BP not well at petco

ok so at petco we have a BP who's skinny and my guess is it hasnt eaten in quite a while. so i put it in the back in its own 10 gallon tank with a water bowl and 75 watt heat bulb. so far ive instructed in its wellness card to be given our "calcium supplement & appettite stimulant" 3 times a day as im sure this is what i need to give him to gain his strength back before attempting to feed him f/t pinkies(instead of fuzzies) in about a day or 2. luckily one of my co-workers is pretty knowledgeable about snakes so he knows how to give him the supplement after i showed him. is what im doing so far ok or is there something missing that im not doing?

Ungh... supplements, bah. I think just leaving the snake in an area with all the right conditions would work a lot better than giving it supplements. They'll end up just causing more stress.

Snakes don't need calcium or any kind of supplement, all the nutrition they need is in a convient rat/mouse package.

I think getting that snake out of a high traffic area and putting it into a quiet dark place with proper temps and humidity will do wonders.

What temps is the 10 gallon tank at? Does it have hides in the tank? Stressing it by handling it three times a day will make it not eat, much less administering calcium supplements which it doesn't need.
My advice would be to make a quiet dim cage, make CERTAIN the temps are proper(with a proper thermometer and not the dials or stick on ones) and plenty of humidity. Then leave it alone for a week, before you offer it a prey item of appropriate size.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

What temps is the 10 gallon tank at? Does it have hides in the tank? Stressing it by handling it three times a day will make it not eat, much less administering calcium supplements which it doesn't need.
My advice would be to make a quiet dim cage, make CERTAIN the temps are proper(with a proper thermometer and not the dials or stick on ones) and plenty of humidity. Then leave it alone for a week, before you offer it a prey item of appropriate size.

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good call
Proper temp + proper sized hide + low light and noise levels = good start.
then prescent with live mice for at least half an hour before attempting to feed; let him think about being hungry before you shove something in his face lol.

and check the temps at least twice... you dont want to 'guess' that they are ok!

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

What temps is the 10 gallon tank at? Does it have hides in the tank? Stressing it by handling it three times a day will make it not eat, much less administering calcium supplements which it doesn't need.
My advice would be to make a quiet dim cage, make CERTAIN the temps are proper(with a proper thermometer and not the dials or stick on ones) and plenty of humidity. Then leave it alone for a week, before you offer it a prey item of appropriate size.

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x2

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Originally Posted by Snakeman

ok so at petco we have a BP who's skinny and my guess is it hasnt eaten in quite a while. so i put it in the back in its own 10 gallon tank with a water bowl and 75 watt heat bulb. so far ive instructed in its wellness card to be given our "calcium supplement & appettite stimulant" 3 times a day as im sure this is what i need to give him to gain his strength back before attempting to feed him f/t pinkies(instead of fuzzies) in about a day or 2. luckily one of my co-workers is pretty knowledgeable about snakes so he knows how to give him the supplement after i showed him. is what im doing so far ok or is there something missing that im not doing?

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Just curious about something... what wellness card are you talking about? Is it something that's at Petco, or entirely something else from another source?

What everyone else said pretty much hit the important points... it's all about the habitat and keeping close watch on humidity and temperature. Also, providing hides in both the warm and cool side of the tank won't make the BP stress out as much and will feel secure.

yeah remove it from high traffic area .. I know the local pet shop has a bunch of bps and they all poor looking they claim to only feed once every 3 weeks is required but these guys under weight my 08 and the store snakes are larger in length than mine.

Chances are if you have a ball python in a glass 10 gallon tank with a heat bulb then your humidity is way way off. Try not to touch the snake at all let alone handle it three times daily. My snake doesn't do anything three times daily. I am pretty happy if it does anything at all 3 times weekly. About the only thing you should be doing with that setup 3 times a day is checking this thread for advice, maybe misting the tank, although ditching the bulb, adding and under the tank heat source on a thermostat and covering the top so that 25% or less is ventilated would be a better plan. As for your feeding plan. I hope you are talking about pinky rats. A pinky mouse is not a good choice for even a hatchling BP. I would go with a hopper mouse at the very least.

Everyone has offered great advice only thing I can suggest that hasnt been suggested (if it has I missed it & im sorry lol) you should cover up at least 3 sides of the tank w/ something dark, paper bags will work if u cant find anything darker.

GL w/ the lil thing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

What temps is the 10 gallon tank at? Does it have hides in the tank? Stressing it by handling it three times a day will make it not eat, much less administering calcium supplements which it doesn't need.
My advice would be to make a quiet dim cage, make CERTAIN the temps are proper(with a proper thermometer and not the dials or stick on ones) and plenty of humidity. Then leave it alone for a week, before you offer it a prey item of appropriate size.

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All of the hides ive seen at PETCO are the half log (inside the ball python tanks), or some other open hide, turned so you can see into it which probably defeats the purpose.... also they have like three snakes in a 10g tank.

Also from the petco by my house, there isnt even a thermometer or hydrometer in the tank, unless they have some hidden probe that can only be read from behind (which i doubt because i dont think there is anything behind it, just more tanks on the other side of the display)

You have to understand that this is not his animal and he is using the resources that he's ALLOWED to use.
Heat lamps may be all that are available.

