Help - Is this Burmese OK?

Bought this Burmese last night. Male, 7 Months old, 2.5ft.

Feeding Schedule shown in pic. Breeder was only feeding him 1 mouse fuzz every 7 days, not been fed for 2 weeks.

He seems constipated with a dark buildup of matter inside his back end and very fatigued. His back passage looks a little red to and you can see his spine.
I perhaps should not have bought him but felt so sorry for him I couldn’t not.

Any advice, question, help greatly appreciated. Thanks.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2FIMG_1202.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2FIMG_1195.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2FIMG_1197.jpg

Well done for saving him !!

He certainly looks pretty scrawny for a baby Burm I'd say .

Hopefullu some TLC and a few decent meals will see him improving !!

Looks underweight. You can see his spine. My burms a little over 9 months and she's over 4 ft long and over 2 pounds. From my experience they don't poop very often but if he seems impacted a warm (not hot) soak should help. I'd give him a properly set up enclosure and let him settle in for a few days then get him on a proper feeding schedule. Just don't push him too fast. I'm guessing you've already checked for mites and any signs of RI? Burms are one of my favorite snakes and you got yourself a good looking one. I hope everything works out well for you. I'd also give him a water bowl big enough to soak in. It's not required but you can try it out to see if he enjoys playing in it as much as mine does

That's a beautiful snake! Personally I'd weigh him and start feeding rodents that are 10% (or slightly less but not more) of his body weight twice a week for at least six months or so, assuming he is a good eater and will eat them all. That record of rat pup weekly feedings is pretty useless unless you know the weights of the rat pups and the weight of the snake, both can vary like crazy.

He needs food. One fuzzy mouse in no where near enough. Heck my dumeril's was eating hopper mice at like 18" long. She's probably about 2' and she eats adult mice every week. My salmon BCI boy is a year old and probably close to 2.5' and he eats an adult mouse every week too. And my 7 month old Suriname girl who is around 2' eats hoppers right now since I've had 3 weeks and want to get her settled in but she will be bumped up to small adults too as the breeder was feeding her medium mice.

I would definitely start feeding him adult mice every 5-7 days to get some bulk on him.

Also I know its best to quarantine on paper towels so you can see stuff easier but I would try to put him on a substrate with high humidity to get him well hydrated and hopefully that combined with more food will get him regular. You definitely want to watch his rear end with the higher food intake and if you see any sausage butt and no poop in a few days after sausage butt, I would soak him.

Stay away from rat pups or anything that is suckling on mom. Get him on some solid mice with well developed bone, muscle and organs and that should help square up his poop.

He should recover. Snakes are pretty resilient. Just go slow on the food at the start. Like I said, do every 5-7 days for 2-3 weeks. Then once he is used to food, you can ramp it up to every 4-5 days until he puts on some weight, then back him down to once a week. My BP was labeled a problem feeder and didn't eat for the pet shop for almost a month. I got her home and set up right and she was eating every 3 days for the first 6 months. Then I backed her down to once a week. She thickened up and gained a ton of muscle and stuff.

Awesome looking little burm. I so want a caramel albino burm along with a Pucallpa Peruvian BCC and sharp snow BCI :(

Oh and those records are all over. He should have shed a lot more than 3 times. Heck my SD retic went from 2' back on Oct 10 2016 to just over 6' as of yesterday. Pythons will put food to good growth if fed. And what the heck is "fluff"?

And a mod should move this from boas to python section as Burmese aren't boas :)

That's a maintenance feeding schedule, burm hatchlings should be taking larger prey than a mouse fuzzy unless they're out of a "boob" egg or being assist fed. I'd bump him to a small mouse at least.

He has a large bulge around his tail area and his tail seems very limp when I hold him. I assume he is so constipated its heavy to lift, or, he does not have enough energy to do so from lack of food.

The breeder was a fool, with racks full of different snakes all being kept on a maintenance diet and it the smallest tubs I have seen.

Last night I put in the sink and bathed in luke warm water in the hope of helping him pass. I am going away this weekend from Thursday to Monday so wasn't going to feed him until I am back and he has had chance to settle down in his new RUB etc. This means he will not have been fed for 21 days upon my return.

