So what do you think?

i just received a snake from a friend of mine's friend today. a three year old male BP, he's less than 20" long. had retained shed, and is very underweight. but he's tame and strong.. oddly enough. i soaked him and removed as much of his retained shed as possible, and fed him a small f/t mouse. i talked to the original owner and she said she fed him nothing but live. i was amazed to see, after i soaked and removed some shed, that he ate the f/t for me right away. She said he's regurgitated for her all the time, but thats probably because of the enclosure. its been an hour with no regurg.

His old enclosure was horrible. TWO heat rocks, one on each side of the tank (no cool spot) and urates and feces all over the tank. She's got pebbles as substrate. No thermometers, no hygrometers, nothing. he was also in a glass enclosure right near her window. the screen of the tank was bare, not trapping in any humidity.

Girl has no job, no money. question is, should i give her the snake back, or talk to her mom and work something out where she doesn't get the snake back. I mean, i went over the basics with her today, temps, humidity, NO HEAT ROCKS. but she doesn't have a job and i don't think she'll ever be able to care for the snake.

doesnt sound like a good situation to me... If your willing to take on the snake I say go for it... you have a chance to save his life and give him a good proper home. I dont know how much Id believe her with the snakes age... I could be wrong but I think its damn near impossible to have a 3yr old BP under 20 inches... 3 month old is more like it... If she gave it to you then yea i wouldnt give it back... Your going to have to put some money into him (bout 100$) for the proper equipment to keep him healthy but itll be well worth it... My suggestion is keep him... get yourself a plastic tub($10), acurite thermometer/hydrometer(13$), Under tank heater (30$), thermostat(40$), and two small identical hides (6$) and go from there... Good luck with the lil fella... sounds like hes in good hands

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Girl has no job, no money. question is, should i give her the snake back, or talk to her mom and work something out where she doesn't get the snake back. I mean, i went over the basics with her today, temps, humidity, NO HEAT ROCKS. but she doesn't have a job and i don't think she'll ever be able to care for the snake.

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As bad as it might sound, someone that cannot provide for an animal (proper supply, food, vet cost) should not own one, simple as that.

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

As bad as it might sound, someone that cannot provide for an animal (proper supply, food, vet cost) should not own one, simple as that.

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I completely agree.

i would make her sit on one of the heat rocks and see if she likes it....

well it turns out her mother wants me to give the snake back. despite the fact it belongs to her daughter, who's 20 years old and can make her own decisions. of course, she wants the best for her snake so she's letting me get him happy. and she's willing to learn about proper husbandry. i mean, i cant just cast away a potential herper just because she's at pre-noob level. but i will not give her the snake back until she has a stable job.

well, i came back from work and found that Ferrero (like the chocolate) hasn't regurgitated, so i'm feeling confident that it won't be an issue.


about the age, i dunno how old he really is. but the bellybutton is barely there, so he's definately much older than 3 months. his spurs are freakin huge.

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i mean, i cant just cast away a potential herper just because she's at pre-noob level.

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It is not the pre-noob or newbie side of it that is the problem it is the obvious financial situation does not allow her to provide proper supply or to feed her animal weekly, and let not even talk about what would happen if the animal was sick.

Owning an animal requires to be responsible and have the means to provide for the animal, if it is not the case it is best for the animal to be re-homed whether is temporarily until the financial situation gets better or definitively if it does not.

An animal should not be a financial burden, just like an animal should not have to suffer because of the inability of it’s owner provide for him.

If you lead a horse to water....
I guess in this situation, always do what is best for the animal. If she can't house it now, do you have room to take care of it in quarantine? Maybe work with her and teach her all she needs to know about proper care. Hopefully she will see the wisdom in getting a job.

Definitely not, this animal should be considered at this point a rescue animal, and you should either care for it now, or find someone who is capable and has the means to do so.

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Originally Posted by anthrpicdecadnce

i just received a snake from a friend of mine's friend today. ....

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Why was the snake given to you in the first place??? That answer has some bearing on my opinion about whether or not it should go back to its original owner. If she GAVE you the snake....then it doesn't matter what her mother thinks. The snake belongs to you and you have no obligation whatsoever to send it back to someone who can't care for it.

If you agreed to take it in just to "fix it" and then give it back...then you have to follow through with what you've said you would do. But if I were doing that, I'd definitely be willing to part with some cash out of my own pocket to make sure the animal went back with as ideal a set-up as you can put together. Whether or not you can legally hold onto it until she "has a job" would depend on the initial agreement and reason why you have the snake to begin with.

I can't believe people still buy heat rocks. I've never heard anything good about them, too unstable. I wouldn't give it back unless either you or the original owner fork over the cash for a proper setup. If she gave it to you because it wasn't doing well then why would you give it back. It's only going to go back to the same bad enviroment. Tell her you can care for it until she gets what it needs. If you have the space and if her mommy is willing to let her grown daughter make that choice.

