i think something wrong with my bp

Well I just pulled him out of his tank (not more than 10 minutes ago) and I looked at him, and his belly has a reddish/brown tint that i've never noticed before. So I was holding him and noticed that he's shaking, so i placed him on my bed, and he started freaking out, trying to get away from me, then he started shaking again, now hes frozen and won't move at all. Its not cold in my room, its about 80*F.

any ideas? :confused: I've never had a problem with him and i've had him for almost a year now. D:

...I just put him back in his tank, he looked a little creeped out. I'm not sure why, I always hold him at about this time too.

EDIT: I just realized the belly color might be because he might be about to shed... but it was never the red color that it is now.

Hi,


Could he have gotten burnt do you think?

I wouldn't wait to put on a vet appointment if you feel something is wrong.:(

A picture might help us give a more informed guess but that's all it would be and if you have had him for a year you are probably already used to seeing him in all the normal stages and if this concerns you I would get it checked out by an experienced herp vet.


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Could he have gotten burnt do you think?

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No, I don't have uth on him just a ZooMed Ceramic Infared HeatEmitter [60watt] Keeps the warm side at 88-90*f.

I'll keep an eye on him and I'll try to get contact with my local breeder.

sometimes my snake's belly gets pink before a shed. You don't use a hot rock do you? Can he come in direct contact with the heat source? I've never heard of a snake "shaking" before. When I put my female bp down on the floor or bed she freaks out too.

Hi,


How is the humidity in the cage - have you noticed her soaking or anything unusual?

Shedding really is normally just a light pink blush rather than red or brown.:(

How is the CHE gaurded and controlled?

And why contact a breeder rather than a vet? Would he be able to actually come inspect it in person?



dr del

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Originally Posted by Royalherper

You don't use a hot rock do you? Can he come in direct contact with the heat source?

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No I threw my heat rocks out when I had my leopard geckos and I learned how dangerous they were via internet.

He can get pretty close to it, but I don't have the branch's next to it. He sits in his hide thats on the warm side. I have a digital Fluker's humidity/temperature gauge. Its a 20long tank, so its not that high. So the heat is about 13" of the bottom of the tank. (I plan on switching him to a 40gal, once I move the leos into a 20 and move everything else into different cages. :O)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

How is the humidity in the cage - have you noticed her soaking or anything unusual?

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Current humidity is 59%. I have not seen him soak, I haven't even seen him come out (at night, I stay up to 2-3am reading and used to see him cruising around until summer came along.)

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Originally Posted by dr del

How is the CHE gaurded and controlled?

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Sorry, what is CHE?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

And why contact a breeder rather than a vet? Would he be able to actually come inspect it in person?

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He lives about 2 towns over, and knows a lot about BPs so I think I'll stop by sometime this week with my snake, and ask his opinion if he thinks its weird. I haven't managed to find a vet that knows ANYTHING about snakes around my area, the only reptilian vet around here, killed my chameleon with an overdose of some medication, so I don't go to her anymore.

Hey,


CHE = ceramic heat element - your zoo med thing.

When you say he can get close how close are we talking?

It might be worth asking this breeder what vet he recommends.

Is there any way you can get us a picture or something of him, the problem area and his tank showing the heating element area?

The reason I'm asking all this is that , if it is either an infection in his skin or a burn then leaving it till sometime this week might not be all that good an idea.:(

When was the last time you handled him and know he didn't have this?

Does it look kind of crusty or weepy or is everything looking perfect apart from the colour?

Is he still frozen in place or is he moving around normally again?


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

CHE = ceramic heat element - your zoo med thing.

When you say he can get close how close are we talking?

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The heat lamp sits right on top of the cage, probably about 13 maybe 14 inches from the bottom of the tank. The only thing is I haven't had it on in weeks because of the fact that my air condition broke, and it usually gets around 80-90 in my room, and his tank. and with the light on it would get over 100* in his tank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Is there any way you can get us a picture or something of him, the problem area and his tank showing the heating element area?

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I will see if I can get my camera to cooperate today.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

When was the last time you handled him and know he didn't have this?

Does it look kind of crusty or weepy or is everything looking perfect apart from the colour?

Is he still frozen in place or is he moving around normally again?

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I last handled him the 24th and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Its fine except for the color.
He went to his water bowl, got a drink and is now back in his hide.

Hi again,


Take a look at the pictures in this thread.

How different to that does your snakes belly look? Are there any other colour changes on him at all?

Here is another nice picture of a pink belly from jesie k pythons


dr del

Okay so I got my camera to work (Mind the pics aren't good, my camera is almost 5yrs old.)

This is a pic of him...

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...1/103_1906.JPG

A Pic of his belly (you can't really see the color though)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...1/103_1905.JPG

A Pic of the Cage

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...1/103_1903.JPG

A Close up of the heat side...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24..._/103_1902.jpg

He's seems to be doing fine now, hes moving around and active. But his belly is still a weird coloring, he might be getting ready to shed, but I just never saw his belly that color before.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi again,


Take a look at the pictures in this thread.

How different to that does your snakes belly look? Are there any other colour changes on him at all?

Here is another nice picture of a pink belly from jesie k pythons


dr del

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His belly is that of about jessie k's probably a bit lighter. His body color though hasn't changed color though.

Hi,


Really? He looked quite dark to me - but then I've no idea what he normally looks like.:)

If that was the most affected part of his belly I would think it is most likely just a shed cycle but keep and eye on it for the next few days just to make sure nothing nasty happens. If it is a shed starting it might get a little more pink but brown or red or changes in the actual scales themselves are signs to watch out for that suggest it might be something else.

Keep us informed and don't hesitate to ask any other questions ok?

I take it the second hide is hidden behind that huuuge water bowl?:eek:



dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Keep us informed and don't hesitate to ask any other questions ok?

I take it the second hide is hidden behind that huuuge water bowl?:eek:

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Certainly will.

Yeah, there's another one behind it. Funny thing, its HUGE, my grandparents gave it to my for christmas (o.O) and demanded I use it for my snakes. So, there it sits, i'll probably switch it to a smaller one soon. :p