Nursing new BP back to health. Questions about my plan.

[cmccu5]

I will give information first and then will post my questions in a bullet list at the bottom of this post.

I was at Petsmart on Monday (9/18) to look at some cleaning supplies. Long story short, a store associate told me about an aggressive BP that they would not be able to sell and I am now sitting across the room from its new home.


PETSMART CARE SHEET

Their care sheets were seriously lacking. When I actually looked at them closely, I was past livid. No sex, weight, or hatching info on there. I do not know the last time it pooped. They couldn't give a verbal report on any of that info either. They did not have any notes (or even dates written into the care sheets) for 7/24-8/1, 8/16-8/25, and 8/27-9/18.

They got this snake on 6/1. Apparently they offered food daily when they first got it. There is a note that someone told them to do that. They give a name, but do not indicate what his title is. They indicated that it fed on 7/11. One week later, they started offering daily again through 7/23 when they stopped taking notes for a while. The dates are written in without any notes from 8/1 through 8/15. They indicated it was shedding on 8/15. No dates or notes until they offered food and indicated shedding on 8/26. There is no information for 8/26 through 9/18 when I took it home. They verbally reported that it had eaten a fuzzy mouse and 2 fish eggs on 9/14 (last Thursday).


MY CARE PLAN

I weighed it at 143g. Still no sex information. I plan to sex the snake after the dehydration and bad shed is taken care of.

I have attached a picture of the habitat. The rock hide is on the cold side (80 F) and the heat lamp is over the far right side of the enclosure (ground temp 93 F by laser thermometer). Once the snake is acclimated, I plan to move the cork hide to the far right side of the enclosure, but for now, my thought is that the current setup allows for shelter while moving to the water dish. For now, I have seen it out and about a couple of times, but it stays in the rock hide with the exception of those couple times. I do study in the same room, but I use headphones and there is a large shoebox blocking direct viewing. I only go near the habitat a couple times a day to check the temp and humidity.

As for nursing it back to health, my plan is to start with the most conservative approaches first and move to progressively more aggressive therapy if necessary. To start, I have his new home sitting at roughly 60% humidity and I have been replacing the water daily to make sure there is clean water. If this does not work by the end of the weekend, I'm planning to draw some bath water at 85-90 F and watch while I let it soak for a little. Next step would be to start tube hydration. Last step (and I hope I don't get this far) would be IV fluids. For what it's worth, I am a medical student, so supplies are easy to come by and I am trained in human venipuncture. I would not even dream of moving to this without extensive research into the proper technique. (NOTE: I am not currently asking about this step. I will be posting here AND acquiring BP-specific scholarly information before moving to this step. Please DO NOT turn this into a thread discussing whether I should initiate IV therapy. Use the POSSIBLE future IV therapy thread for that.)

I am back and forth on whether to offer food this Sunday or next Sunday night (feeding day at my house). This Sunday would be barely under a week since changing homes.


MY QUESTIONS

*Can anyone guess about the age of the snake? I'm assuming it was hatched around the beginning of the year based on size and when they got it.

*Is this snake good to start with conservative approaches to take care of the dehydration and bad shed? I mentioned 4 steps to my plan. Am I skipping over a step that I should include?

*Should the habitat be set up differently? It seems a bit busy to me, but my thought process described above is why I leave it the way it is.

*Thoughts on my feeding dilemma? Should I wait until I see more activity?

*Is there anything else I should be thinking of that I haven't mentioned or asked about?

Thank you to anyone who takes time to read and reply!




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[zina10]

I have read through your post and I have a few ideas and tips. However, I won't have time to get into it till later today

Fish eggs? That's a new one. And I highly doubt it. lol..

Overall, snake looks pretty healthy. I have some ideas for that stuck shed. Stuck shed doesn't necessarily mean dehydration, though. I know you don't want to discuss IV fluid therapy but IMHO you will not have to go that far at all.

I do have some ideas for your setup on the feeding issue

[cmccu5]

I'm all ears but no rush! I'll just be studying all day, so it will be a nice study break.

Like I said.. I'm REALLY hoping it doesn't get that far but I am planning for worst case scenario in case it does get there since that's what we're taught to do with human patients!

I'm thinking dehydration from the tenting around the neck in the first two pictures. Sorry for the lighting issues that make it difficult to see. Like I said in the post asking about morph, I was trying to snap pictures quickly while transferring it to the new habitat.

[Craiga 01453]

* As for age, it's near impossible to get a really accurate estimate, but I would say it's probably early 2017

* If it were my snake, I would soak now and assist with the shed. I would soak in warm water with a towel in the water with the snake. Let the snake crawl, around and move around the towel. The friction from the towel should help the snake get started. After soaking for 20-30 minutes or so you can use the towel and let the snake crawl through it in your hands and gently assist by rubbing with the towel.
But to answer your question, there is nothing wrong with your plan as far as I see. There's more than one "right" way.

* As for the enclosure, I suggest some fake plants. Privacy and security are HUGE for BPs. Making sure this snake gets eating send healthy are very important, and a BP that doesn't feel safe and secure will often sacrifice food for safety. Another thing I would do is block the three sides of the enclosure with dark paper, cardboard or something like that to also add security.
Other than that, it's little things that can be changed. i.e. the half log hide. BPs prefer tighter fitting hides with only one entrance. You may want to experiment with different substrates as well. Aspen can mold easily and other substrates often work better for humidity, etc..., but that often comes down to preference.
There's nothing wrong with your setup, just little suggestions to look into.

