Noob to the Rescue

[Meerna]

I picked up my first BP yesterday, and I was absolutely shocked at the conditions I found him in. This woman had him in an aquarium that used to house fish, with the aquarium hood still on! No screen top, just a normal aquarium hood. That's just the beginning. He had nothing in there with him other than a sweater (why?) one hide, and the smallest UTH you can find. He didn't even have a water bowl! No thermometer, no hygrometer, no additional heat source. Clearly this woman had absolutely no idea how to care for reptiles. I'm honestly surprised he's lived this long, and he doesn't seem to be in bad condition considering. It was too late at night to pick up supplies from a pet store yesterday when I got home with him, but I'm heading out soon to get a properly sized UTH and the AcuRite I had ordered last week. I did managed to find a suitable bowl at Walmart yesterday to make him another hide, and a water bowl. I also got him a clip lamp and a reptile bulb. This is just temporary though, until the plastic tub I ordered from Amazon comes in next week. Then I'll have him set up so much better, and I'm tossing that awful aquarium.

I am still worried about the little guy though. I'd already scheduled an appointment with him with a herp vet before I picked him up, but I still worry. He was only being fed a medium rat every two weeks, but he seems slightly underfed. I haven't weighed him yet, didn't want to mess with him too much after the move, but when I'm fixing up his aquarium later today I'll get a weight and try to get a measurement on him. I'm far from an expert on anything, but I've read about underfed BP's before and how you can feel their spine sticking out, and I can feel his. It's not awful, but I'm still concerned. The woman said he hadn't eaten in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping he'll eat for me soon. I know he probably won't want to straight away because of the move, but I'll feel better once he does.

I'll keep you guys updated on his condition though.