Please help!! I think my girl is in pain!!

I lifted my adult Ball Python's hide box just a few minutes ago, and I noticed she was really dark in color; she's been getting darker and darker this past week, and I've assumed she's ready to go into shed. But even before a shed, I don't think she's ever been this dark, and her eyes haven't clouded at all. Her belly is really pink; normally it doesn't get THAT pink before shed, and I considered a burn. However, the floor of her hide box is warm but not hot to my hand. I thickened the substrate layer just in case.

I stroked her for a minute so I didn't surprise her, then I attempted to lift her and she hissed at me. She's hissed at me before, just to let me know she's irked and thinks her bath water is too hot or something like that, but this was a really nasty hiss that lasted longer than anything I've heard from her before. I stroked her again and moved her out of the way so I could put her hide back. She was obviously in extreme pain or really stressed out; I wasn’t going to take her out.

So I've been thinking of possibilities; is there any chance she might be in shed, even though her eyes are still deep black? And she can't see very well, so she hissed at me?

Also, there is another possibility; a very stressful situation occurred last night. It was around 11:00, and I was sitting on my bedroom floor letting her crawl around.... and before I knew it, she had stuck her head into one of the holes on my laundry basket. She wasn't going to fit, but if I tried pulling her out she would resist and probably hurt herself. So I gave her her space, thinking she would try to pull herself out backwards. But she didn't. She pulled herself through this tiny, sharp-edged hole in my laundry basket... it took about ten minutes for her to squeeze through, and the whole time I was biting my lip and trying not to cry or stress her out more. I really wanted to help, but I knew me getting involved would scare her and then she might really hurt herself.


Do you think she might be hurting from the tight squeeze last night?

Please help me, I'm really really scared for her!

It sounds to me like she is going into a deep shed and just wants to be left alone. The incident last night probably stressed her out too. I'd keep an eye on her if you think something is wrong, but I think she'll be just fine after a few days of no handling and a good shed.

I second Eric's response deep sheds usually blue up quickly and then get really dark. Pink bellies are normal as well with deep sheds

I'll third Eric's post. It sounds like she's in shed and a little grumpy over it. Let her be, and wait for a good shed.

Sounds like she is in shed, but there's a remote possiblity that she could have broken a rib geting through the hole in the laundry basket.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Sounds like she is in shed, but there's a remote possiblity that she could have broken a rib geting through the hole in the laundry basket.

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I agree with everyone that it is probably a deep shed. Keep an eye on her in case, like Slim said, she broke a rib. But my 1800 gram girl squeezed through a tiny hole that I never dreamt she could get through, and she was fine.

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Originally Posted by LGL

It sounds to me like she is going into a deep shed and just wants to be left alone. The incident last night probably stressed her out too. I'd keep an eye on her if you think something is wrong, but I think she'll be just fine after a few days of no handling and a good shed.

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May I ask, what is a "deep" shed? I have never heard that term before.

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However, the floor of her hide box is warm but not hot to my hand

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This part concerns me. What about a temp gun, or a digital thermometer to monitor your temps?

Remember that our core body temp is 98.6 degrees, so something that just feels warm to US may be hot enough to burn your animal.

You absolutely HAVE to know the exact temps. You can't guess at this stuff, not when a life that depends on you is at stake.

You can pick up a digitial thermometer/hygrometer from Walmart for $12. It's in where they keep the indoor/outdoor thermometers in the hardware department. This is the one many of us use:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...mageloader.gif

Additionally, your heat pad needs to be controlled by a thermostat (preferred) or rheostat (not as good as a thermostat if your room temps change).

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

May I ask, what is a "deep" shed? I have never heard that term before.

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This is the first I've heard about a deep shed also. I'm curious too!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

This part concerns me. What about a temp gun, or a digital thermometer to monitor your temps?

Remember that our core body temp is 98.6 degrees, so something that just feels warm to US may be hot enough to burn your animal.

You absolutely HAVE to know the exact temps. You can't guess at this stuff, not when a life that depends on you is at stake.

You can pick up a digitial thermometer/hygrometer from Walmart for $12. It's in where they keep the indoor/outdoor thermometers in the hardware department. This is the one many of us use:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...mageloader.gif

Additionally, your heat pad needs to be controlled by a thermostat (preferred) or rheostat (not as good as a thermostat if your room temps change).

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Actually, I do have that verty thermometer, $12 at Walmart. (By the way, I love it!) Over the heat pad, it is always between 90-92 during the day, and a little lower at night. But I check it with my hand regularly, just in case.

And I do intend on getting a thermostat, but I'm not sure whether to use it for the 100w CHE (on all night too) or the heat pad. Or both?

Thank you so much everybody! Her eyes clouded today. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

Actually, I do have that verty thermometer, $12 at Walmart. (By the way, I love it!) Over the heat pad, it is always between 90-92 during the day, and a little lower at night. But I check it with my hand regularly, just in case.

And I do intend on getting a thermostat, but I'm not sure whether to use it for the 100w CHE (on all night too) or the heat pad. Or both?

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both

you dont want the thermostat to turn off your uth but let you che fry from above.

and double check cuz lots of times you dont need a che with the uth your just makeing a bigger battle for yourself to keep up the humidity

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

Thank you so much everybody! Her eyes clouded today. :cool:

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glad to hear shes okay:)

no one explained what a deep shed is. i'm interested in knowing this.

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Originally Posted by PanteraKatie

no one explained what a deep shed is. i'm interested in knowing this.

