Newbie needing help with a baby

I am new here & just found this site. I have 3 snakes all together here. All in seprate tanks. The first one I bought was a 10 yr. old Desert King, male, my sister's roomate gave use a baby Ball. My boy Friend had him first, then gave him back to me. He is now 2 years old. I recently purchased a 2 month old baby female ball.
I am very familiar with snakes, but am clueless with this baby one. :( She seems to be having a shedding problem & I am not sure on what to do. My Boy Friend (who's been into reptiles for over 20 yrs.) got me all in a panic now. :O I was hoping someone could help here? I got her on the 8th of May. She was going into
the blue phase. She did shed some, but not all. My daughter took her out to help her with her shed. My daughter showed me some spots that were small reddish spots. Almost like an indian sunburn.
I called my boy friend who, said my snake has a fungus? I've heard of it, but never seen it before. Someone on another site said it was skin rot. I looked that up on the net & it does not look like that at all. The parts that didn't shed just looks pruney. I have been soaking her. I am so hoping that helps.
Has anyone here ever have a problem shedding? What actually is fungi on a snake? How bad can it get?

TIA,
Yvette

Is there any way you can get some pictures of the area up?

I'm taking my BPs to the vet tomorrow for scale rot; i didn't know what it was until yesterday, and because i wasn't treating it right I'm now seeing how bad it can get, and it can definitely get bad. My female BP has a few large open wounds on her belly now that aren't healing, and the surround area is one large red, painful sore. I will post pics eventually, but it can get very bad and be really painful for the snake.

Pictures would definitely help. If it's a bad shed, if you followed our tutorial on removing stuck shed - she should be fine.

Many times, the first shed with a new owner will be a bad shed as they are acclimating to a new home.

Post some pictures if you can and we'll go from there - and btw :welcome:

Thanx for the welcome. :)
And I will be posting pictures in a bit. :)

This is the answer I made on the other forum you posted on

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NO MORE SOAKING BP are not meant to soak everyday for that long. "I’ve been bathing her for an hour each day & misting her down."

Provide proper humidity and you will not need to soak your BP this mean having a reliable reading with a DIGITAL HYGROMETER

NO VINEGAR EITHER

Now in the morning you need to make a phone call and make an appointment to an herp vet.

My guess is that your snake shows the beginning of scale rot.

Remove the substrate, replace it with paper towel.

Clean the area with betadine and apply some triple anti-biotic ointment (WITHOUT painkiller)

The vet visit is important depending on the extent of the damage, infection can set in and anti-biotics might be needed so getting the vet to evaluate your BP is important.

Now this is the most likely guess however do you own a DIGITAL thermometer and do you measure your temps at the bottom of the enclosure and do you own a thermostat?

If not this could be a thermal burn if so same as above.

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Well this is her. I hope I did this right?
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...nake_thumb.jpg

**edit by dr del**

You had posted the picture correctly but the picture was larger than 800 pixels wide so I changed it to a thumbnail linking to the larger picture. Hope that was ok.

**end edit**

Sorry so big! Now I need to learn to resize! Owvey! :rolleyes:
I did get a picture of her belly. I don't know why it didn't show on my computer? I am very lousy at pictures. I did post on another site. I felt like I was being at bit bashed. I am new to this & want
to help. Not get yelled at. At the moment the vet is not an option. I have 2 proms & one graduation & am even having a hard time with finances for those. I was hopeing there is something I can do at home.
Anyways, Thank you Dr. Del. If you look down towards her tail. All that shinny is the shed. It is coming off very slowly in small peices.

Nobody? Well, she feed yesturday on 4 pinkies, if that helps?

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Originally Posted by Yvette

Nobody? Well, she feed yesturday on 4 pinkies, if that helps?

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Mice? if so pinkies are WAY TOO SMALL for any BP, hatchling are generally started on hoppers and move quickly to adult mice.

You need to feed a prey slightly smaller than girth size one a week.

Okay, right then. Could you tell us the details of her enclosure such as how you heat and if you use thermostat or dimmer or...? Also maybe a little about the substrate, interior (hides, etc.) Also, perhaps if the pinkness is on the belly then a belly shot would be helpful!
There are good stickies that describe how to help a snake shed- you'll find them useful!!
There are lots of members who are sitting ready to help, though I think a bit more info from you is needed first!

You are doing great by asking for help, and the best option for your snake is to get herto herp vet, but if that is not possible at the moment, please follow Deborah's suggestions. Click on this link http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=43403 and follow it step by step, and you should have a happy shed bp in no time. After that it is very important that you carefully review our caresheets and adjust your set-up however needed to provide a temperature gradient of 90-93 on the warm side, low 80's on the cool side and 50-60% humidity.

