of the screen, thus making two different temperature areas in the cage (despite it only having screens for walls).

The only other thing I guess I can tell you is that she's due for a shed soon.. her eyes are cloudy. But that's all. Nothing abnormal... except her poor scales =(

Can someone shed some light on this for me?

I feel like you're missing a picture in this post...

You can download the Tapatalk app and post photos straight from your phone.

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Indeed I am.. still working on that.. /embarrassed

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...80863547_n.jpghttps://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...30202098_n.jpg

Are you just heating the enclosure with only a heating lamp or do you have a heat mat? Also what substrate are you using and what's the temps and humidity in the tank?

Whether or not you get an answer on this forum, you should look for an exotic vet near you.

I'm guessing here just from seeing different threads on this forum, but it's either a burn or scale rott and im leaning more towards scale rott.

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I use glass stones as a 'substrate', and I have just the lamp at the side of the cage. It's aimed sort of sideways across a corner of the cage so that she has that whole area for warmth. I also have two water dishes in there and a big tree she climbs on. Initially I thought maybe she got stuck inside the tree and hurt herself getting out (I've seen her in there before) but I still freaked! I'll definitely find a vet.. But will she be okay over the weekend until one is open?

umm, rounded glass stones are highly unusual, never heared about it.

i would switch to paper towels for now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Absinthekitty

I useglass stones as a 'substrate', and I have just the lamp at the side of the cage. It's aimed sort of sideways across a corner of the cage so that she has that whole area for warmth. I also have two water dishes in there and a big tree she climbs on. Initially I thought maybe she got stuck inside the tree and hurt herself getting out (I've seen her in there before) but I still freaked! I'll definitely find a vet.. But will she be okay over the weekend until one is open?

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Glass Stones? WOW thats a first that I have heard for a BP! Why 2 waters dishes, she can only drink out of one at a time. What type and size bulb are you using in the heat light? Im wandering if the light might be heating up the glass stones and getting too hot. Can you post a pic of her setup for us? Ive heard of snakes getting substrate in their mouth while eating...I wander if she could get one of those stones in there. I would switch to paper towels also.

So question, (and dont take this offensively. Im just tryin to understand) why glass stones? Proper substrate for BPs is cypress, coco husk or some other varition of this. Also, take a couple photos of your enclosure and post it up. It will help see whats going on in the enclosure as well.

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Oookay.. So.. I can't post a picture at the moment because I'm currently away from my computer. But. After reading you guys' responses and googling a bit, I've come to realize that I've been doing a lot of things wrong. Let me say in my defense that I was specifically told by a petsmart employee that the cage I bought (it was bigger than her glass one, I thought I was doing Ish a favor) that it would be fine for a ball python. It's an open-air cage - all screen - and apparently inappropriate for snakes.
I was using glass stones because I thought they'd be cleaner and hold heat better.
Also let me say in my defense that I'm the only person I know with a snake, so no one could really warn me otherwise.
I have two water dishes because she likes to lie in the bigger one.

So, consensus is I feel like a horrible person (and probably am one) because I'm taking care of her wrong. Set me straight, folks, what do I need to do? I can't believe I haven't seen a problem earlier, she's been in this setup for at least a year now, and I haven't even seen obvious signs of stress. She eats like clockwork, has never had a bad shed, nothing. I didn't have a clue anything was wrong.

also, I did find a vet, and will call them the minute they open.

Please dont take all this the wrong way. I nor anyone else has said your a BAD person. Just trying to help you out. There are alot of info here in this forum to read and learn from. If she likes to lay in the bigger water dish, leave it in there and you can take out the smaller one and have no problems at all. Your not a bad person and it sounds like your trying to learn more to help her out. That makes you a good person!
Can I ask where about you are from? There are MANY people here from all over. Someone may live near you that can help out more.

generally you want an enclosure that helps you to maintain the right temperatures and humidity.

and for substrate, you want something that feels comfy for the snake, and that can absorb poop and urine, and you throw out whatever gets poop or urine on it and replace it with fresh substrate. and sometimes you replace it all. so, yes, coconut fiber stuff, cypress mulch, stuff like that. or, when the snake is injured or has a wound that needs to stay clean, you switch to paper towels. some people use paper towels or old newspaper or unprinted newspaper all the time. since there is some injury or scale rot now, paper towels it is.

im sure the glass beads look cool and they start out clean, but when urine and poop gets involved, how do you keep them clean? the substrate needs to absorb, so that its not possible for the BP to be in direct contact with filth for hours. so im thinking scale rot.

BPs spend 98% of the time on the ground. the way you describe the enclosure, high and with mesh frames all around, ive seen these used for chameleons or other arboreal species.

no need to feel bad, pet stores suck at giving the right advice, and most keepers are unaware of that. you are at the right place now. you did the best you could, but only got bad advice up until now.

Okay. Great. Thanks, you guys - I really appreciate that.

I'll switch her back to her previous cage with the substrate then. I work right near a pet store so I can get all this stuff together quickly.

Also I did the tapatalk thing so that I can post pictures easier - here's the enclosure as is.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/17/beve4epy.jpg

The other cage is in storage and unavailable to me until Monday.. I'm going to be worried all weekend :(


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@roach I was calling MYSELF a bad person! And I'm from central PA - I live in Lewistown.


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Yea thats a nice setup, just not the best for a BP. I would go ahead and take out the glass rocks and put paper towels down in there till your able to get the new setup ready.
Yea I know you were calling yourself that, I was just saying you wernt.
Start a post asking if anyone lives up that way, you will be surprised how many people may live near you. I mover down to Central Texas and found A lot of people close to me on here.

thats what i imagined from your description, perfect for a chameleon or other arboreal species that hang out high up :D

dont worry too much, switch to paper towels, leave in one water bowl and the hide.

treatment suggestions anyone? i guess it will be antibiotic shots, maybe something to put on the paper towels to help heal and disinfect, maybe diluted betadine baths for disinfection. that seems to be the usual stuff vets recommend, basically keep it from getting infected and let it heal. if it doesnt get infected it should heal just fine.

Aww don't feel bad, we all have to start somewhere and we've all made plenty of mistakes. You've come to the right place to get everything all fixed up though. Here's a perfect thread to help clear up things about bp husbandry.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Welcome to the forum, please keep us updated on your snake. And try not to worry so much, everything will be okay 😊


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These two links are a good start how to properly set up each kind of enclosure. Like Pythonfriend said, use paper towels for now. And like everyone already said, don't feel like a bad person. This is a great place to learn and everyone here is glad to help:

This link is how to setup a 20 gallon glass tank
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...up+gallon+tank

This one is how to setup a PVC terrarium:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ighlight=setup

Thank you all so much for your help. I will definitely keep you posted and upload pics of her new setup so i can get this straightened out. I really appreciate the kind words and advice!


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