Very frustrated

I have had my snake for just about a month and despite the best of intentions I can't seem to do anything right for him. So far he's had a respiratory infection; which he is cured of now; he shed, then he went into hiding and because of all the stress he has shed again. I left him alone for ten days and only changed his water. Finally tonight I took him out to look him over and he still has a lot of his shed left and a long stretch of his belly seems red and irritated. Even parts of his belly that have already shed look raw and irritated. I don't know what to do. It seems that no matter what I do or don't do I end up harming him. Please give me some advice.

if it just shed you are looking at a burnt belly or scale rot.you should post pics of everything you have for further advice

As soon as I put him back in the tank he hid right away. I'll take him out again tomorrow and take some pictures to post. I don't want to traumatize him tonight. Thanks for the info.

Hi,

If it is either scale rot or a burn you are almost certainly looking at something wrong with the environment.

Putting him back in that to de-stress isn't the best of ideas.

When you have him out to check and take the pics double check the temps in the hides, directly on top of the heat source etc to se if any of it is dangerously high and check the humidity and look for wet spots in the substrate.

What are you using for substrate again?


dr del

why dont you also take pics of your setup and describe it for us. if there are ways that you can improve in your husbandry then im sure lots of stress can be relieved and your animal will do much better.

I know you probably already told us what your setup is, but you probably need to refresh our memories :). Also, post pics of his belly if you can. I know you will be stressing him again, but with reptiles if you don't take care of whatever is ailing them immediately, they will go downhill pretty fast.

My apologies for making a thread asking for help and then waiting so long to respond to your suggestions. We have been asked to put in a lot of over time recently making for very long work days. I did take time off work to get kashmir to the vet though. He said that kashmir does not have scale rot and does not have an infection. The redness may be due to his shed combined with him possibly laying for too long in a wet spot from water or urine. He is having a poor shed many scales on his belly have remained and collected substrate some of which is damp which does not help the problem. I bathed him in chlorhexidine; (surgical scrub); greatly diluted with water and applied fuciderm cream to his belly to help prevent infection. He is in a clear plastic tub with many holes drilled in for air. He has paper towel for substrate. Temperatures are 80F cool, 95F warm, 80F ambient. Humidity is 70% which I understand is good for problem sheds. All of these temps. are now consistent as opposed to the glass tank that he was in. He has not eaten since the 5th of December so the vet gave him a vitamin shot. I basically leave kashmir to himself except to apply the cream ever three days. My only concern is his health and well being. I am learning; unfortunately at Kashmir's expense. I hope his new environment will solve many problems and that soon things will level out for him. Again I am sorry for creating a thread and abandoning it but my life got a little hectic there for a while. Thank you everyone for your help and concern. Chris

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Originally Posted by 8Ball

My apologies for making a thread asking for help and then waiting so long to respond to your suggestions. We have been asked to put in a lot of over time recently making for very long work days. I did take time off work to get kashmir to the vet though. He said that kashmir does not have scale rot and does not have an infection. The redness may be due to his shed combined with him possibly laying for too long in a wet spot from water or urine. He is having a poor shed many scales on his belly have remained and collected substrate some of which is damp which does not help the problem. I bathed him in chlorhexidine; (surgical scrub); greatly diluted with water and applied fuciderm cream to his belly to help prevent infection. He is in a clear plastic tub with many holes drilled in for air. He has paper towel for substrate. Temperatures are 80F cool, 95F warm, 80F ambient. Humidity is 70% which I understand is good for problem sheds. All of these temps. are now consistent as opposed to the glass tank that he was in. He has not eaten since the 5th of December so the vet gave him a vitamin shot. I basically leave kashmir to himself except to apply the cream ever three days. My only concern is his health and well being. I am learning; unfortunately at Kashmir's expense. I hope his new environment will solve many problems and that soon things will level out for him. Again I am sorry for creating a thread and abandoning it but my life got a little hectic there for a while. Thank you everyone for your help and concern. Chris

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70% humidity is kinda high try lowering it some more i wouldnt go over 60% at all.
even from this discription it sounds like scale rot i hope you want to a herp vet but something just doesnt sound right

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Originally Posted by 8Ball

My apologies for making a thread asking for help and then waiting so long to respond to your suggestions. We have been asked to put in a lot of over time recently making for very long work days. I did take time off work to get kashmir to the vet though. He said that kashmir does not have scale rot and does not have an infection. The redness may be due to his shed combined with him possibly laying for too long in a wet spot from water or urine. He is having a poor shed many scales on his belly have remained and collected substrate some of which is damp which does not help the problem. I bathed him in chlorhexidine; (surgical scrub); greatly diluted with water and applied fuciderm cream to his belly to help prevent infection. He is in a clear plastic tub with many holes drilled in for air. He has paper towel for substrate. Temperatures are 80F cool, 95F warm, 80F ambient. Humidity is 70% which I understand is good for problem sheds. All of these temps. are now consistent as opposed to the glass tank that he was in. He has not eaten since the 5th of December so the vet gave him a vitamin shot. I basically leave kashmir to himself except to apply the cream ever three days. My only concern is his health and well being. I am learning; unfortunately at Kashmir's expense. I hope his new environment will solve many problems and that soon things will level out for him. Again I am sorry for creating a thread and abandoning it but my life got a little hectic there for a while. Thank you everyone for your help and concern. Chris

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So I understand he is in a tub now, this is good. What size is the tub?
What are you using for a heat source?
If he still has stuck shed, soak him in luke-warm/room temp. water for about 40-60 minutes and rub it off with a damp towel.
Your snake will likely hide often. Ball pythons are very shy and it is a much better sign for them to be hiding then to be roaming around.
You have one or two hides?

