I Need Help (Unplanned rescue)

[Razzledazzy]

Okay so I agreed to adopt a normal BP girl that's around 4-ish years old. Her old owner said she shed a month ago but she looks to have extremely wrinkled skin vertically, and she looks small and thin to me. I've seen other pictures of this snake where she looks. So much better. I'm honestly stumped. She has some blisters too on her rear underside. She was on aspen which we took out and put her on paper towels. Her heat's fine- so I'm fairly certain they aren't burns. I'm freaking out a little bit and I don't know what info I need to include here. She ate Sunday, apparently but she doesn't look it. I haven't gotten a chance to examine her blisters myself since I'm reluctant to move or disturb her. Her breathing seems much more labored than my boy BP, and he seems bigger than here despite the fact that he's 6 months old and she's apparently 4 years.

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense I'll try and get pictures in a second.

I was thinking about switching her over to coco fiber over aspen, since that's what I use for my boy. I live in Florida so the humidity is generally fine with just a waterdish. She's in a plastic tub too. I'm gonna double check her temps with my surface heat gun.

I just don't know what to do.

[tttaylorrr]

first thing's first: please quarantine the new animal away from your established one.

[Razzledazzy]

I don't really have... a separate area to quarantine her in. The opposite side of the room is the best I can do but if you think it's nessicary I will find another part of the house to keep her in for a few months. My family probably isn't going to be happy.

[tttaylorrr]

I don't really have... a separate area to quarantine her in. The opposite side of the room is the best I can do but if you think it's nessicary I will find another part of the house to keep her in for a few months. My family probably isn't going to be happy.

it is extremely important you keep this animal away from the one you currently have, especially since it came from such an unfortunate situation and could be harboring an illness or disease. keeping the other animal in a separate room is the bare minimum to ensure the health of the animal you already have.

let your family know it is imperative to the health of both animals and it is only temporary (3mo.)

[MR Snakes]

it is extremely important you keep this animal away from the one you currently have, especially since it came from such an unfortunate situation and could be harboring an illness or disease. keeping the other animal in a separate room is the bare minimum to ensure the health of the animal you already have.

let your family know it is imperative to the health of both animals and it is only temporary (3mo.)

Tell your family to Chill. Tell them you are the Snake Whisperer and that what ^^^^^she^^^^^^ said is spot on.

[Razzledazzy]

Okay. I've placed her in a room on the opposite side of the house. Far from the air intake. It's a little colder in that room than I'd like but I'll work something out there. Next?

Edit: Do you think having her in the same room as my BP might have spread something already? She's only been in there for a couple of hours and I hadn't cross contaminated any of their equipment. The weren't near each other.

[tttaylorrr]

Okay. I've placed her in a room on the opposite side of the house. Far from the air intake. It's a little colder in that room than I'd like but I'll work something out there. Next?

good! next would be ensuring the husbandry is spot-on.

just some anecdotes from what i do when i have animals in quarantine (QT) as i currently have two:

• i never deal with my established collection and QT animals one the same day (with feeding day the exception, which i explain below); QT animals always get dealt with the day after dealing with the established collection. this gives you time to clean any tools or things like that.
• i feed all my animals on the same day; QT animals get fed last.
• keep the enclosure as simple as possible: paper towel substrate, water dish, two hides, one leaf vine to help with security.

Edit: Do you think having her in the same room as my BP might have spread something already?

only time will tell, but the less time they were near one another, the better.

[Razzledazzy]

1. How long have you had your ball python?

Two hours

2. How old (or how big) is your snake?

She is said to be 4 years old but I have my doubts about that. I'd say she's about 2.5' long.

3. Does it eat on a regular schedule?

She ate on sunday

4. How long since its last meal?

see above

5. What type/size prey is being offered?

rat pups according to her previous owner

6. How often do you offer food?

I plan to weekly

7. What type and size of enclosure does it live in?

it's about 2.5 x 1.5 feet long. Which seems overly large for her size.

8. What are you using as substrate? If it has depth, how deep is it?

Currently paper towels. She was on absen of about an inch. Plan to switch to coconut fiber.

9. What type of heating do you use?

UTT. Two mats sized for 10 gal enclosures to cover the larger tank size.

10. Do you use a thermostat to control temperatures?

Yes.

11. What do you use to measure/monitor temperatures?

Laser surface temp reader and a thermostat.

12. What are the surface and ambient temperatures in the enclosure?

surface is 70 on the cold end and 87 at the high end. I've bumped up the temperature as well as the room's thermostat.

13. What is the average humidity level?

I have no way of knowing. She didn't have humidity gauge and I'm in the process of acquiring one cause I assumed she would come.

14. How many and what type of hides does the snake have?

One is corkbark half and the other is... a shoe. I'm not sure about the shoe folks.


15. Is water readily available at all times?

Yes.

16. Does the snake live alone or does it share the enclosure with anything else?

Alone.

17. How often and for how long is the snake typically handled?

Infrequently but she's not shy.

18. Does the snake have any medical history (old injuries or illnesses)?

Not that I know of.

19. Do you have any other reptiles? Have you brought in any new reptiles recently?

She is the new one, I have one other BP boy and she's in a separate room.

20. Is there anything specific or unique about your situation that we should be aware of?

I think her container is too large for her size.

[tttaylorrr]

20. Is there anything specific or unique about your situation that we should be aware of?

I think her container is too large for her size.

i agree that is very large enclosure for such a small thing. i recommend a 12qt plastic storage tub or smaller.

okay, that is the smallest ~4 year old ball python female i've ever seen... she does not look too terribly thin/skinny tho, so that's a good sign. she does, however, look incredibly dehydrated to me. make sure your humidity is ~60%.

have you weighed her yet?

[Razzledazzy]

I haven't yet. I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking her enclosure is way too big. The closest thing I have to that right now is a 20 qt sterelite container that I can convert into a cage. Which I think will work better than what's she's in now and at least let me quarantine her better. It'll also be easier to keep humidity up in a smaller space. I'll set to washing the container and drilling the holes right now. (I was using this to hold some supplies for my tarantulas, just some empty never used breeding boxes and the like.)