I need help--sick BP.

[warning]

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right place since I got online to try and search for an answer to my BP's sickness. My BP, Steve, is about 7 months old and still a baby. He began to shed about 2 weeks ago but never shed his lower half. When looking closer, it looks like he had a sore (pretty small) on his belly. When looking closer at the unshed skin, it looked like the skin underneath was kind of raw. After soaking him for about 20 minutes a day for over a week he developed another layer of skin that he looked like he would shed (eye pieces and all). The eye pieces came off but now the rest is not shedding. His lower half of his stomach has now turned a yellowish pinkish color. The top half is fine but just the lower is this way. I'm not sure what do. My breeder mentioned that possible he is burning his stomach. I think this may be the case and I feel so bad because I don't think my layer of chips was thick enough. Now I'm wondering what I should do to help him heal. Any ideas? Has anyone seen anything like this? I was going to take a picture tomorrow and upload it to show you. I'm so worried about him!!

[Repti-Rob]

Give us your setup and temps then we can better help you

[JLC]

Welcome to BP.net. I'm sorry you've got such a sick baby.

What I would do if I were in your shoes:

Get him off the chips and off the heat mat or whatever it is in the cage that burned him. Put him in a tub on newspaper or paper towels and keep the whole tub warm at about 85 degrees. Provide him with a small waterdish so he can drink, but not big enough for him to try and climb into.

Tomorrow, I'd look for an experienced herp vet to get the snake to asap. Here are some links you can use to find one in your area:
http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

[Repti-Rob]

Welcome to BP.net. I'm sorry you've got such a sick baby.

What I would do if I were in your shoes:

Get him off the chips and off the heat mat or whatever it is in the cage that burned him. Put him in a tub on newspaper or paper towels and keep the whole tub warm at about 85 degrees. Provide him with a small waterdish so he can drink, but not big enough for him to try and climb into.

Tomorrow, I'd look for an experienced herp vet to get the snake to asap. Here are some links you can use to find one in your area:
http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

yes what she said

[warning]

He is in a pretty large fish tank actually. I've been using aspen chips (referred by my breeder). He has a fairly large water bowl but never climbs in it. He has a heating pad on one side of the tank and he usually moves from that to the cool spot multiple times a day. His humidity is somewhere between 60% and 90%. I'm a teacher so sometimes he does get neglected as the class pet. The temperature in the cage is usually 75-80 degrees. (The temp gauge is at the top of the tank so it may be warmer down lower.

The other thing I"m worried about is that I have not fed him in almost 4 weeks. I never go this long but since he was shedding and then shedding again I was afraid to feed him. Any more input?

[JLC]

Check out the caresheet we offer:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

It's got loads of ideas for getting that environment fixed up. Aspen bedding is usually fine...but if the snake has a sick belly, he needs to be on paper until he gets better. This will allow you to see if there is any bleeding or weeping sores because it will stain the paper....as well as reduce the chance of the rough surfaces irritating an already sensitive belly. And allow you to see immediately if its been soiled and needs cleaning. You don't want a sick belly laying on soiled bedding.

You may need to take him home with you to keep him in a warm, quiet, dark place until he gets better....and in the meantime you can work on getting the tank in the classroom set up properly for his return once he's all better.

I love the idea of a pet snake in the classroom...and especially like the idea of the teacher being an example to their students about how to provide proper husbandry and care for their animals.

As for not feeding......they can go for weeks and weeks without eating and suffer no ill effects because of it. I'd get the little guy to a vet first and on the road to recovery before offering food again....unless he's actually losing weight or severely underweight.

[warning]

Thanks so much for your help. Seriously, who knew there were so many people out there online, ready and willing to help!!

When you say paper, do you mean like paper towels or what exactly? Should they be wet? How exactly should I get that set up here in my home. I don't have a tub here at home. Should I just buy like a big tuperware container? Do I need to buy a heat lamp to help keep him warm? I feel so unknowledgeable!

[JLC]

I feel ya! But we'll talk ya through it and I think you'll do fine.

By paper, I mean plain ol' newspaper or paper towels. Either one. Dry. They don't need a "cushion" of bedding under them or anything...the primary purpose of the substrate is to absorb waste...and newspaper or papertowels do a fine job of that...plus the other benefits I mentioned earlier.

As soon as you get a chance...head to Wal Mart (or something similar) and get yourself a shallow sterelite tub. Something a little bigger than the size of a shoebox should be just about right. They usually prefer a small, snug home to something big an airy...especially if they're not feeling well.

Use a cheap soldering iron to melt holes around the sides for ventilation. (Do this outside if possible....it's very fumey!) You can drill holes too, but it's a little trickier to not crack the plastic.

While at WalMart...look in the hardware area and grab an acu-rite thermometer. It's a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer that will give you an accurate read of temps and humidity at the same time.

You can also pick up a little plastic bowl or flower pot bottom and cut or solder out a hole in the side to make a little cave to hide in.

If at all possible...set this all up in a small bathroom or closet that you can keep warm...maybe with a small space heater. That'd be ideal if you can control the ambient temps. If not a small isolated room...then at least a quiet corner of a room.

If you must use a light to generate heat...then make sure it's a red or blue bulb so you can leave it on 24/7...and it'd have to be suspended above the plastic tub, obviously. You'll want to get all this set up before actually bringing the snake home to it...so you can make sure it's not TOO hot or too cold or whatever.

It's getting late here and I dunno if I'm making much sense. Hopefully this is helping some, though!

[warning]

Okay, thanks for your help. I'll change out the chips in his cage at school tomorrow for paper towels. I think I'm going to bring the whole cage home this weekend until we can get the other substrate set up. I'm worried about keeping him warm because we live in a basement and it is chilly. Hopefully we can get something set up.

I have another quick question. I try and keep his humidity up but often times I can't so I'll end up spraying the chips to kind of hold in the moisture. Is that bad? After reading your care sheet I noticed that it said to keep it dry. Could that be the cause? I have looked up stuff on scale rot and it doesn't look like what I have been able to find. I think it is a burn but there is one particular sore that is different than the rest of the discolored spots (it is at the top so maybe it has infected the lower half). I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and hopefully get him in ASAP.

[JLC]

Here's a thread that can help you figure out how to get a glass tank working well:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56846

My only problem with replacing the aspen with paper in the glass tank is that you apparently have an unregulated heat mat under the glass. The paper will not protect him from that. I'm just guessing this, since you seem to think it likely that the snake has been burned.

If living in a chilly basement...see if you can get even just one corner of a room warmed up with a space heater. They make some pretty nice ones now that don't cost a lot and have a built in thermostat so you can control (at least to some degree, even if not completely accurate) how warm that corner gets. And you can cover the glass with insulation to help hold in warmth as well.

The heat mat, or whatever it was that burned him, needs to be turned off. If you have no other options for warming the tank...then get to the hardware store asap and pick up a rheostat. (Dimmer switch) They make them for table lamps that you just plug into like an extension cord. The mats get TOO hot without something to control them.

It's unlikely that substrate that has been spritzed for humidity would cause scale rot...but if it's been left soaking wet and/or not cleaned for a long time...it's possible. And it's possible that it's a combination of burned scales that have gotten infected by laying on dirty or wet bedding.

Even if I saw pictures, I wouldn't hazzard a guess as to what the snake's actual condition was. I'm just trying to offer some basic ideas to help keep whatever it is from getting worse until it can be treated by a knowlegeable vet.