Burns / Infection / Unknown Disease : One of the Worst Snake Owners

[Nixon]

To those who have seen my thread on Dave, you may have more of a feel for this. If you do not know Dave, he's a python I got from my friend's step dad and a week into his arrival he fell into a nasty case of slipped skin disease.

The thread: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...les-Just-Split

He's made a full recovery.

But if you know or if you don't know, the previous owner of Dave has two other snakes. Another ball python and a red tail boa constrictor. I recently went to my friend's house again and of course I took out Scorchmuffin, the other ball python. He's about four feet long and pretty skinny but not as famished as Dave once was. As usual, his cage looks the exact same : filthy, full of urates, feces, and old shed and the water bowl is all dried out. I take him own and brush off loose shed of his. He's breathing heavy, about 20 breaths per minute with every one having a wheeze. Poor thing. I couldn't believe I didn't feel it on him. I turn him over and what I see... Oh, man, I thought Dave had it bad.





How long has this been going on to let it get that bad? He's about four feet long and it goes halfway down his body to the very tip of his tail. Two whole feet of him is like this. Once I show my friend, she wonders if it was the heat pads which have burned him before. Yes, but those were minor burns that only reddened his undersides. That could be one of the causes but only one. It's not alone. Arthur, her step dad, comes downstairs in the basement where he keeps his snakes and he sees this. Does he looks surprised? Yes. Ariana, my friend, asks the question I wanted to know. "Does he need to go to a vet?"

"No."

No? Let's break this down.

• His cage is filthy and there is no clue of how long those lacerations have been open
• His cage and himself smell awful and I can't decide if it's infection of just poop (or rotting scales)
• He has multiple open wounds
• This is on his underside, leaving him very vulnerable to infection
• He's bleeding in some areas
• It is most likely very painful for him to even move that side of his body as when I held him, he mostly held it limp
• It's covers over his duct as well, making bowel movements painful or more difficult
• Some scales are quite literally falling off as we speak
• Bedding was very stuckon him in some places

Do I need to go on? Arthur claimed that he has some antibiotic cream that he could use. That's fine. That's good. However, the man simply went back upstairs, leaving the snake to us, the cage messy, and he didn't come back with any medical supplies to help him. I cleaned out his bowl (full of algae or mold) as best as I could and filled it with water but we eventually took it out after he took a very long drink because we didn't want the dirty bowl to aid in an infection. By we, I mean me and Ariana (and her friend Jaina who was over at the time). We tried to bandage the poor thing by ourselves to at least help but of course snakes are very difficult to bandage. It stayed on for a couple hours but came off in the morning. That morning, I woke up before my friends and I took it upon myself to clean his cage, unplug the other heating pad that he didn't unplug. (Arthur unplugged one heating pad so it didn't worsen but apparently he was heating pads on both sides which is bad enough but he didn't even remember to take out the other one. God.) I took out all the bedding and replaced it with paper towels after trying to scrub off that cage. Urates were embedding into the wood, as well as old shed.

His five year old son (do you call it a step-son?) helped me. The five year old helped me with something the owner of the animal was too lazy to do. Yeesh.

I put him back in to rest. But, honestly, I can't do anything for him. I don't have the money myself to offer to take him to the vet; nor can I take him home and care for him until I can get enough.

- - -

However, I'm not here to ask how to handle this. I know how to handle it. I'd do the same process as I did with Dave except with some extra precautions. The issue is that he's not my snake. Dave was given to me by the same guy and look what happened to him. Look what happened to Scorchmuffin. Is Slick, his boa, coming next? He only seems to care for that one, though, so he'd probably give him medical treatment. I don't even know if Ariana is going to bother him into treating the poor guy.

Anyway, does anybody know what this is? Burns with a mixture of some weird deficiency? Has anybody seen anything similar?

I know it's not too late to save the guy but the issue is I can't. I'm towns over from them and I can't tell Arthur what to do even if I try. I don't want him to go alone, though. Scorchmuffin is a very sweet snake that doesn't deserve this in any way, shape, or form. Even if Dave didn't make it he'd have over fifty people to bid him a loving goodbye. Scorchmuffin deserves that, too, I suppose. I'm going to try my best to get this incompetent owner to do something about it but I can't make promises.

I pray he's as strong as Dave.

[mama_arty]

Personally I'd turn those pictures in to animal control and have that animal taken. Even if they just put him down it's better than what Hes going to suffer through

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[zina10]

I'm just sick.

I have to be careful what to write, because my insides are churning, but I know this isn't your fault and you did the best you could.

