I Need Help (Unplanned rescue)

[Dianne]

Sounds like you’re getting everything dialed in. The only observation I can make on size is that if the previous owner was subsistence feeding (meaning just enough to maintain life), that will significantly stunt their growth. When I got Eli, my adult normal bp, he was 2 years old but wasn’t as large as my current yearlings and very thin and weak. His prior owner didn’t want a 6’ monster snake, so she fed him “lightly” to keep him small. He is now better than three feet long, too wiggly to measure very well, and been with me for 26 years.

As for breathing issues and blisters, I’d let her settle for a bit to calm down (a day or so) then try to gently examine her. You may need a vet visit if it appears she has a respiratory infection and to determine what the blisters may be caused by. A clean environment and correct husbandry can go a long way towards improved health.

[tttaylorrr]

She's got stuck shed and also what looks like a scratch from trying to rub against something to get the shed off. I'm leaving her in a high-er humidity enclosure for now and hoping it might loosen enough for her to get it off on her own since I don't want to cause her any more pain.

just keep the humidity high and leave them be.

[Razzledazzy]

Okay so I've been keeping her humidity high. She fed on a f/t rat pup for me on last Saturday and today. I think she's looking better. Her scales are a little sleeker (less porcupine like) and she looks glossier. She's still wrinkly which I think is because she's very. Very underweight for how old she is. She's eating though, so I want to see if I can just feed her back to health.

She was being given freezer burned mice pinkies for her food. Like. That's it. She's taken to the fresher thawed rats with gusto. I'm gonna move her up to small rats on her next meal because she's woofing these down and I want to get some good nutrition in her.

She still has 2 largish oval blisters on one side near her tail end. I haven't lanced them or anything because I've been wanting to leave her alone. (Plus I had to go out of town for 5 days.) I'm hoping those might shed out without me having to do anything.

Her breathing doesn't seem as labored as it was when I got her. Maybe that's the higher humidity helping her or the fact that she was starving before I took her. IDK.

TL;DR I think she's on the up and up.

[Bogertophis]

I wouldn't lance any blisters without her being on antibiotics. Still probably not a good idea. Snakes that have been chronically starved can end up with permanent
skin damage (or very slow to improve), sometimes with fluid under the skin. Vet visit to very experienced herp-vet would be your best bet. Might also ask about
supplementation with Vit C...that has been discussed here in a couple past threads with similarly rescued snakes. For the moment, just work on building up her
health with decent food.

[SquirmyPug]

Just from the pictures she looks too small to eat small rats. Have you weighed her yet? Glad to hear things seem to be improving.

When I got my BP she was two years old and only around 240 grams. Once they start getting what they need they grow fast. I've had her about 4.5 months and she's around 700 grams now.

[Razzledazzy]

I wouldn't lance any blisters without her being on antibiotics. Still probably not a good idea. Snakes that have been chronically starved can end up with permanent
skin damage (or very slow to improve), sometimes with fluid under the skin. Vet visit to very experienced herp-vet would be your best bet. Might also ask about
supplementation with Vit C...that has been discussed here in a couple past threads with similarly rescued snakes. For the moment, just work on building up her
health with decent food.

Do you have any links to other threads with some information on starved snakes and the problems they face? Reading through some of those might clear things up for me.

[MR Snakes]

Do you have any links to other threads with some information on starved snakes and the problems they face? Reading through some of those might clear things up for me.

I would send Deborah a PM.

[Bogertophis]

Do you have any links to other threads with some information on starved snakes and the problems they face? Reading through some of those might clear things up for me.

As a matter of fact, this one (kinda long) & I think somewhere in this thread was the reference to a much older thread on the Vit C question.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-back-on-track

[Bogertophis]

Actually, as far as blisters, I wouldn't be in any hurry to have her on antibiotics either (to deal w/ blisters)...let her body get get better nutrition & hydration
going first, before you throw any sort of medications into the mix *as long as there's no critical need*. When in doubt with snakes, easy does it- be patient
with their healing. Meds add their own kind of strain on a snake's body...I've seen bad outcomes with overly-vigorous veterinary interventions, no matter how
well-meaning they were.

[Razzledazzy]

OKAY. SO. IT'S 3AM BEAR WITH ME. She went into blue about 4 days ago and then I noticed her rubbing her nose on her paper towel substrate earlier tonight. She went in for it and shed almost completely in one piece! She has some stuck to her tail and some stuck to the top of her head I'm gonna investigate that tomorrow when MY eyes are working right to see if they've cleared off. I wanted to stay up in case she had like. Sepsis problems where her skin came off with her shed or something? I don't know man I've been worrying to hell and back since I can't afford a vet visit right now.

She's been eating every Saturday since I've gotten her, and never once refused. I'm hoping she feels up to eating tomorrow.

When she shed... some of the blisters seemed to leak a clear fluid. There were also a few- they look like whorls of scars? Where her shed seemed to have trouble. There's a few spots of blood on her paper towel that seem to come from scars coming off or healing. None of the blood spots on the towel are larger than like, a sesame seed.

Since she's eating and not averse to being touched when I have to shift her around and clean her paper towels or change her water (like picking her up and moving her) so I'm not thinking she's critically in need... I mean I may be completely wrong, bas long as nothing drastically changes after this shed then she seems to be doing fine. Her blisters and such only seem to be bothering ME lol.

She also smelled like, awful when I got her. Like when you walk into a reptile shop? But very concentrated. It's lessened a lot since I put her in a sterile environment hopefully it fades with this shed.

I'm gonna lower her humidity a little. I've been keeping it high eighties or above for her shed/dehydration. I don't want to throw a respitory issue on top of whatever she already has going on. I still need to read through that thread about snakes with poor nutrition since I had a trip that took me out of town for a week.