help for new owner

hi there, I am new to these forums. they have been a great help to me so far! but I have a really weird problem. I have had my bp, lucy, for about a month now with no big problems or ordeals. she has eaten for me twice, small rats both times. well, about 3 days ago I noticed that her eyes had gone blue, so I naturally assumed she was going to shed. her eyes have since returned to normal, and she seems very active and healthy, but there is a large grey mass on her head! I don't know what it is, or where it came from. it looks to be stuck underneath one of her scales. I touched it and prodded it gently and she didn't seem upset, no hissing or even shying away, so I assume it isn't painful... but what is it?? also, now she doesn't seem to be ready to shed at all, but when I picked her up 3 days ago, she was blue-eyed.
I will try to post the (only good) picture I got of it to help out.
thanks in advance for any help!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...lucygrowth.jpg

ICK! That's a tick. It needs to be carefully pulled off with tweezers. Grasp firmly at the mouthparts, and pull slowly. If you don't pull slowly, the head will stay imbedded and can cause an infection. You can also burn it off(no matches, or lighters-cigarettes work-SORRY, but they do) or you can suffocate it with petroleum jelly.

That poor snake. That tick has been on there for quite awhile since it is absolutely huge. After you pull it off, apply some neosporin to the spot where it was attached so it doesn't get infected and get an abscess. Does the snake have any others on it? You may want to check every inch of that little guy, and treat the enclosure. Provent-A-Mite or Repel permanone(walmart-camping section-orange bottle) both work. Take everything out of the enclosure, including the snake, replace bedding with newspaper, spray whole enclosure with PAM/Repel, air out for 1-2hours, and place snake inside. DO NOT spray the snake with either repellent. The tick most likely has layed eggs in the enclosure, so you will want to soak hides, waterbowl, anything else that was in the enclosure, in a bleach water solution, and then bake anything wood in the oven at 250-300 degrees until completely dry.

When snakes shed, they will get a greyish appearance, eyes will turn milky for a few days, and then go back to normal. After they go back to normal, they will shed within the next few days.

Where did you get this snake? Just from the picture it seems as if she either has alot of scales missing or has alot of retained shed. What is her enclosure like: bedding, hides, temps, humidity? What type of devices are you using to measure temps?

Glad you decided to join, there are alot of wonderful people here :) Welcome! Please be sure to look her all over to make sure there aren't anymore "travelers". Bleh, I'm itching already.

becky hit it straight on. follow her instructions and youll be tick free and healthy :)

Oh my gosh, that really freaks me out. thank-you so much for your help! I have been meaning to get a different enclosure for her anyways, (rubbermaid-style) so I suppose this is a good time to do it!

I got her from a pet store here locally (first mistake, right?). after spending some time with her and dealing a little more with the store, I believe they mistreat their animals. I won't do any more business with them, that's for sure. I bought the feeder rats from the same store, and I am assuming that is where the ticks came from (she had two on her.) although I must say part of the bad looking coloration in the picture is my camera's fault. =)

thank-you again for all your help, I'll know where to turn next time I have questions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by basscapp

I bought the feeder rats from the same store, and I am assuming that is where the ticks came from (she had two on her.)

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Nope, the ticks came from the same place your snake did ... Africa.

They can be pretty common on CH imports being sold this time of year, especially if the people selling them are clueless.

If you don't already have a good reptile vet, I would find one. It would probably be a good idea to have the animal looked over by a professional and also have a fecal flotation done to check for internal parasites.

Good luck!

-adam

Not a problem at all. I love questions that deal with parasites, internal and external. I am the Poop Scene Investigator anyway :)

Glad you got those nasty boogers off. Did they come easily? No head parts left? I hope they got a burial at sea(toilet) or death by foot squishing... Bleh. There's nothing wrong with you're camera, but I can identify a tick from a mile away, gives me the heebie jeebies, LoL.

If you want a good place to get a rubbermaid/sterilite/iris tub, try Target. I found a good-sized Iris tub that is pretty clear(see-through), and has a locking top, plus a nice flat bottom with no ridges(easy cleaning). It was only about $12-$14 and has served me well. If you need help setting it up, let us know.

Glad we could help :)

Acck my first visual of a tick on a snake (I'm scratching and itchy too Becky LOL). I've removed ticks from dogs but never so far on a snake. We used to take the occasional tick off our dog by heating up a very sharp sewing needle and veeeeeeeeeeery carefully puncturing the butt end of the tick causing it's death quickly, then wiggle out the dead tick head and all. Would that also work with a snake tick? I've heard of the ciggie trick but never tried it, even tho I'm a smoker.

Welcome to the forum, you've come to the right place. We are brand new bp owners and these folks here have been hugely helpful, especially in setting up our baby ball python in a Rubbermaid bin (and they don't even mind if you ask a million questions it seems LOL).

Good luck with your snake!


~~Joanna~~

Yep, the cig trick works great, you start burning and they instantly let go. The ticks saliva is what causes the irritation, so we want to minimize that as much as possible. I've taken so many ticks off of horses and dogs, its crazy. At least horses have hard hooves that you can smash the tick on, and get instant gratification. Ticks are ticks, no matter what, so however you feel like killing them, go for it. :) You can also smother their head in petroleum jelly and they will suffocate and fall off, but the thing with that is, you never know where they will fall off. Then you have to go searching for this nasty, engorged tick the size of a dime *gets the willies* Eeww! I've had to take ticks out of cats' ears that would gag a maggot. Say 20 per ear.

But anyway, like Adam said, find a good vet, specifically a reptile vet, and get the snake checked out(general exam) and get a fecal done. Whenever your snake has a bowel movement, get about a teaspoon of the feces, place that in a plastic ziplock baggie, and place the baggie in the fridge until you can get the sample into the vet. Shouldn't cost you more than $20.

Good luck with her and please update us on her progress :)

Oh I SOOOOOOO hate ticks!!! Yucky Yucky Yucky!!! For those with weak stomachs do not read the rest of this post.

When I worked as a vet tech we had this dog come into the clinic covered in ticks, and when I say covered I mean covered all over. They were packed so tightly on the ear you couldn't really see any flesh. Euw! Dog was dipped and for the next several days whenever you would walk in front of his kennel you would step on ticks and they would pop like bubble wrap. Little spots of blood all over. I STILL have nightmares. Didn't feel clean for weeks. Oh it was horrible. Good news - dog made it but required a couple blood tranfusions. The little vampires sucked that poor little dog dry.

Sorry had to share. I did warn you!!!

Okay now I'm scratching like mad LOL!!!!

at least the dog made it out ok :)

thanks everyone for all your help. =) the ticks came off without too much problem, heads and everything. she was so good about sitting still and letting me work them out. (usually she is a little headshy.) I'm still working on the enclosure for her, I have a jury-rigged heat system right now, but the flexwatt & thermostat are on their way so it will work for now. got a rubbermaid at wal-mart and things are well on their way!

Awesome :) Glad everything is coming together smoothly.