Not having a job might explain why she wasn't feeding him regularly but it doesn't explain why his cage was so filthy. If a person doesn't have common sense to clean a cage then no amount of money will fix that brand of stupid. Keep the snake.

If Mom says to give it back them you should inform Mom what this animal needs and she should ante up and purchase the correct husbandry items to maintain a proper set up. Then tell her you will be more than happy to return the snake. Until then she need to put her $ where her opinion is. Regurg is very serious and could cause burns that are not repairable as well as tremendous suffering. Some people just don't know what is needed to properly care for the snake so now that you are involved you need to teach them and/or direct them to this site so they can get the proper info. if the daughter can't afford the care foranimal and Mom is backing her Mom should step in.

i say take care of the BP, show her proper husbandry, wait 'till she gets a job, and then give her her snake back.

Nooooo! she's obviously already demonstrated that money or NO money, she's incapable or unwilling to care for the snake in the manner it deserves. If necessary, her mom can sign a homemade form relinquishing any rights of ownership.

Rehab, and if necessary rehome the snake to someone who will care for it properly!

I'm with Judy on this. How as this snake "given" to you and under what agreement? Was it agreed you would get this snake back up to snuff and return it? Are you to be compensated financially for your time, work and any supplies or vet visits required? If this snake is this small and is truly an adult it's either been severely neglected or may be carrying quite a load of internal parasites so a fecal is definitely in order. Will the owner cover this cost? It may be in the snake's best interest to go over projected costs for it's full recovery with the owner and her mother, then if they are not willing to pay same, have them sign a document releasing the snake into your care permanently.

i'm always of the belief that it's better to teach someone how to do it properly than to walk away and leave them in the dark.

talk with her, teach her and see how's she's taking the information. if she's obviously moved to action by your words... and obviously learning... then assisting her to get her snake to health and then keeping it that way is the best case scenerio IMO. after all, sometimes people just don't 'know' or 'realize' they are doing something REALLY wrong until they are shown the light.

as a woman who's 44... i can't begin to list all the stupid, ignorant mistakes i've made over the years... and if someone(s) didn't take me by the hand and slap some sense into me... i wouldn't be where/who i am today.

Judy nailed it. If they put it in your care for help, you can't steal their snake. All you can do it help them take better care of it, or get them to sell it to you.

If they gave it to you, set whatever requirements you like.

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i'm always of the belief that it's better to teach someone how to do it properly than to walk away and leave them in the dark.

talk with her, teach her and see how's she's taking the information. if she's obviously moved to action by your words... and obviously learning... then assisting her to get her snake to health and then keeping it that way is the best case scenerio IMO. after all, sometimes people just don't 'know' or 'realize' they are doing something REALLY wrong until they are shown the light.

as a woman who's 44... i can't begin to list all the stupid, ignorant mistakes i've made over the years... and if someone(s) didn't take me by the hand and slap some sense into me... i wouldn't be where/who i am today.

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Nope, nope, nope!! :mad: Even someone who doesn't know the proper husbandry of heating, humidity requirements should know you dont leave an animal crawling around in it's own feces.....! C'moooo-oooon!!!!

No money to feed it?? It doesn't cost anything to CLEAN ITS CAGE! That's just simple neglect.

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Originally Posted by Snakeman

i say take care of the BP, show her proper husbandry, wait 'till she gets a job, and then give her her snake back.

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that's what my plan was for the snake.


oh, update, ferrero left two pieces of shed this morning, resulting in a complete shed, followed by a large piece of duke ^_^

I fed him after i returned from school, and he took it down fast! he seems to be getting some color back, though i believe his reduced amount of yellow pigment is genetic. He no longer balls, and is actually quite active. I feel a bit of pride knowing i did this...

oh, and to answer some questions, she gave me the snake to nurse to health. she seemed willing to learn proper husbandry as well. the fact that she's leaving the snake in my care is enough to show she really wants the best for ferrero. I will get reimburse for w/e monetary assets i shell out for this snake. Her mom opposes me even taking care of the snake in the first place, so it's going to be hard to get her to sign anything. She claims she used to have a bunch of snakes a long time ago (yeah, where are they now?), yet she opposes f/t feeding, and thinks the snakes should only be fed live. To make matters worse (or better i guess?), she turned off her daughters cell phone so i havent been able to get a hold of her. sigh.. life goes on.

as an added bonus, Rodent pro is sending me 50 weaned rats! my two personal snakes are gonna love that ^_^

I would say, teach her proper husbandry, have her set up a proper enclosure for the snake, and if it's all RIGHT, then give the snake back. Some people just don't have any common sense, but do all right with detailed instruction. Give her a cage-cleaning schedule, too. Sounds like the mother is actually a serious hinderance in all of this. Print out a few things for the snake's owner, and then see if she actually reads them--that will help determine her real attitude.

I'd say, take a page from the ASPCA--give the owner a chance to turn it around, but then if they don't...that's when you throw the book at them.