Emergency! Massive heat spike from having thermostat pulled free of the heat tape!

[Kinra]

And thank you for the kind words everyone.

Ivy, my 1700g spider girl, is definitely out of it, she moves a little now and but no tongue flicking and she is very weak... She has fully cooled down and her cages temps are back to normal so I think it's time to put her back and hope she recovers.

I can't believe I lost my normal boy... Anubis was my first ball python

-Jason that's a really good idea, if my spider girl makes it and is able to function normally I'll definitely try that. If she doesn't do well or live I don't think I want to work with ball pythons anymore, at least not for the time being... I've put in so much and have had such terrible luck with it

I'm sorry for your loss and hope Ivy pulls through, but I don't think you should give up on BPs just yet. Life always has its set backs we just need to work through them. This was a horrible accident and if you enjoy your BPs you shouldn't give up on them because of it.

[jjsnakedude]

i'm sorry for your loss and hope ivy pulls through, but i don't think you should give up on bps just yet. Life always has its set backs we just need to work through them. This was a horrible accident and if you enjoy your bps you shouldn't give up on them because of it.

x 2

[Redneck_Crow]

And thank you for the kind words everyone.

Ivy, my 1700g spider girl, is definitely out of it, she moves a little now and but no tongue flicking and she is very weak... She has fully cooled down and her cages temps are back to normal so I think it's time to put her back and hope she recovers.

I can't believe I lost my normal boy... Anubis was my first ball python

-Jason that's a really good idea, if my spider girl makes it and is able to function normally I'll definitely try that. If she doesn't do well or live I don't think I want to work with ball pythons anymore, at least not for the time being... I've put in so much and have had such terrible luck with it

If she dies, buy another one.

I'm not saying that to be a jerk. I've had a similar experience. I had to go out of town to a family funeral during the dead of winter, and my power went down for two days. When I got back, most of my reptiles were dead. A couple were dying.

Kaa, my first ball python and my favorite, held on for a long time. A couple of times it almost looked like he was free and clear, then he would get worse. Ultimately he quietly slipped away.

After that, I got rid of all of the reptile stuff. Didn't go to a reptile show for years.

It's only this year that I started feeling that pull of something missing. Almost reluctantly I bought a couple of young snakes, one of which was so damn nasty that I had to handle her a lot to get her settled down. I really enjoyed it.

I spent 15 years of my life not having the animals I enjoy working with. I could kick myself in the rear end now for not going straight out and buying another snake. All through life we lose that which is precious to us. We lose animals, friends, people, jobs, things....the list goes on.

I was a fool to deny myself that which I truly enjoyed because a bad thing had happened. Don't let the bad experiences be a prison that keeps you from enjoying the good.

My $.02 anyways.

[bad-one]

I couldn't afford to replace Ivy if she passed. Anubis and Ivy are my absolute favorite snakes ( heck Anubis was my baby, I had hoped to keep him until he passed of old age). I've had a bad string of luck in the past two years so its not just this. In any case it's my decision to make, thanks for all the advice though, it's much appreciated.

In good news, I think Ivy may fully recover. Her grip still isn't as strong as it should be but she is responsive and getting stronger. The only super wierd thing is she hasn't been able to stick her tongue out all the way and the forked part is sticking together. She gets her tongue out to the fork and that's it for tongue flick.

[llovelace]

Is she taking water ok?

[darkbloodwyvern]

In good news, I think Ivy may fully recover. Her grip still isn't as strong as it should be but she is responsive and getting stronger. The only super wierd thing is she hasn't been able to stick her tongue out all the way and the forked part is sticking together. She gets her tongue out to the fork and that's it for tongue flick.

I wonder if the forks stick because she is dehydrated? are you still soaking her? Sometimes animals don't drink as much as they should after they have something traumatic happen. I imagine all that heat dried her out pretty bad, poor girl! I'm wishing you both the best and speedy recovery for your girl!

[bad-one]

As far as I know she hasn't taken a drink yet so dehydration would definitely make sense. I'll try soaking her today and see how it goes, I don't want to stress her out too much.

She is even more alert today. She slithers around in my hands and tries to flick her tongue at normal intervals (forks are still stuck together). Her movements are not jerky or odd (well no odder than her normal movements, as she is a spider). She isn't at 100% yet but the amount of improvement vs when I pulled her limp body from the tub is astonishing... I think I may have got her out of the heat just in time, that or she is far hardier an animal than I first believed. I'm trying not to get my hopes up yet though!

[Redneck_Crow]

She sounds like she will make it. What killed my Kaa and Ndoki was that they developed horrible respiratory infections after they nearly froze to death. Now that more is known about treating sick reptiles they might have had a chance if the same thing were to occur.

Your snake sounds like what she needs is hydration, plenty of rest, and rats when she's ready for them.

[Johan]

Just a suggestion..try to feed a smaller meal than normal the next time you feed. Your girls digestive enzymes may have been damaged from overheating so it would be a good idea to give a little easier meal to down. I hope she pulls through. Sorry about your normal

[Highline Reptiles South]

I'm sorry for your loss. That is REALLY good advice for those setting up racks. You HAVE to anchor that probe well or you could have catostrophic results. I taped mine to the heat tape with the really strong aluminum tape. You would almost have to pull the rack over first.

I'm sorry man - try not to let it bother you too much and try to move on. I've be a wreck too.