For the eating thing, we want to solve that early as well. What have you been trying to feed him, and how are you attempting to go about that? Explain all of your procedures in the feeding process.
:]

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Originally Posted by nixer

70% humidity is kinda high try lowering it some more i wouldnt go over 60% at all

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During a shed and in the process of healing, having the humidity a little higher can help. It is not dangerous to have high humidity until it goes over 80-85% or when condensation starts to build up.

I live in a place were there is only one vet in town that treats exotic pets so I don't have too many options there. I've been attempting to feed him a jumbo sized mouse every two weeks. I thaw it out in warm water, dry it with a paper towel then put it in the tank over night. He seems curious and checks it out but never touches it. I always hope when I wake up in the morning it will be gone but no such luck. He is a full grown male and the breeder told me that he has always taken frozen medium sized rats without a problem. The pet store was out of med. rats hence the jumbo mice but then they got more in stock so I tried a rat and still no luck. Do you think I should bath him some more even with some redness to his belly? I'm not sure if that would irritate his condition more or not? I am currently heating him with a heat pad for humans. I have a pvc tank coming in the mail from boaphile with a double thermostat but it's taking a little longer then expected to get here.

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Originally Posted by 8Ball

I live in a place were there is only one vet in town that treats exotic pets so I don't have too many options there. I've been attempting to feed him a jumbo sized mouse every two weeks. I thaw it out in warm water, dry it with a paper towel then put it in the tank over night. He seems curious and checks it out but never touches it. I always hope when I wake up in the morning it will be gone but no such luck. He is a full grown male and the breeder told me that he has always taken frozen medium sized rats without a problem. The pet store was out of med. rats hence the jumbo mice but then they got more in stock so I tried a rat and still no luck. Do you think I should bath him some more even with some redness to his belly? I'm not sure if that would irritate his condition more or not? I am currently heating him with a heat pad for humans. I have a pvc tank coming in the mail from boaphile with a double thermostat but it's taking a little longer then expected to get here.

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I don't think it will irritate it, but if it seems to worsen, stop it immediately. Shorten the process.

Alright, get the uth with the thermostat up as soon as possible. As for the eating procedure, I suggest feeding every 5-7 days, not every 2 weeks. Do you know how much he weighs or his length?
You should be feeding him something about the same thickness as the thickest point on his body. Right now, you need to get him to eat, so purchase a live sm. rat (or mouse depending on his size reference) and put it in the tub. Put the tub in a dark, quiet area and leave him alone for a good hour. Well fed rats and mice won't attack the snake.
Do this after he's settled in his enclosure for at least a week.
After the hour is up, if the rat is still there, remove it and wait a week. Then do the same thing. Leave him completely alone for all of this time, with as little-no handling as possible.

Should I try feeding him if he is still shedding? Also if I feed him live is it hard to get him to take frozen again. The problem is I am without a vehicle for the next few months and we're talking about a $40 cab ride to the pet store every time he's fed. I'll do what I have to but I just want to do what's smartest in my given situation. He weighs something like 1705g or 3 3/4 lbs and he's just over 4 feet long. I'm sure he's lost some weight in the last month not eating. His skin is more loose then when I first got him. How long can he go safely without food?

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Originally Posted by 8Ball

Should I try feeding him if he is still shedding? Also if I feed him live is it hard to get him to take frozen again. The problem is I am without a vehicle for the next few months and we're talking about a $40 cab ride to the pet store every time he's fed. I'll do what I have to but I just want to do what's smartest in my given situation. He weighs something like 1705g or 3 3/4 lbs and he's just over 4 feet long. I'm sure he's lost some weight in the last month not eating. His skin is more loose then when I first got him. How long can he go safely without food?

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Try to feed him two f/t mice then. Have you tried doing the zombie dance? It sounds like your just setting the animal down in the enclosure to be eaten.

At that size, he should definitely be eating small-med. rats, but feed two mice if have to.
I feed during sheds without any problems. (except refusals)

Actually I have tried dancing the mice around with tongs. I'm never sure if he's going to mistake my hand as part of dinner. I'll try feeding him tonight. Hopefully he'll go for it.

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Originally Posted by 8Ball

He weighs something like 1705g or 3 3/4 lbs and he's just over 4 feet long. I'm sure he's lost some weight in the last month not eating. His skin is more loose then when I first got him. How long can he go safely without food?

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At that weight, a ball python can go a LONG time without food. I rescued a WC girl that was sold to an unexperienced and unwitting kid at a show. He couldn't get her to eat, so he put her up on Craigslist after a month of refusals. She was 1800 grams when I got her, and to this day still hasn't eaten for me. I got her 6+ months ago, so she hasn't eaten in AT LEAST 7 or 8 months, and she has only lost around 100 grams. At first I offered food once a week, but have since dropped to offering once every two weeks. Tonight is the next attempt, so wish me luck... I want her to hurry up and start eating so I can FINALLY take her out and get her used to handling. (She has been in her tub this whole time, undisturbed except for water changes, spot cleanings, and feeding attempts)

Kashmir finally took a mouse tonight! I thawed one out, dried it off and dangled it in front of his hide and man he snatched it up with lightening speed. I`m very happy but just because he took it doesn`t mean he`ll eat it and even if he eats it ; it doesn`t mean he`ll keep it down. So I turned out the lights and left the room to give him some privacy and now I`m just waiting and hoping.