* I say go ahead and offer food, can't hurt. If the snake eats, great! If not, ok, wait a week and try again.

I think you're off to a good start, just some minor tweaking and getting the shed taken care of and getting him/her eating.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The animal actually looks good considering the previous feeding schedule, scratch off all your idea bathing, tube hydration and IV fluid, this animal does not need any of those and you will cause more issues than solving any by doing any of this.

This snake needs, proper husbandry, than use a warm damp towel to remove the stuck shed, provide fresh water every other day, limit your intersection, NO handling, no petting while changing water, than after a week offer a live adult mouse.

This snake is nowhere near dying it has some stuck shed and was not fed adequately for a while which.co soldering the size had no effect.

[SDA]

Stuck sheds like that happen and they really are not all that bad of an indicator. I second getting a good soak going. Make sure to not fill a plastic tub more than 2/3 of the snakes' body height with water, that it is not hot (like 85 degrees F is great), and that you watch the snake at all times while giving it a soak.

He does not look dehydrated and tube hydration is a radical step that is not needed in this case. Balls are sturdy beasts and he will drink so long as the water is fresh. What you are seeing is simply a stuck shed and not a sign of physical illness due to dehydration

Q-tips do wonders for getting stuck shed off. They tend to adhere to moist loose shed really well and help with the gentle removal process. You snake is already stressed so might as well do it now, get the shed off and get it in great shape then leave it be for a few weeks to relax.

I also agree with the blocking off the sides of the enclosure and the back. Really helps reduce stress.

Your ball wants a tight spot to hide and there should be one on the cool and on the warm side. That rock hide should be fine but that wood one might not be best. You could get a cheap one or make a cheap one out of a bowl for now just to get a place to feel safe and secure.

I would place that water bowl in the middle and make sure it is kept with fresh clean water.

I would say a light right now is not the best thing for a stressed out snake so if you can get another means of heating that would be far superior for the welfare of your snake in the short term.


Make sure you keep your humidity at least 50% so if you are having issues, check guides on here how to block off the top of the cage as well as substrate that holds humidity better. Aspen shavings are often not the best to keep humidity up.


Not all these need addressing at once but the blocking of the enclosure, the better use of hides, soaking to remove stuck shed, and most importantly leaving him alone for at least a week after you take care of the few small suggested fixes are what I would do now.


Edit: after looking more of the pictures a soak is needed as soon as you can. Those eye caps need to come off. Nothing serious but they need off for long term health. A soak should do it but experts here can offer advice how to remove stuck shed eye caps if they don't come off on their own.

[Kcl]

Whoever was saying nonsense about him having eaten fish eggs was nuts or joking. Also, you generally should not tube any animal without the guidance of someone experienced in it if you haven't tubed that species or a highly similar species before (i.e. eastern cottontail rabbit and domestic rabbits would be close enough to each other, but that experience doesn't really count enough for opossums because the anatomy is somewhat different. Tubing in general is stressful, improper tubing can kill - easier on some animals than others).

That being said, you shouldn't have to do any of that anyway - at absolute most you can go to the bathing step although I'd probably keep the water temp down to ~82 at highest. Based on that picture, I don't see any severe dehydration that merits anything more aggressive. In general, he really doesn't look like he's in that bad of shape. He has some stuck shed, but otherwise he doesn't even look skinny. Oh also, don't sex the snake if you haven't been shown how to do it. It's not important at all anyway and you could hurt him.

You should get a second better hide for the cold side, the half logs aren't very useful for ball pythons. You can just put the water bowl in the middle. I'm guessing that's just chipped paint or spots at the bottom of the water bowl and spots on the glass or something that's making the water look dirty?

[zina10]

Popping back in and I have to say...everything that I was going to recommend has already been said

Craigafrechette and Deborah REALLY know what they are talking about.

The "tenting" on the neck only appears that way because of the stuck shed. Once that is off, it will look better. There always is a bit of slightly looser skin there. When they eat, that area has to STRETCH quite a bit, and then goes back down to a somewhat skinny neck. So the skin has to be able to conform to that.

I agree, snake really does look quite healthy, and I don't think you will have to do much more, therapy wise, then to get the old shed off.

Regarding feeding and husbandry, like Craigafrechette pointed out, more privacy will go a LONG way. I agree, black out the sides, back and top. The enclosure itself should resemble a large "hide" with only the front "open". Then additional hides and stuff to give privacy. That will help with the animal relaxing and being willing to eat.

Once the husbandry is correct, the less you do, the better! I would wait at least a week AFTER you adjusted the habitat and got the shed off.


edited to say: while I was typing my reply, another few posts were made, also wonderful advice there

[Craiga 01453]

Little things others mentioned that I agree with:
- that animal is only a few little steps away from being perfectly healthy, as far as pictures can show at least, but based on pics the animal looks healthy aside from the shed issue.
- proper husbandry, clean water and limited interaction/no handling are all it should take
- I like they way Zina10 described the enclosure as a giant hide with a front opening. Never heard it like that, but I dig it.

[cmccu5]

Just soaked and helped with the shed. Everything came off very easily! Snapped a few new pictures afterwards. I also moved the wood hide so it's against the glass and put the water in the middle. I'll be putting some paper around 3 sides before bed.




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