Do you think this will be ok? of should I try and feed him tonight after another attempt at bathing? I have in stock now a bag of small mice and a bag of small rat weaners.

Thank You for everyone's advice. I get the idea that all think I need to feed him up every 5 days until he has put weight back on..

Id feed him before you go. Burms are good eaters and usually not shy or stressed unless they are in bad shape. He looks very underfed but not unhealthy. Feed that little guy and he will pep up within a couple weeks. At that age he should be 3.5' no problem.
Don't worry about the Sausage Butt.. Mine can go 1-2 months without pooping.. Other times he goes through drinking spells alot and piss's crazy every 2 weeks..
Congrats and Gorgeous boy [emoji1362][emoji1360]


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I would feed him tonight also. Burms aren't ball pythons and will typically eat any time anywhere whether they've been recently moved or not.

I don't own a Burm, but from what I have read combined with what has been said above I would also suggest feeding before you go away. It can't hurt to at least offer, and from what I know of Burms, he won't refuse. A mouse approx. 10% of his body weight would be a good place to start.
Great looking snake!!! Once you get him on a proper diet and at a healthy weight he will be an absolute stunner!!! :gj:

Please keep us posted on his progression.

What a cute little guy! I can't believe how tiny still at 7 months! I agree I'd get a meal in him now but I also prefer to ease into larger, more frequent feedings. I feel like after a fast or minimal feedings like this guy has had that it would be a bit of a shock to his system to start instantly giving him bigger meals way more frequently than his system is used to digesting. As far as sheds go, my male is about the same age and I think pushing 1500g. And over 4' but has only shed 3 times so it doesn't surprise me that one who has hardly grown since hatching has only shed a few times.

He could be bigger for sure.

But when I read that feeding schedule, I don't see him being fed mice fuzzies.

The only time I see "mouse" is when it says "small mouse". The rest seems fuzzy rats and then, starting last year, rat pups. At one point 2 rat pups. Then back down to fuzzies for 2 feedings and last 2 feedings were rat pups.

The snake should have progressed to bigger food at a faster rate. But rat pups are far bigger then mice fuzzies. So I don't think he is "emaciated", but he needs to be fed more/bigger.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

That's a maintenance feeding schedule, burm hatchlings should be taking larger prey than a mouse fuzzy unless they're out of a "boob" egg or being assist fed. I'd bump him to a small mouse at least.

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This looks similar to the issue you had with a boa a while back.

I can't remember exactly what the outcome was, but I know the snake got much better.

Is this the same issue do you feel? I remember your snake was bloated in the rear, but I don't seem to remember it looking underweight.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

This looks similar to the issue you had with a boa a while back.

I can't remember exactly what the outcome was, but I know the snake got much better.

Is this the same issue do you feel? I remember your snake was bloated in the rear, but I don't seem to remember it looking underweight.

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That was Maia, aka Kardashian. She was just fat. Even on a normal diet for her size and age she packed on the grams because unlike other boas that will cruise the enclosure and hunt when they get hungry, she is the epitome of ambush predator and simply waits in her hide for prey to be dropped in front of her nose. Seriously, I never see her out and about unless she's going potty, and then she's right back under her hide when she's done.

So, she was put on a diet and I make sure to take her out for 15-20 minutes a day every day the week prior to her feeding day to simulate "hunting" before she eats.

The OP's burm is not fat by any stretch. I would just feed it and leave it alone as much as possible for the next few weeks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

That was Maia, aka Kardashian. She was just fat. Even on a normal diet for her size and age she packed on the grams because unlike other boas that will cruise the enclosure and hunt when they get hungry, she is the epitome of ambush predator and simply waits in her hide for prey to be dropped in front of her nose. Seriously, I never see her out and about unless she's going potty, and then she's right back under her hide when she's done.

So, she was put on a diet and I make sure to take her out for 15-20 minutes a day every day the week prior to her feeding day to simulate "hunting" before she eats.

The OP's burm is not fat by any stretch. I would just feed it and leave it alone as much as possible for the next few weeks.