Measuring temperature and humidity properly is equally important and is best done with a digital thermometer/hygrometer with a probe (at wal-mart you can get an accurite for $12 so you won't bust the bank, but please get one if you are using dials or have no probes to measure surface temps)

Since we do not know for sure what the redness on the belly of your girl is, keep her on dry paper towel and keep her very clean (as Deborah mentioned) and you can use an triple-antibotic (without painkillers) such as neosporin to help her condition.

Over-all, If you can find the funds, she needs to see a vet. But we are here to help regardless.

Sorry to comeback late. Hectic weekend. Anyways, Vet isn't an option right now. I have no funds. As for Hoppers. None are available right now either. We just had 3 litters this weekend.
here are a few more pictures. I keep her at 85 to 90 degrees.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...nake_thumb.jpg

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...up_2_thumb.jpg

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...t_up_thumb.jpg

Its kinda hard to see what you have in the enclosure because the pictures are quite small, but I *think* I can see two identical hides, a water bowl, substrate and some foliage, which is great! But it is very open, so you to help your bp feel more secure, cover three sides of the enclosure with paper, aquarium background, cardboard whatever is available to you.

How are you reaching 90 degrees on the warm side? A UTH? If so is it controlled (by a thermostat, dimmer or rheostat) How are you measuring your temps and humidity?

Sorry about the photos. I am having problems uploading them.
Right now I have her in a 15 Gal. That is the only tanl I had at the time. I do have a 10 Gal. now. Should I switch again? I have a UTH on the warm side & a ditital Therm. on it. Hopefully I'll be able to get a better one this week sometime. I also copied the DIY for a humidifier. I'll be making a few soon.

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Originally Posted by Yvette

Sorry about the photos. I am having problems uploading them.
Right now I have her in a 15 Gal. That is the only tanl I had at the time. I do have a 10 Gal. now. Should I switch again? I have a UTH on the warm side & a ditital Therm. on it. Hopefully I'll be able to get a better one this week sometime. I also copied the DIY for a humidifier. I'll be making a few soon.

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15 gallons is ok, as long as its not super tall. I have a 15 gallon that measures 12 inch by 12 inch by 24 inch which I think is perfect for a juvenile/sub-adult.

With all UTH's, you should have some sort of control ( a lamp dimmer at the least, $9) and that brings me to why it is very important to have a thermometer with a probe. The probe should be buried beneath the substrate, right on the glass so you can measure the hottest temp you bp has access to (should she decide to burrow). This temp is MUCH hotter than the ambient temps, and WILL cause a severe burn if it reaches the maximum temp.

Your bp could have a belly burn if your UTH is uncontrolled, which would make sense from your description of her condition.


*800th post :banana:

I use aspen for subtrate & these are the other pruducts & use:
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products...hermometer.php
Just for now til I can get a better one.

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products...rainforest.php

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/glow_light.php

*bump*

I have no advice, but welcome!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yvette

I use aspen for subtrate & these are the other pruducts & use:
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products...hermometer.php
Just for now til I can get a better one.

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products...rainforest.php

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/glow_light.php

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Great products to use, but even with that rain forest UTH (no matter what the pet store guy/girl told you) you need a lamp dimmer or control of some sort to dial it down. Make sure you have got that probe from the thermometer stuck right to the glass above the UTH so you know how hot it is getting.

To save you a few bucks, and help you adjust your set-up, I highly recommend (as well as many others will) an accurite digital thermometer/hygrometer from walmart ($12) since one thermometer is not enough (you need to know the cool side, and the warm side temps, without having to move a single thermometer) The other reason I suggest this is because it reads humidity also which is VERY important.

What are you currently measuring humidity with? If you aren't measuring it at all, we're not going to freak out at you, but I cannot stress enough how important proper humidity is. The dial hygrometers are not reliable at all, and have been observed by myself and countless others to be off by more than 20%. You bp will continue to have bad sheds if you are not certain the humidity is 50-60% always.

The lamp you have will help with ambient temps should you need it, but a high wattage bulb will kill the humidity, so use an appropriate wattage bulb. To keep heat and humidity in, cover the top of your screen (leaving a few inches around the lamp) with plastic, or foil. You can even lay a damp towel (changed/washed a few times a week) over the open part of the screen.

I know it may seem that the same info is being repeated, but the reason for that is because it is important and is what you need to incorporate into your enclosure. If you have ANY specific questions, don't be afraid to ask, we will do our best to help.