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Deep shed, from my understanding an observation is just a snake that is very close to shedding and/or having a hard time getting to the point where they can slough due to inadequate temperatures/humidity or stress. Speaking from my own experience I know that certain animals shed faster (usually the younger ones) and will go from pink belly (usually the first sign of a shed) to blue, to clear, to shed sometimes in 4-5 days. While at the same time another snake housed in the same exact environment with humidity and temps exactly the same will take a week and half to 2 weeks to go through the whole cycle and may be in "deep blue" (eyes extremely cloudy to the point where you can hardly see the iris and scales very very dark) for up to a week.
Hope this helps. I'm sure other people have different experiences also :D.

Yeah, my girl takes usually over a week to shed. Which I'm not happy about because I get so lonely without being able to hold her!!

My big girl always takes a long time to shed, even with the perfect conditions. She takes 3 weeks. She always has even from her previous owner. She is 6 years ols.

As for the tight squeeze I live by the rule if the head can get through the rest can too? My new boa proved that. He is a very solid snake and about pop can thick. Well I had him out and he was chilaxing on my bed, which he seems to just love doing, hes a lap snake. Well I needed to use the washroom and rather than fight hin back into his cage I just took him with me. I placed him on the floor thinking he will just slither around a couple minutes. Well the space under the door is about a half inch, 3/4 inch at most, but thats enough to get his head under. And this is what he did, he went under till about a foot where he started o get thicker and then the waiting game began. You can't pull them back wards so I had to wait till he got all the way. Meanwhile I am trapped in the bathroom since opening the door would be a bad thing. Took him about a half hour to squeeze his way through. When he was done my cat ( who is used to the snake and will not hurt them, she keeps her distance and just watches) she was sitting with this look on her face like wtf? Anyway he was fine, tired since he just went right back to chilaxing on my bed agian while I watched a movie.

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

My big girl always takes a long time to shed, even with the perfect conditions. She takes 3 weeks. She always has even from her previous owner. She is 6 years ols.

As for the tight squeeze I live by the rule if the head can get through the rest can too? My new boa proved that. He is a very solid snake and about pop can thick. Well I had him out and he was chilaxing on my bed, which he seems to just love doing, hes a lap snake. Well I needed to use the washroom and rather than fight hin back into his cage I just took him with me. I placed him on the floor thinking he will just slither around a couple minutes. Well the space under the door is about a half inch, 3/4 inch at most, but thats enough to get his head under. And this is what he did, he went under till about a foot where he started o get thicker and then the waiting game began. You can't pull them back wards so I had to wait till he got all the way. Meanwhile I am trapped in the bathroom since opening the door would be a bad thing. Took him about a half hour to squeeze his way through. When he was done my cat ( who is used to the snake and will not hurt them, she keeps her distance and just watches) she was sitting with this look on her face like wtf? Anyway he was fine, tired since he just went right back to chilaxing on my bed agian while I watched a movie.

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Wow, 3 weeks! That's pretty long.
Yes, I agree with that, too. To keep myself from going crazy while I saw my baby squeeze through a tiny, sharp-edged area, I kept talking to her. I said "You got yourself into this, and you're going to have to get yourself out." And she did. Like you said, it's impossible to pull them out backwards; they will flex their muscles and wedge themselves, which might hurt more. And I don't think there is any major risk. Snakes aren't stupid (well, they aren't exactly bright (my girl's proved that many times!)). They have survived long enough in the wild. There is no reason any snake would squeeze into a space that would hurt them unless they were very threatened.

Hi,

Just for future readers it is not impossible to pull them out backwards - it is merely a slow, careful process.

You should not try this at all if there are rough, sharp edges on the inside of the hole they are going through - in that case just hold until you can find an alternative way in or give up and retrieve them later.

But if the only thing holding them in is their own muscle strength wrapped around something then here is how I have done it in the past;

You cannot force them out when they are actively fighting but if you keep hold to prevent them going further in they will eventually relax a little - at that point you can usually retrieve a couple fo centimeters before they tense up again. When they tense up stop pulling immediately and just wait until the next relaxation.

It will take a very, very long time for a decent sized snake (I was doing this with a six foot king snake going into an ornamental fireplace with holes directly into other flats through the floor and no way to dismantle it short of a sledgehammer. Not a good idea in a rented flat ) it took me just over four hours to finally get him loose - at which point he bit the bejessus out of me and pooped everywhere. :rolleyes:

But remember - if there are sharp edges it is definately worth trying to find plan B.


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Just for future readers it is not impossible to pull them out backwards - it is merely a slow, careful process.

You should not try this at all if there are rough, sharp edges on the inside of the hole they are going through - in that case just hold until you can find an alternative way in or give up and retrieve them later.

But if the only thing holding them in is their own muscle strength wrapped around something then here is how I have done it in the past;

You cannot force them out when they are actively fighting but if you keep hold to prevent them going further in they will eventually relax a little - at that point you can usually retrieve a couple fo centimeters before they tense up again. When they tense up stop pulling immediately and just wait until the next relaxation.

It will take a very, very long time for a decent sized snake (I was doing this with a six foot king snake going into an ornamental fireplace with holes directly into other flats through the floor and no way to dismantle it short of a sledgehammer. Not a good idea in a rented flat ) it took me just over four hours to finally get him loose - at which point he bit the bejessus out of me and pooped everywhere. :rolleyes:

But remember - if there are sharp edges it is definately worth trying to find plan B.


dr del

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LOL oh man. That'd drive me insane. Sorry sorry I'm not laughing at you! But I lawl'd so hard I almost fell out of my chair :rofl: