Rescue RTB

We received a call to come get this Boa. The owner said he had a real bad nose rub that healed over.

As you can see, the scar tissue kind of "bulbs" over her nostrils on both sides. She is also extremely skinny.

I have not tried to feed her yet because she just arrived so this post may be a bit premature. I would imagine it would be pretty hard for her to eat with her nostrils blocked like that. Any ideas of what can be done, if anything?

Here's a head shot of her....sorry it's a bit blurry, it was taken through the door of her enclosure as she was a bit angry....

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j...ldwurm/rtb.jpg

Her condition led me to believe things were more serious than I thought...

her condition led me to believe she was close to death...her poor nose is rubbed so raw....shes so skinny...

I spent the night with her, in her last stages...offering her anything to comfort her passing....

including trying one last ditch effort of offering a mouse hopper (mind you she's well over 7 feet)...she took it!! WOW!!..one gulp but one step too!!!...excited and probably over zealous, I defrosted a guinea pig, dipped it in water(because she is sooo dehydrated) and offered it......

nothing....crap!!

I was going to take it out of her enclosure but she seemed overly stressed so I left it......

this snake rocks!! the pig is gone and she is looking for more....one of the 'bubbles" on her nose seems to be knocked off (though i do not see an open nostril)....

I'll give her a few days and offer another FT gpig....gotts tell ya, I was in tears with this girl....she made me proud!! :gj:

Great job Ohballs!!!!! :gj:

The nostrils being blocked won't make too much of a difference to her feeding as they bring forward their oesophagus and put it to one side to enable them to continue breathing whilst they feed.

The 'lumps' on her snout may well drop off (if they're scabs) or shrink as time passes and she shed's more.

I'm sure she's going to receive the love & dedication that she deserves now........Well done!!!!

S. ;)

That is awesome that you took her in like that.

And she ATE!!!

Defiantly keep us posted on this girl.

Major Kudos to you!

OMG! I thought it was going to be a "she died in the night' story and so I was bracing myself for that sadness. WooHoo!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!! A happy beginning that I am certain must be leading to a happy ending!!!! I am so happy for her in that she now has you!!!! :carrot::fest2::carrot:

That is so wonderful!!!! It brought a tear to my eye, tell her from me, Way to go girl!!!!!!!!!

keep us updated on her progress!

Thank you everyone! She seems to have a little more pep today, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

best of luck with this girl. sounds like shes doing better already.

That's awesome man. Good luck with her. :gj:

Congrats on the feeding. Just take it slow though, don't rush her meals too much as far as frequency or big jumps in prey size/total volume. She may well need to see the vet at some point but you'll know best from your hands on experience with her about that. I'd likely have a fecal float done though just to be safe. Hopefully you've got her very strictly quarantined from the others.

Poor snake, it's just horrible that people let living creatures end up like this. It's a blessing you've got her and are committed to doing your best to give her a chance to come back to full health. Take lots of pictures so you can look back one day and see how far she's come. :)

Small Update:

Shes doing fantastic....has eaten twice, wrecked her enclusure (so she's feeling peppy...lol)

her nose is slowly healing but I'm afraid she will certainly scar...at least we know it wont stand in the way of her food!!

I think she's gonna be fine :)

Great news!!!!! :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by firebellied

Great news!!!!! :gj:

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Thanks! She had me worried

I think she had us all worried!

Real glad that she's doing so well now though....Nice one Ohballs!!! :D

*in my best "America's Most Wanted voice*UPDATE: RTB defies gravity to get food!

I had thought with her nose injury she would have trouble eating...but a few weeks later, several FT meals later....a poop and a shed....I decided to offer a couple of large live rats I bought....

well apparently, she LIKES live...ALOT

her super ability to fly through the air, open mouthed, made me want to put a super hero cape on her!! :P She had this doomed evil villian rat coiled even before she struck it!

we named her tonight ....Phoenix...because the life this poor girl had, she may as well have been dead...but she is reborn and full of fire......(thats MY explaination)....the boyfriend said it's because Phoenix was a super hero in X-Men comics...:D...who knew???

time to sew up a little cape!!