Feeding problems and skin bumps

My brother and I both own an 8 month old ball python. To give a sense of time today is Feb 8th, and two weeks ago last night we fed a live feeder rat to him. He ate the rat up to the hind legs, and then spit him back out. It seemed to be of appropriate size, where the size of the feeder was the right width of the widest part of the snake. After spitting out the feeder he would be trying climbing up the walls of his terrarium like in a panic.

I read somewhere that after a failed feeding that we should try feeding him a week later. Last night we tried feeding him again with a new feeder rat. Now he would act as if he was afraid of the rat. He would move away almost in fear whenever the rat moved in close to him.

The problem I’m more concerned about are these bumps all over his body. Can anyone tell me what the problem could be?

From what I know, his temperatures are correct. He’s got two choices in tight hiding spots and he has fresh water all the time.

While my brother and I are worried about him feeding properly I read on here that it’s not abnormal for a ball python to go for weeks without feeding so right now we’re more concerned about the bumps on his skin.

Thanks.

do you have any pics of these bumps?

Definitely a better description and pics of the bumps would help us discuss them with you. However, only a qualified vet can truly diagnose a problem and treat it.


How long have you owned the snake? Where did you get it? Has it always had these "bumps" or did they just pop up recently?

i agree, if your worried then a vet check is the best way to go...

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Originally Posted by JLC

Definitely a better description and pics of the bumps would help us discuss them with you. However, only a qualified vet can truly diagnose a problem and treat it.


How long have you owned the snake? Where did you get it? Has it always had these "bumps" or did they just pop up recently?

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By "bumps", do you mean he scales are lifted in places? Have you noticed any black bugs in his water dish or on your hands after handling him? The "bumps" -could- be mites...

Firstly, thank you all for your abundant and quick replies.

I am at work right now, so I can't get any pictures at the moment. But I will post them up as soon as I can.

We've owned the snake for 3 weeks so far. I live in Canada, so the pet store we got him at is called PJ's Pet Center.

These bumps showed up around last week. And they almost look like hives. Some of them raise his scales and some of them don't.

As for his water dish, I didn't see any black dots (ticks/mites). When we brought him home, I did notice one tick/mite crawling around. But that was it, I don't know if it had anything to do with the feeder rat he had two weeks ago.

he definitely needs to be seen by a vet... call and make an appt now :please:

Sounds scary...i'd be going nuts until I get to that vet!

Sounds like it might be blister disease? What is the humidity?

what's blister disease???

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...lister+disease

"The problem with this is that keeping the overall environment damp leads to conditions such as blister disease where in the skin, usually of the belly, becomes covered with blisters, leading to bacterial infections of the skin, which in turn leads to overall health problems." -- From http://www.pkreptiles.com/informatio...allpythons.asp

Thanks for all your help. I truly appreciate it.

I'll take the snake to a vet and see what the problem is.

I will post any updates I have here.

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

By "bumps", do you mean he scales are lifted in places? Have you noticed any black bugs in his water dish or on your hands after handling him? The "bumps" -could- be mites...

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Sorry for the double post...but I was unaware that the water was changed and thats why I didn't see any ticks/mites in his water dish.

I asked my brother and he said that there were black things in his water dish.

How can I get rid of these ticks/mites?

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Originally Posted by sylverspyster

Sorry for the double post...but I was unaware that the water was changed and thats why I didn't see any ticks/mites in his water dish.

I asked my brother and he said that there were black things in his water dish.

How can I get rid of these ticks/mites?

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Most everyone here will recommend Provent a mite, they say it works great. I'm using a product called reptile relief, works really good, and kills ticks, mites and thier eggs. I also use it in the tank, I spray down the tank(minus the snake and its toys) give it a good wiping down let it dry then put newspaper down and then put the snake and its toys back in. To test the product myself I put a live tick in a ashtray gave it a cpl of squirts and within a few seconds the tick was dead. Just my :2cent:

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Originally Posted by longviewbplover

Most everyone here will recommend Provent a mite, they say it works great. I'm using a product called reptile relief, works really good, and kills ticks, mites and thier eggs. I also use it in the tank, I spray down the tank(minus the snake and its toys) give it a good wiping down let it dry then put newspaper down and then the sback and its toys back in. To test the product myself I put a live tick in a ashtray gave it a cpl of squirts and within a few seconds the tick was dead.

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Reptile Relief will kill live vermin, but it does NOT kill the eggs. It's a good product for getting immediate relief for your snake, but you need PAM (Provent-a-Mite) to ensure that the infestation does not come back. Just treating with Reptile Relief, it may SEEM like they're all gone...but in a few weeks, you will likely see them return because the eggs hatched.

Well hon unless PJ's has cleaned up there act in recent years that's part of your problem right there. They always had one of the worst reputations out there for cutting corners....things like selling kittens that were not even old enough to be weaned (I personally reported them on that one back when I lived in Ontario)....dogs with diseases that are suspected of being produced by puppy mills....and so forth so I wouldn't be at all surprised they sold you a snake infested with ticks or mites and it's likely a fresh import sad to say. PJ's is one of those stores that looks pretty good but really isn't, unless they've changed their ways lately.

I'd say a vet visit is in order and read up on threads here about the proper use of products for the extermination of mites. These products are VERY good but VERY strong and used incorrectly can kill or damage your snake permanently.

When you have your vet report and bill, send copies directly to PJ's corporate office and demand reimbursement. They may not likely do a thing but it never hurts to remind them that they should be selling healthy creatures and you didn't enjoy having the extra expense of a vet visit and mite treatments to do their job for them. :mad:

Oh and don't fall for any stupid excuses like "all snake have mites" (no they don't), "it's not a big deal" (yes it is....mites are a suspected vector for a lot of herp diseases) or "it's not our fault" (yes it is, mites just don't appear like magic on a snake if it's not exposed to them or with other snakes that have them or fresh out of the wild). Do yourself a favor and spend some time with Google and learn about PJ's...it's not pretty!

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Originally Posted by JLC

Reptile Relief will kill live vermin, but it does NOT kill the eggs.

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Very true, when I use to use Reptile Relief I would get rid of all the visible mites, but in a few weeks there would be even more, so I was constantly treating everything. It would never get rid of everything. Now that I use PAM, I havnt had a single mite in about 9 months. Its like liquid gold.