Just acquired a rat mualed BP last night - Advice pls!

[sisble50]

Hi all, I am new to the forum and to reptiles. So, HI lol and some background (sorry kinda long): I've been interested in herps (and all animals in general) since I was a kid, but was never allowed to own much more than a newt, cats and dogs. I'm now 35 with a renewed interest and had been planning on adopting a snake within the next year after my husband finishes school, gets a job…blah blah. Anyway, I have recently began a second job at my local pet store which has only added more fuel to my fire of wanting a snake. So, understand that my snake/herp knowledge is very rudimentary as I've only really been researching for a couple weeks.

Snake acquisition: I use craigslist quite a bit to sell things I no longer need. I also use it to judge my local "economy" for pricing things I may buy or sell. Well, I went snake price shopping and found someone trading their ball python for a stereo (which I happened to have for sale). Long story short, I had talked to some people who were very interested in purchasing the snake, and I want the enclosure for my future snake. My possible buyer was aware that this snake may possibly need to be rehabbed temperament wise. The snake's story as told by the previous owners: The got the snake from a guy who handled it as if it were a wild poisonous snake...new owner stated that the snake bit him once when he first got it, but became friendlier as he handled it more. He said that after a while, their 10 year old daughter handled her with ease. But with busy schedules came loss of interest and the snake hadn't been handled for about two years. They blew up their stereo, needed a new one so decided to trade the snake. I get there and the house is a loud frenzy of people and pets. The snake is in an enclosure, made from a modified desk and has the spatial volume of a 65 gallon aquarium. The snake was understandably tightly balled around a branch. It was kind of dark and smoky, so I couldn't see a whole lot, not to mention we just wanted to leave because it wasn't the nicest neighborhood. lol Previous owner stated they fed live, medium rats on the 10th of every month. They were also told that the snake was female. From the storyline, the snake is about 3-4 years old and appears to be 3'-ish. Transport of the snake consisted of moving the enclosure to the bed of our truck.

The reveal: We get the snake home and place her in a cleared, quiet spot in our garage. We are planning to keep her in the garage for awhile because it's quieter with a more stable temperature and humidity. In the light, I immediately notice a dried wound on her back and I could see what appeared to be muscle fibers (the hole is the size of my pinky finger tip). After a few hours of fresh air and solitude, we saw the ball loosen and her head appeared. I saw her mangle face and my heart sank . I felt so bad for her. Her lip on one side was raised from swelling and pinked with inflammation. A rat sized bite wound now clearly visible. As the night went on, she loosened more and more and just laid there, mouth slightly open. I put fresh water in her enclosure, wet the tip of my fingers and lightly stroked her. She tensed, but made no move to strike or hiss. This morning, much of the redness was gone, swelling seemed to have lessened and she was quite a bit more active and stretching out to test the new air coming in from the door. I gently stroked her for a couple minutes and cradled a coil to get her use to human touch again. The closer I stroke towards her head, she just moves away. She doen't seem to be agressive, but given her condition, how much should I try to handle her? My intended goal is to get her out and to a vet to avoid a resp infection or treat it if she has one. In short, though I was intending on selling her and getting a different kind of snake, I'm thinking about keeping her.

On a side note, do both sexes have spurs?