HELP! Baby ball python extremely skinny and corkscrewing!

[KMG]

If it is doing that I would not put it in water. Would be pretty easy to breath in water. I would contact the breeder ASAP and send them that video. That is not right and does not look good to me.

I saw it mentioned the heating pad used by the breeder meant for humans. I question any "breeder" that would do such a thing. That is widely known to be a bad idea and why would they need to do it anyways? They should be set up to properly house snakes.

I would ask for a full refund and return the snake.

[supremenoser]

If it is doing that I would not put it in water. Would be pretty easy to breath in water. I would contact the breeder ASAP and send them that video. That is not right and does not look good to me.

I saw it mentioned the heating pad used by the breeder meant for humans. I question any "breeder" that would do such a thing. That is widely known to be a bad idea and why would they need to do it anyways? They should be set up to properly house snakes.

I would ask for a full refund and return the snake.

He settles down pretty quickly after he's in the water and I literally sit there and stare at him for basically the whole duration of the bath, he's just so dehydrated I want to get fluids in him.

I just texted the guy I bought the snake from asking for more specifics. I just remember he said he kept it on a heater while he was working and I thought it was a good thing until I found out overheating can cause corkscrewing pretty quickly. He's definitely a hobbyist breeder, and clearly doesn't know his stuff very well. We'll see about returning him. I'm kind of just holding out hope that he just needs a lot of TLC. I brought up a refund with the guy but he's kind of just a guy on Craigslist so I'm not sure if he'll even give me a refund. He seemed like a decent guy though, just ignorant apparently. We'll see.

[Bogertophis]

Oh, that poor little snake. That is just so sad. You don't even have a good vet to get help from, & you shouldn't have to, with a brand new snake that was supposed to be healthy from the start.

Honestly, you'd be better off returning him & demanding a refund- I hope you didn't pay a lot for this snake, but there's always small claims court* if the person you got it from is as big a jerk as I'm suspecting they are. This is not a snake that should ever have been sold- maybe given away as a "rescue" but not sold. I hate to say this, but I wouldn't get real attached to this snake- this little one is not okay. (*Small claims court- you don't need a lawyer- & the amount you can sue for depends on what state you're in, but just threatening to take them to court might make them decide it's not worth refusing your refund.)

You don't need to wait for any baby snake to defecate before you feed them again -because the small rodents they're eating are mostly digestible, so they may not go for quite a while- not for many meals- see? Pinkies aren't much more than water- fuzzies have a little more nutrition to them, but with tiny bones that are barely there & little or no hair, there's still almost no "waste".

Normally we'd advise not feeding a new snake- for at least a week, due to their stress, many will refuse anyway. But this one, being skinny & all- if you can get him to eat, I'd probably go ahead & try it. There's not a lot to lose, honestly.

One more thing: if you're going to ask to return him & get a refund, you should do it right away! Otherwise, he'll claim the snake wasn't like this when he sold it & try to blame you- trust me. A herp vet's opinion would be helpful for you, but costly, & apparently not available anyway.

I'd suggest you try to return the snake a.s.a.p. because IF "TLC" could fix him, it will likely take a long time- at which point, you're stuck with him. If you do try & he says "no" & you decide to try taking him to small claims court, keep these videos of the snake because pretty much ANYONE can tell this snake isn't okay. I assume the video has a date in it? If not, make sure you take one that does- you need to prove you got him this way.

[KMG]

He settles down pretty quickly after he's in the water and I literally sit there and stare at him for basically the whole duration of the bath, he's just so dehydrated I want to get fluids in him.

I just texted the guy I bought the snake from asking for more specifics. I just remember he said he kept it on a heater while he was working and I thought it was a good thing until I found out overheating can cause corkscrewing pretty quickly. He's definitely a hobbyist breeder, and clearly doesn't know his stuff very well. We'll see about returning him. I'm kind of just holding out hope that he just needs a lot of TLC. I brought up a refund with the guy but he's kind of just a guy on Craigslist so I'm not sure if he'll even give me a refund. He seemed like a decent guy though, just ignorant apparently. We'll see.

You didn't buy a project. You were buying a pet, a pet that should have been healthy. I completely get taking in an animal in need, been there done that, but I would never pay for one.

If the breeder is being honest and didn't pass the snake off with issues it is a fair bet that the issues came from overheating. If that is the case I believe the chances of the damage being reversed is slim to none. Now if the snake was born this way that is one thing but the breeder should not being selling such an animal without divulging that information to the buyer.

[supremenoser]

Yeah this is true. I texted him and we'll see how that goes. If he doesn't respond to me tonight I'll call him tomorrow. I only paid 60$ so I guess I should've known there was a reason he was selling him so cheap. Ugh this really sucks. Nobody else really sells snakes in my area and my petco wants almost 200$ for normals last I checked but they don't even have them in stock hardly ever. This was kind of my only chance and having a beautiful snake like this.
If anybody knows any place that sells them online cheaply I'd appreciate the referral but with how much it costs to ship a snake I'm probably not going to be able to get another. I really hope this guy pulls through, I'm still going to do everything I can for him.

[Bogertophis]

I'm sorry for the way this is turning out for you, but don't lose hope. There may be other options I can think of, but for now, you have your hands full with this one- and if or when you return this one, you'll really need to disinfect every place he was, because "who knows" what this really is at this point? That's well before you bring any other snake home & expose it to potential pathogens he left behind, okay? Your heart's in the right place, but unfortunately that guy selling this snake took advantage of you. Shameful to sell a snake like this.

[KMG]

I'm not sure it's fair to say the seller took advantage... Not yet. If it is from a heat pad chances are they had no idea what they had done. This may be a learning experience for all involved.

[Bogertophis]

I'm not sure it's fair to say the seller took advantage... Not yet. If it is from a heat pad chances are they had no idea what they had done. This may be a learning experience for all involved.

Yes, that's possible, but the low price does suggest he knew something wasn't right- and remember, he was only getting the snake to eat pinkies too- at least, that's what he said, so I think feeding was difficult for quite some time- the snake didn't get thin in a day.

[supremenoser]

Yeah, the guy doesn't seem to be malicious but he also hasn't texted me back yet. Time will tell I suppose. I definitely know I need to check my snakes much more thoroughly now. I will absolutely be cleaning every inch of the area if this guy doesn't make it. I used to foster kittens so I definitely have experience scrubbing and disinfecting areas after having sick animals. Hopefully it won't come to that though. The snake has been moving a bit more in the past couple hours, he moved part way out of his hide and then went back in again later so that might be a good sign. He's still lethargic though. We'll see if he eats okay tomorrow night, my fingers are crossed.

[Bogertophis]

Mine are crossed too. You're not the first person to buy an animal in haste- and I'm sure it happens a lot at these reptile expos too, because when there's a crowd of people looking for "that one" great snake for them (& at a good price), it's easy to feel pressured to buy quickly, knowing that if you keep looking & you walk away from that table, someone else may buy that snake before you can get back from seeing what else there is. And some pet stores get a lot of business in "sympathy buys". It helps to take a check-list of things to look for on a snake to make sure it's healthy & to remind ourselves to slow down, really look, & ask more questions.