The supplements I can understand as not needed, but the idea is correct. Getting the animal to a proper strength if it is that skinny may need more influence than feeding. Especially if the animal won't feed in the first place.

Not to mention, I don't have extra hides/thermometers/UTHs or Thermostats lying around my house to use on a sick animal at Petco when they probably wouldn't allow such an extravagant array of things for the animal. Not to mention taking the items to the animal would risk your animals if you ever wanted to bring them home.

Just my .02

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

You have to understand that this is not his animal and he is using the resources that he's ALLOWED to use.
Heat lamps may be all that are available.

The supplements I can understand as not needed, but the idea is correct. Getting the animal to a proper strength if it is that skinny may need more influence than feeding. Especially if the animal won't feed in the first place.

Not to mention, I don't have extra hides/thermometers/UTHs or Thermostats lying around my house to use on a sick animal at Petco when they probably wouldn't allow such an extravagant array of things for the animal. Not to mention taking the items to the animal would risk your animals if you ever wanted to bring them home.

Just my .02

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I am also going to say that its very likely that the setup is all that is allowed by the store managers, as well as feeding pinkies. When I was working at Petsmart, and part of the reason I quit, was because I knew what I wanted to do for the sick animals, I knew how to set them up correctly, and when I tried to do that I was told that I was going against store policy. They wouldnt even allow me to feed the snakes alone, because they knew I would try to give them the appropriate sized meal, which they saw as a waste of money. Its really sad that stores are selling these animals and not giving them the proper care or good advice to those who are buying them.

when i bought my first at petco, they said "heat lamp, heat pad, aspen, a water dish, and a log. thats it" all in a conveniant 40g glass enclosure... kinda odd, my snake didnt eat for MONTHS as a young'n. then i found this site, and shes a fatty -_-... she was doing fine in the 40g, but i figured the best thing to do was save for a nice tub. and shes stil eating =D and shes very nice!

i hope that lil bp in this situation comes out fine. i suggest adoption =D use company discounts to get teh supplies! save the little one! :taz:

yeah, I used to work for Petco back in 06...I can tell you right now that what you have available is not what you need. unfortunately the managers aren't going to let you do what's probably best for the snake, but instead go by petco "caresheets" and those little booklets they give you to become a "specialist".

trust me, working for Petco you learn very little in the way of proper animal care. like everyone else said, proper enclosure (dim, quiet, low traffic) with I'd say about 84ish temp (if you can't provide proper gradient...and I know you can't with that set up and those gauges lol), cover the 3 sides to reduce stress. the supplements will do more harm than good in the way of getting it to eat. it needs time to relax and get used to its surroundings. also, BPs aren't tree climbers, don't put branches and stuff in there...in the BP's condition it would probably injure itself trying to escape to find food when it IS hungry.

just keep it basic...2 hides if possible, water dish, aspen or newspaper, UTH with thermostat if available (probably not so if I were you I'd put the UTH on the opposite side from where the hide is...since you'll probably only be allowed 1). also, to keep humidity up you should cover half of the screen lid with saran wrap or something (keeping it away from the heat lamp....eww...heat lamps lol).

I know you just want what's best for the snake and you're only going by what your superiors allow...but if you can persuade them in any way...try to. Chances are they'll want you to do it their way, if there's no improvement in a week try to offer BP.net's methods.

sorry if this was long and drawn out...bit loopy on the new meds (shoulder pain...lame). GOOD LUCK! and if all else fails....send the snake to me XD (jk jk)

What everyone's saying is right--get the humidity up, the snake is likely to be dehydrated--and DO NOT give it those supplements, the snake might expire from the stress of having stuff forced on it alone, and it most certainly will not eat if it's being manhandled 3 times a day.

I would suggest peace and quiet for at least 3 full days with proper moisture and NO HANDLING AT ALL, and then offer a live mouse crawler (eyes just barely open but not really walking steadily). I recommend a mouse crawler because I have found that problem starters who are very shy and underweight find them less intimidating. A pinkie rat doesn't have quite the mobility to excite them as much, and a pinkie mouse is beneath their notice. Introduce the food item when all is quiet, and leave it there for a half hour. If it is not eaten, remove it, and try again in 2 days--try a fuzzy rat. Try a mouse hopper. Hatchlings differ--some WANT bigger prey, and refuse smaller--some are intimidated by larger prey animals, and will take a smaller one. Some prefer rats, some prefer mice.

If you have to, sneak the proper food to the snake. :P

I only recommend trying the feeding after 3 days because the snakes sounds like it may be in critical condition, and it desperately needs food. If you cannot get it eating within the week, then it must have veterinary care, or it is likely to die. It will need to be assist-fed, or possibly even force-fed at that point, and it does not sound like you have the experience to do this without harming the snake--snakes can easily be injured during such a procedure.

Remember--NO HANDLING. That is crucial. Don't move the snake again, and don't do anything with it apart from making sure it has clean water.

I would say start with lighting ... petco is know'n for not carry'n the right type of lights, at least for ballz