Emergency!

I have had my little ball for about a month. She has not wanted to eat at all. yesterday she became very lethargic and kinda shrively. Today she's twisting over herself very strangly and twitching around (sometimes witg her mouth open.) I thought at first that maybe she was going to shed. But, she seems to rapidly be developing these new symptoms.
the temps and humidity have been stable. Always fresh water and clean bedding.
Anyone have any ideas? Ive never experienced this with any of my snakes before and am quite worried.

Hey...

Does it look something like this?

http://tinypic.com/r/34hdv74/8

I randomly saw your post and am dealing with kind of the same thing...

What I've gathered is that it could be trying to regurgitate, it's a head problem, or a seizure.

When was the last time he ate? Did it start out of nowhere?

I'm not sure what could be causing it, it could be a number of things, but if I were you I'd get her to a vet ASAP. Twitching and gasping is sketchy.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...18d5bd349a.jpg

I can't open your link on my phone. I have a video of her doing it but I can't figure out how to upload it.

She's all kinked up and randomly has full body spasms.

What are her warm/cool side temps, and how are you measuring them? What is her humidity?

Did you buy her from a local private breeder, at an expo, was she shipped, or did she come from a big box store?

Did her prior owner tell you when she last ate?

Did you quarantine her well away from them when you brought her home?

Sounds like a trip to the vet is in order

IBD is the first thing that popped in my mind. Do a you tube search for IBD ball python and see what you think.

I bought her from a local pet store. Unfortunately she didn't even last the day today. :'( it all happened so quickly, I figured she wasn't eating the first couple weeks as she adjusted to her new surroundings. I guess not?

She was in her own habitat so no other animals were affected. Unfortunately at the pet store there were several other snakes in there with her all about the same size.

I am pretty confident it was ibd .... after looking at those videos it is pretty much exactly what she was doing.

Sorry to hear about ur snake. But know the talk about this ibd has me worried. Have no other snake it just I bought her from petsmart and she was caged with two other ones. Time will tell. And again sorry about ur snake.

ibd can NOT be diagnosed over the internet. There are many things that can cause issues like that from parasites to poisons, the only way to know what the cause was in this case would be to take the snake in to a vet for a necropsy.

Thank you! Most snakes will display neuro issues in their last hours even if they don't have IBD.

OP I am very sorry for your loss, but it's likely that your snake was sick when you purchased it, and there's nothing you could have done. Big box pet shops often have bad husbandry practices, including co-habitating animals, not providing appropriate heat, etc.

As for quarantine, simply keeping your animals in different habitats isn't enough. There are multiple threads here on how to properly QT your animals if you do a search.

If you want to get another snake, I would suggest thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the enclosure this one was in, wait a few weeks, and buy one from a local breeder. You will end up with a healthy animal at a much better price than you'd find at a pet store.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jessieheart

I bought her from a local pet store. Unfortunately she didn't even last the day today. :'( it all happened so quickly, I figured she wasn't eating the first couple weeks as she adjusted to her new surroundings. I guess not?

She was in her own habitat so no other animals were affected. Unfortunately at the pet store there were several other snakes in there with her all about the same size.

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I'm so sorry :( <3 <3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

ibd can NOT be diagnosed over the internet. There are many things that can cause issues like that from parasites to poisons, the only way to know what the cause was in this case would be to take the snake in to a vet for a necropsy.

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Yes im aware of that thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Thank you! Most snakes will display neuro issues in their last hours even if they don't have IBD.

OP I am very sorry for your loss, but it's likely that your snake was sick when you purchased it, and there's nothing you could have done. Big box pet shops often have bad husbandry practices, including co-habitating animals, not providing appropriate heat, etc.

As for quarantine, simply keeping your animals in different habitats isn't enough. There are multiple threads here on how to properly QT your animals if you do a search.

If you want to get another snake, I would suggest thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the enclosure this one was in, wait a few weeks, and buy one from a local breeder. You will end up with a healthy animal at a much better price than you'd find at a pet store.

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Thanks for the help.

Sorry to hear about your bp. If u get another one don't get it from petco or pet smart. They are horrible about taking care of their reptiles. Get one from a breeder or even craigslist. Their are so many horror story's about petco and pet smart.

Yeah, I didnt to either. I went to a local business, which in my experiences they had been good with my saltwater critters. I didnt expect all this. Very unfortunate.

Sorry for your loss. I myself just got back from the vet with my BP. He's in my freezer awaiting burial. They're feeling a lot better now, probably hanging out together. :-)