But I'm still mad. I'm still sick. Those are terrible pictures, terrible wounds. Doesn't that guy (a$$hole) know that snakes feel pain? And he left that poor thing to sit with half the body rotting in painful infection, in urates and poop, in filth, on to hot heating pads. Wth. And he wasn't even EMBARRASSED ???

Seriously, I think I would possibly just have to loose a friend over this. Because I would turn that person in. And his step daughter might have a problem with it. But I couldn't not do anything. That snake (and any really) needs to be taken away. Being put down would be kinder then leaving it there that way.

I would ask for that snake to be released, either to you or to a rescue that will hopefully step up when asked. If they refuse, I would tell them I'm calling animal control. There simply is no excuse, no excuse whatsoever.

Ok, I can feel the heat rising again and my blood pressure is going up. So I will step out , because I'm furious.

[Nixon]

@mama_arty I thought about that, actually. I'm going to talk to my friend and see if Arthur is doing anything about it and if what he is doing will make him recover. Dave had smaller lacerations, yet he still got antibiotic cream AND shots. I don't think cream will help if there's an infection settling in, anyway.

I want to hear from others, too. I just don't want to be hated by Arthur if animal control shows up and takes him away. He doesn't seem to care for his snakes, but his reputation may matter more. Who knows? If he's doing nothing then I have no choice.

@zina10 I see your point. I have my angry side as well saying the same thing, however I'm not going to lose Ariana's friendship because of it. Like I said before, if he's not doing anything then I will forward it to animal control.

[zina10]

I wouldn't trust that person to treat a cockroach.

If that is how he kept that snake, what is going to change now. Nothing. That snake may even be to far gone, toxic. "Slapping on some cream" is not going to do it. You already know what it takes.
And the cage will have to be sanitized and spotless, cleaned EVERY day, while the rotted skin and blood comes off. It would be a long term and intensive treatment, do you really think that guy would do all that?

I don't want you to get in trouble with anyone. I understand things can be complicated.

But this is unacceptable. If the snake stays with the guy its better off dead asap.


edited to say: Sorry I'm so snappy and mad. Those pictures are REALLY hard to look at. I can't imagine how that poor animal must be suffering.

[Nixon]

It's one in the morning for me. I'll be calling my friend tomorrow and talking to her about it. I agree, but I also don't agree. Then again, I'm being too generous. Still, he either has to take drastic measures or lose his snake.

[Sallos]

What you described is far beyond owner incompetence. It is absolute indifference to the suffering of the animals in his possession.


If he isn't willing to turn them over to you, and you can take them to a rescue, he should be turned in to the authorities and made to surrender them. There is no way he can be trusted with animals. Your friend should understand.

[Oxylepy]

Man and I felt like crap because I didn't check on one of my balls for a couple weeks because I was waiting for the rats to give birth and it had 3 small patches of scale rot because somehow it's tub was the only one of 4 that was building up condensation. Took about a shed's time of neosporin, but damn this is baaaad

By the way, there is scale rot in there. The patches of scales have a distinct red/brown color that I recognize. It is probably systemic by now and needs more than some neosporin and a clean cage, it needs actual antibiotic treatments.

You can guess the length of time by the amount of poop. Count each cluster and that's probably 1 week per cluster

[Craiga 01453]

Nixon, unfortunately, that man has to be stopped. ALL animals need to be removed from him. What he is doing is not incompetence, not ignorance, not laziness...it is CRUEL and it is INHUMANE and it is TORTURE. I would love to see that man stuck in a cage and let to live and suffer the way he treats his snakes and any other animals he may be keeping.

[tttaylorrr]

nice to see you around, Nixon. i read through every page of Dave's recovery, shed a couple tears for you both, and seeing this type of abuse from the same owner Dave was rescued from is beyond infuriating.

if your friend is truly your friend, and they fully understand the animal abuse going on in their own home, they should be completely understanding of any actions you take with proper authorities. if this had been an animal with fur i can believe she would have called proper authorities herself.

i highly encourage you to take this route, and properly vet anyone you speak with on the conditions of Dave as well. i'd go so far as to show them your Dave thread; it's a real-time timeline of the abuse and extensive recovery. heck, i think i'd want to talk to someone in person (but i understand if that's not possible for you).

you're and incredibly smart, caring, and brave young person, Nixon. i know you can do right by these animals as well as have this person understand the repercussions of their neglect and abuse by having authorities show him what happens when you abuse an animal.

i wish you the best of luck.