"Rescued" a group of ball pythons, have a few questions.

[angllady2]

So, this is kind of an odd experience for me. A few days ago I get a text from a guy who buys mice form me from time to time. He has decided to get out of ball pythons and focus on his bearded dragons. I can understand that. Then he tells me he wants me to take his snakes.

I had no idea what to think. Was this a joke ? Was he wanting to pawn a bunch of normals off on me that I can't breed or sell later ? Were they sick or something else ? And where was I supposed to house them ?

So I tell him I'll think about it. Later that evening he calls me. He is serious about this. He has met me before, seen my snakes and knows how much I love them. He says a good home is much more important to him than money. He wants to send me all 10 of his ball pythons, their rack with heat and thermostats, their hides and water dishes, basically everything included. He says perhaps at a later date, he might like to get a morph from me, and he feels like if he gives me all these things, I'll be more likely to give him a good deal on a future purchase.

So I drive to the guys house, and the first thing I notice is his house reeks. I don't know exactly what the smell was, but it gave me a headache within minutes, and left me feeling dizzy the rest of the night. He shows me the rack. Just a basic homemade melamine rack, seven tubs in it. He's got zoo med heat pads on each shelf and a pair of thermostats to run them. Then he starts pulling out the snakes. It turns out he has a cinnamon male, yellow belly male, spider male, mojave male, pastel female, and 5 normal females, two of which are breeding size. So we bag the snakes, manage to load the rack, hides, water dishes and such. Then, as I am leaving, he mentions that the spider and mojave both have RI, and he gives me a test tube that supposedly contains Baytril. They have never seen a vet, apparently he just calls his vet and tells him what he needs, and the vet gives it to him.

So I get the babies home, and later that night after hubby gets home we re-do the rack, which was a mess, and start getting the snakes settled. The spider seems fine, but the mojave definitely has an RI. Everybody is in quarantine right now, the mojave is separated from the others. They all act very hungry, and he tells me when I ask, he hasn't fed them for a few weeks so they would eat when I got them.

So, I am looking at this little test tube of Baytril, and it reads, "Bovine Baytril" no strength or anything. I have no intention of using this stuff, but apparently he already has been. Can this stuff hurt the snakes ? I have no idea what dose he's been using, but he claims he's been treating the spider for about 3 months now.

So here I am. I have my established collection of 25 snakes. 9 new ones in quarantine in the storage room, 1 in quarantine in the bathroom. I just keep wondering what on earth I got myself in to. Also, since I know the mojave has RI, what are the odds they all might, since they were in the same rack system, no quarantine at all when I got them ? Should I wait for them to show symptoms before I treat ? or just treat everyone as a preventative measure ? I realize treating them all will cost me a pretty penny, and I am prepared for that. All my husband could think about was, " Yes, free snakes!" Let this be a lesson, there is no such thing.

Ok, I guess I'm done rambling. Send some positive thoughts my way if you can. The next 6 months are going to be a bumpy ride for me.

Gale