New ball python and have some health questions?

Hello!

I am new to this forum as well as a new snake owner. This past Saturday I adopted a 10 year old male ball python from a local. They had had him in the family for most of his life and took awesome care of him from what I could tell. They gave me his entire set-up- 20 gallon tank, under tank heater, two hides, large ceramic water bowl, new cypress substrate, thermometer reader, and day and night lights (60 watts).

He ate fine the day I brought him home- 1 medium rat before I picked him up and then 2 more when I got home. I let him be over the past few days so he could adjust to his new surroundings. His cage has been kept at around 74-78 F, which I know is low for BP's. When I tried to bump it up (put blankets on the lid, and around the cage) to around 79-80, he almost immediately went to the cooler side of tank. I've been keeping his red light on most of the time to keep the temperature up, but it's rarely above 80. I've turned it off the past two nights since I read they like 12/12 hours light and dark, and then I checked during the night to make sure it wasn't too cold. The lowest it's gotten was 72, and that was earlier this afternoon (his under tank heater is on all the time).

He started to shed two days ago, but it's been pretty patchy. His former owners said he's had no shedding issues or former health problems, so I thought maybe the humidity was low. I got a humidity reader and moistened the hides and substrate with water, and it's up to 80-82 now. What's concerning me is that all afternoon he has been holding his head up with no support. It's the first time I've noticed it and has been going on for more than five hours. I have also noticed that periodically he opens his mouth to breathe, not all the time, and it's not super often I read that this could be due to RI infection or IBD? I was curious to get other people's opinions to see if one of these options was more likely the other with his current set up?

My other concern is that one side of his mouth sticks out from underneath the lip a little bit, and I didn't know if this should be a concern as well?

I asked his previous owners if these were normal things for him (the head lifting and shedding). They suggested I wait to bathe him until the weekend and that he was probably exploring? I am also really worried about animal health and want as many opinions as possible, so please let me know whatever you are thinking! I want to do provide the best care that I can for this guy. I just called the on call staff a few minutes ago and am waiting to hear back from them as well. Thanks so much and sorry for the extensive post, I wanted to provide as many details as possible!

Can u post pictures? Sounds like it could be something IMO, but hard to tell. From the brief discription sounds like possible RI or mouth rot. Not sure though. Just my initial thoughts.

You need to get him a hot spot of around 90F or at least get the ambient up to around 86F. Anything below 75F with no access to a warm 86F+ spot is going to give you problems. As for his open mouth breathing and misaligned jaw, I would guess probably either RI or mouth rot. It probably isn't IBD as IBD is quickly fatal in pythons so if he had it, he would be dead in a couple days. Best advice I can give is get your temps and humidity squared away and take him to the vet. Best of luck.

I ended up having to take him to the emergency vet last night and then again this morning. Around 12 am he was vomiting and open mouth breathing more frequently. I took him in right away, but thankfully he was stable enough to wait until morning. Went back at 8:30 am to meet with the exotic vet, and they got the rest of his shed off and didn't seem super concerned (yet) with the breathing since he was back to normal by then. Since he's not open mouth breathing or has any bubbles or mucus, they didn't think it was a full RI yet. The jaw ended up being the start of an abscess, so they gave me a round of antibiotics to give him over the next 30 days. Overall a good prognosis, and his breathing seems a lot better after the shed was fully off around his head and face.

As for the heat, I'm still having trouble. He has a medium sized under tank heater and then a 100W heat lamp (brand new bulb) on during the day and 100W red light for night. He also has a pretty thick layer of forest floor substrate that I just put in today after cleaning absolutely everything from the vomit. Even with blankets over the tank lid (but away from the lights), it's still barely above 80. I'm taking any and all suggestions as to how to bump up the heat. Could the lower temps have also caused the poor digestion that led to the vomiting?

What are you using to read temps and humidity? Is the heat pad on a thermostat?

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Its likely that low temps caused his mouth rot. In order for us to help,you need to tell us what equipment you use also.

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And... How many rats does he usually eat? I ask bc originally U said he ate at orig owners, then you brought him home and fed immediately 2 more rats. What size rodents are being given? 3 seems a bit much IMO. Most adult male bps eat 1 small rat a feeding. Perhaps he was also over fed. Why did you feed so many?

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Furthermore... You need a kitchen scale. You need to have ability to weigh him to decide if you are feeding 15 to 20% of his total weight.

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I just saw an episode of snake bytes about this.... the open mouth could mean he is too hot or that he has upper resp. infection or rot from not having enough or too much humidity to begin with... does he have any bubbles or leakage around his mouth? Here is a video that helped me..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJCnPfuqaBM

good news
:taz:

I have a temperature probe reader right by the hide in his basking area, and then I have a humidity reader on the other side of his tank. The humidity is normally between 70-80. The heat pad does not have a thermostat, but I leave it on 24/7 so he always has that as a heat source. I've been thinking of getting a thermostat though since I'm having a hard time getting his temps up.

Yes, the previous owner fed him a medium sized rat right before I picked him and then she suggested to give two more when I got him. Which is DEFINITELY way too much. I had thought it would be ok to feed that much since that's what the previous owner had been doing for awhile but was planning on confirming with a call to vet (before the emergency visit). The vet said to feed less and go to 1 medium rat every two weeks or so. So I'm also wondering if the vomiting was also from overfeeding and then being handled, since I had left him alone until i went to put him in the water bath. He threw up two hours after that.

He wasn't having any bubbles or mucus when he breathed, and I just checked his discharge sheet from the vet and this was what was mentioned for his mouth: Oral-Gastrointestinal: Oral examination revealed a focal swelling on the oral aspectof the left mandible (suspect cellulitis), no ulcers, plaques or erythema appreciated.

So you are using digital temp and humidity gauges? If they are dial type... Get rid of them now. Those nvr read correctly..ever. What are your current temps reading? Hot side temp? Cool side temp?

Heat pad... Please go read the caresheet on this site immediately. And for love of prince.. Unplug tht heat pad until you get a proper thermostat for it. At this point, who knows if its too hot or even not putting out enough heat.. Where is the heat pad and how are you monitoring this heat pad? How much substrate do you have in cage..is heat pad on inside or outside?

How long after feeding were you handling that snake? And feed as your vet suggests currently. Nevermind what previous owner says they were doing.

As you can seethr are alot of questions being asked about the caging.. Very specific ones.. W more info we may be able to help.. But honestly, it sounds like snakes environment caused mouth rot..and temps are potentially way off. And him vomiting could simply be, you held him too soon AFTER OVER FEEDING..

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1. Digital thermometers. One for hot side and one for cold. (Basking spot needs to be 90 and cold side needs to be 80.)
2. Digital hygrometer. Keep humidity between 50% to 60% all the time and 70% to 80% in shed.
3. thermostat. The heat pad WILL burn your snake. You need a thermostat so you can set the pad to a safe temp.
4. Food. Never bigger than a medium and never sooner than once per week. You could probably get away with a small adult rat since he's a boy.
5. Do NOT handle him, ever, after eating, for 48 hours.
6. Bath. He should not need one if your humidity is correct.

I use a 75watt ambient heat black bulb on the cold side to keep it between 78 and 81. I use the heat pad (with thermostat) and another 75watt ambient heat black bulb to keep the hot spot between 88 and 91.
You need to sandwich the thermostat probe between the pad and glass and then put the digital thermometer probe on the glass/substrate where the snake sits. On the cold side it can be where ever.
My lamps are on dimmers so I can adjust as needed.
BP'S don't NEED light and don't like it. Mine are in a room with the blinds closed and the black bulbs are dimmer than the moon would be where they are from.