HELP! Baby ball python extremely skinny and corkscrewing!

[Armiyana]

When offering food, try not to dangle it high, closest to ground level will be the best when they can't quite figure out which way is up.

[Bogertophis]

As for helping his problem with corkscrewing- you'd have to know what's causing it, & for that, you'll NEED a good experienced herp vet.

As already noted, it would be FAR better to keep him home for a while so he can eat & get stronger- vet visits are very stressful (for the snake ) & it would also help if the vet can get a fresh stool sample to test. He may need to take a blood sample, & that's NOT something you'd want to do with a dehydrated fragile snake.

Is this your only snake right now? I hope so- if not, you must quarantine this guy completely from any others. You mentioned a corn snake, but that sounded like it was in the past?

I trust you have feeding tongs? You may have to help him eat (guide the prey to his face) if his wobble is too severe.

[Bogertophis]

I almost forgot...

[supremenoser]

I'm not impressed either, once this little guy recovers and I'm sure I'm not going to have to try to bring him back to the guy I'm going to probably send him a very educational but slightly nasty text.

Okay good to know, thank you, I'll make sure to give him cooler baths from now on. I haven't handled him at all other than what's necessary and I definitely agree, I'll keep from bugging him as much as possible. I don't think he's in shed at all, his eyes are very clear and the wrinkles seem to be from a lack of mass rather than stuck shed. I'll keep an eye out though.

I have a Jump Start thermostat hooked up to a ZooMed heat mat and I have a laser thermometer I've been checking the temperatures with every hour or so. I also have a heat lamp with a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter but it's too cool in the house for it to heat up much, it just helps keep the cool side above 70. I'm going to get a hygrometer right now since I'll be at the store to get mice as well. I've been misting the tank every couple hours though with warm water in a fine mist bottle so it should be plenty humid, the substrate is also slightly damp.

Do you know of anything I can get or anything I can do to help the corkscrewing? I think that's my biggest concern at the moment. His head stays still just fine but whenever he moves he goes straight upwards and kinda back or to the sides, he's just all over the place, the poor thing.

[supremenoser]

As for helping his problem with corkscrewing- you'd have to know what's causing it, & for that, you'll NEED a good experienced herp vet.

As already noted, it would be FAR better to keep him home for a while so he can eat & get stronger- vet visits are very stressful (for the snake ) & it would also help if the vet can get a fresh stool sample to test. He may need to take a blood sample, & that's NOT something you'd want to do with a dehydrated fragile snake.

Is this your only snake right now? I hope so- if not, you must quarantine this guy completely from any others. You mentioned a corn snake, but that sounded like it was in the past?

I trust you have feeding tongs? You may have to help him eat (guide the prey to his face) if his wobble is too severe.

There also seems to not be any good herp vets in my state, I'll keep looking though but I think if he's that bad I'll have to just take him back to the breeder because I probably wouldn't be able to afford a vet visit.

He is my only snake yes, the corn snake was a few years ago.

Yes I have feeding tongs and I think it'll be best to feed him in his enclosure but I'll put a paper towel under him so he doesn't end up ingesting any bedding.

[Bogertophis]

ALWAYS feed snakes where they live- never move them to eat elsewhere. Shy feeders may stress out & refuse food after even minimal handling, & not-shy feeders may be biting you before or afterwards, since snakes can stay in "feed mode" for hours or a day or longer.

DO NOT FEED HIM ON A PAPER TOWEL! (I'm SO glad you mentioned that though.) Paper towels easily get dampened & caught up with the prey, & may require surgery to save the snake from the undigestible blockage in their gut. Never feed a snake on soft paper or any kind of fabric- but DO put down a piece of cardboard or a plastic box top, or a real plate- anything he can't ingest accidentally.

If his instability (corkscrewing) was caused by excessive heat, I suppose he might gradually improve, but it's impossible to say. If it was just from his overall weakness & disorientation, it "should" improve. But of course, it could be other things that won't get better- we'll hope for the best, right along with you.

[KMG]

I would not put anything in the water with the snake. While you should be watching it you don't need it to get under the towel or cloth and not find his way out. He could drown. The proper way to soak a snake is to place it in water no deeper than their body. I usually only go half to 3/4 up their body. That way they soak but do not have to fight to keep their head above water. If the water is shallow as it should be the snake will not need anything to rest on. If it needs such a think the water is deeper than it should be.

[supremenoser]

ALWAYS feed snakes where they live- never move them to eat elsewhere. Shy feeders may stress out & refuse food after even minimal handling, & not-shy feeders may be biting you before or afterwards, since snakes can stay in "feed mode" for hours or a day or longer.

DO NOT FEED HIM ON A PAPER TOWEL! (I'm SO glad you mentioned that though.) Paper towels easily get dampened & caught up with the prey, & may require surgery to save the snake from the undigestible blockage in their gut. Never feed a snake on soft paper or any kind of fabric- but DO put down a piece of cardboard or a plastic box top, or a real plate- anything he can't ingest accidentally.

If his instability (corkscrewing) was caused by excessive heat, I suppose he might gradually improve, but it's impossible to say.

Oh! Thank you, so glad I mentioned that too. I'll use a piece of cardboard or something then!

Darn, I wish there was something I could do but at least it doesn't seem like he's guaranteed to be stuck like this forever.

[Armiyana]

I would not put anything in the water with the snake. While you should be watching it you don't need it to get under the towel or cloth and not find his way out. He could drown. The proper way to soak a snake is to place it in water no deeper than their body. I usually only go half to 3/4 up their body. That way they soak but do not have to fight to keep their head above water. If the water is shallow as it should be the snake will not need anything to rest on. If it needs such a think the water is deeper than it should be.

Oh definitely don't do that if it's alone! But the whole point is that this animal should not be left alone to soak.
The point of the towel is to be a still moist landmass for it to feel comfortable on and reduce stress. Stressing an animal like this out in a soak can lead to it panicking and even at only 3/4 body depth, it can flip over or inhale fluid. It also gives them something to rest the front half of the body on.

I suppose you can put something flat and heavy they can't tip over in there, but they usually aren't able to get that permeability like a towel can. And that reduces how much hydration they can get through contact.

Part of the reason I started doing this for sickly reptile soaks is because of a coworker loosing one at 'proper depth' when it did alligator roll and inhaled too much fluid. =/

[supremenoser]

Just got back from getting mice and such, they were sold out of hygrometers but I'll continue misting with warm water and I think he'll be just fine until I can get one. He's still really lethargic, didn't move at all while I was out. I gave him another bath and got a video of him corkscrewing. It isn't always this bad but this is about as bad as it gets for him.



Also the water looks too deep because the bin was tilted a bit, I evened it out and got him situated better after the video. He didn't seem to drink as much this time but that's probably a good thing. Also I put paper towels in the bottom and the water is only as high as half of his body and I sit and watch him throughout the entire bath so I can be sure he doesn't drown.

Also, do I have to wait until he poops to feed him again? Or should I feed him tomorrow night regardless?