Plop: The unexpected rescue... (lots of pics)

[Gizmo]

And completely unprepared for Ball python... *sigh*

So here is the story of how i came to own Plop two and a half weeks ago...


My friend works at a local big chain store as the reptiles and fish manager, she also operates a reptile rescue in the area. I go and pester her at work and stuff because it is fun to talk to her and she lets me play with the animals when it isnt too busy. One day she shows me this skinny little ball python, says he came from the supplier a little underweight, but they were working on fattening him up, i felt bad, but he was way too expensive for me, so i kept an eye on him...

Fast forward a couple months, three people have quit at the pet store, and they cannot hire more people, so the employees that are left are SWAMPED, and the reptiles are not getting the extra attention they need... The ball python has been getting worse and worse... He hasnt been shedding properly, nor has he been eating, and he seems dehydrated despite the constant access to fresh water.

He is now so bad looking that they have reduced his price to get a quick sale, but i still cant afford him, so i have a talk with my friend, and since he has been there for months now and she knows me, she agrees to drop the price further, into a range i can afford. They cannot just 'adopt' him to me, since he is one of their more expensive snakes, but i got a discount of 50%, which was enough that i could get him out of there. So i buy him, and bring him home.




After i got this poor baby home, i let him warm up before setting him up in some warm water to soak, it took an hour to get him fully saturated, so that i could work on getting the dead skin off...



When i first started working on his shed, i thought it wouldnt be that hard... Little did i know that he had retained three sheds, and that i would have to work on him for hours... By the time i got all three layers off his head and neck, his body had tried out too much to work on comfortably.


(You can see where i stopped right by my thumb.)

There were so many layers of skin stuck on his head that his nostrils and heat pits were plugged... When i pulled out the skin he immediately perked up and started acting like a totally different snake! I soaked him another hour and worked the shed off the rest of his body carefully...



It took over three hours total to get all of the dead skin and crap off... And he thanked me by using my laptop as a toilet. lol!! Im not upset at him, he obviously felt so much better after i was through that he was comfortable enough to relieve himself, so i am proud.













After all of the excitement i tucked him away in a temporary KK for the night, and in the morning when i checked on him, he looked great!



He even pretended to be a tree boa for a while! lol



Now i have moved him to a bigger container that i can keep warmer.

(v) This picture was taken two days ago, btw. (v)



Now i hesitate to post this, simply because i have seen newbies get jumped on here... And i know i dont have EVERYTHING PERFECT. i know that... But this guy was totally unexpected, and i am moving in two weeks... This is the biggest container i can get for him for now, when i get where i am going, he is getting a 40 gallon with all the proper heating and whatnot. This is functional and warm for now, and that is what matters.

He has eaten twice for me, very heartily, thank goodness. But he has not pooped... He has urinated several times, which is good. Once he urinated so much that it soaked the paper towels. lol i cleaned it immediately and let him move through some warm water to clean off his belly as well.

I dont handle him but once or twice a week, simply because i want him to digest and relax as much as possible and get all comfortable.


Again, i am a newbie at this, but i dont think i am doing a HORRIBLE job... It may not be perfect, but he is obviously in more capable hands with me than the pet store... Where he was being kept in the same pull out as firebelly toads (divided of course), so his bedding was always soaked and cold.

Also, the store had him labeled as a pastel, but a friend of mine, not the employee, says he doesnt quite look like any pastel she has ever seen...

I say he, but he hasnt actually been sexed. lol

Oh hey, and this is my first post on the forum! Wooo!
Please go easy on me. ^-^;;