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OK,

Now I remember, and I'm glad things worked out there with your boa. She was/is a pretty little thing.

Yes,, this snake is very thin however I'm not sure what's going on in the back end.

Snake is dying!! :snake:

Last night I tried to bath him as suggested and noticed he was almost paralysed. He was also throwing his head back is if he was a toy snake. After an hour or so I then noticed his skin was coming of so called the breeder back and gave him what for on the telephone.

He then disclosed that his brothers and sisters went the same way and all died! One drowned herself, an other tried to eat herself!?

Anyway, I drove her the 2 hours back to his house and he gave me my money back and took the snake away. I asked about a Vet but he said it was pointless as he tried with several of his other snakes and they all died. I was fuming as he should have told me this :mad:

I have messaged this morning to see if he made it through the night :(

Back on the search for another Burm..

Sorry to hear you lost the snake - that's got to be tough. He was a looker for sure.

Sounds like you SHOULD (need to, obligated to) tell everyone what his name is as to avoid future issues with a "breeder" that is so reckless.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BR8080

Sorry to hear you lost the snake - that's got to be tough. He was a looker for sure.

Sounds like you SHOULD (need to, obligated to) tell everyone what his name is as to avoid future issues with a "breeder" that is so reckless.

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So sorry this happened to you and your new snake....I agree with the statement above

That sucks. Sorry to hear that. And I would run screaming from that breeder. If he lost a full clutch from stuff like babies drowning, trying to eat themselves and skin coming off(slipped skin disease?), then I would scrub myself down with bleach and bleach my whole house as he has something else going on other than just bad care. He had to have some kind of virus or bacteria or some germ going on. I really hope you quarantined that snake if you have any other snakes and if so, I would watch your other snakes like a hawk for any signs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BR8080

Sounds like you SHOULD (need to, obligated to) tell everyone what his name is as to avoid future issues with a "breeder" that is so reckless.

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This, especially since there is an excellent chance of Burmese pythons becoming legal to ship interstate again in the next few months, the price is going to go way up and people will end up paying stupid prices for these sick snakes.
Go make a Fauna BOI post (read the rules first!) as well as posts in the Facebook reptile feedback forums about this breeder so there's less chance of another buyer getting ripped off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by simon07989

Snake is dying!! :snake:

Last night I tried to bath him as suggested and noticed he was almost paralysed. He was also throwing his head back is if he was a toy snake. After an hour or so I then noticed his skin was coming of so called the breeder back and gave him what for on the telephone.

He then disclosed that his brothers and sisters went the same way and all died! One drowned herself, an other tried to eat herself!?

Anyway, I drove her the 2 hours back to his house and he gave me my money back and took the snake away. I asked about a Vet but he said it was pointless as he tried with several of his other snakes and they all died. I was fuming as he should have told me this :mad:

I have messaged this morning to see if he made it through the night :(

Back on the search for another Burm..

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I would buy your next one off one of our members in here , someone you can trust . I'm sure that if you started a new thread to that effect you will get some good , reliable suggestions of people in your area. .

Make sure you fully sanitize your enclosure and all of your equipment before bringing a new snake home, what that snake had was serious and you do not want to risk exposing an incoming animal to it.

Yup bleach or F10 everything. I wont throw disease scare names around but especially if the other ones in the clutch died thats serious......
Not sure where your located but the PA show is this next coming weekend.


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The breeder is back selling snakes again.

Now he is selling Retics!

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/sh...ulate%2Bpython

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BR8080

Sorry to hear you lost the snake - that's got to be tough. He was a looker for sure.

Sounds like you SHOULD (need to, obligated to) tell everyone what his name is as to avoid future issues with a "breeder" that is so reckless.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

This, especially since there is an excellent chance of Burmese pythons becoming legal to ship interstate again in the next few months, the price is going to go way up and people will end up paying stupid prices for these sick snakes.
Go make a Fauna BOI post (read the rules first!) as well as posts in the Facebook reptile feedback forums about this breeder so there's less chance of another buyer getting ripped off.

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Appears as though we saw this coming....