Can you diagnose my BP

[surfingguitar]

Hi everyone,
My name is Danny and I am new to this forum. I think I may have a sick ball on my hands and I am wondering if you may be able to diagnose him. He is a 12 year old who was never a finicky eater and very docile to hold. I fed him on March 8, right after a shed (where he retained eye caps). About 3 Weeks later he had another full shed and has been acting vey weird/agitated since then. Once he finished this past shed, I tried feeding him a rat and he wouldn't eat it. In fact he acted very frightened by it and tried very hard to get out of the feeding area. Over the last month, any time I try to touch/hold him he acts very agitated (fast body movements) but does not strike, and then he makes these crazy jerking movements with his body. He is also constantly active- day or night. I looked into IBD but I don't think he has that. Maybe constipation? I was able to film him flipping out and have provided the link for it below. Any opinions would be very helpful.
Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZvE9iRVflM

[Homegrownscales]

Ok wow I watched 2 min of that and I just can't watch anymore. There's something defiantly going on. So I've never seen anything like that at all in my life and it's not normal nor is it constipation. So let's try and figure out what's going on. Meanwhile you need to get him to a vet. And if you have other snakes quarantine him asap.
How long has this been going on?
How long have you had him?
What's the temps in the cage? Hot
And coolside.
What are the temperatures controlled by?
How are you measuring the temperatures?
Does he still do that If taken out of the cage and put into a non heated enclosure and left alone for awhile?
Does he do that all the time, or will he calm down for a bit and start up again?
Has he been losing weight? And have you been weighing him regularly?
What has his feeding schedule been like and what has he been eating?
Have you or him come in contact with any other snakes mainly boas or other pythons in the last 30 days? In anyway, like did you touch someones ball or boa and go home and feed, touch, clean, anything?

I know this is alot of questions and they may not seem relevant but it could help everyone figure out what is going on with that poor baby. So if you could answer them it may help us give you some ideas on what going on. But without a vet we won't be able to diagnose him.

Morgan

[Lolo76]

Have you checked him & the cage for mites? I had a mite outbreak once, and my Spotted Python's agitated behavior (trying desperately to escape) is what first clued me in... blech. Aside from that, it's pretty hard to diagnose a snake over the internet - do you have a herp vet anywhere nearby?

[Lolo76]

Btw, I haven't watched the video yet... sounds like more than mites, though, based on the above comment.

[Homegrownscales]

Oh mites yes! Do you see mites on him? Water dish? Look under his chin or right by his eyes, under belly scales. Still answer the questions though. That will help alot. Not saying that's what it is that just reminded me to include that. The video looks terrible though. I feel so bad for him.

[A&S Reptiles]

Man, I didn't last a minute. You seriously need to take him to a vet. Don't wait thinking you'll find an answer on here. I got these two snakes from someone years ago and they had mites as well as internal parasites and didn't act like that. I don't even have a theory for what it could be. It doesn't even look like he has control over what he's doing. Does he do that all the time or every now and then??

[surfingguitar]

Ok wow I watched 2 min of that and I just can't watch anymore. There's something defiantly going on. So I've never seen anything like that at all in my life and it's not normal nor is it constipation. So let's try and figure out what's going on. Meanwhile you need to get him to a vet. And if you have other snakes quarantine him asap.
How long has this been going on?
How long have you had him?
What's the temps in the cage? Hot
And coolside.
What are the temperatures controlled by?
How are you measuring the temperatures?
Does he still do that If taken out of the cage and put into a non heated enclosure and left alone for awhile?
Does he do that all the time, or will he calm down for a bit and start up again?
Has he been losing weight? And have you been weighing him regularly?
What has his feeding schedule been like and what has he been eating?
Have you or him come in contact with any other snakes mainly boas or other pythons in the last 30 days? In anyway, like did you touch someones ball or boa and go home and feed, touch, clean, anything?

I know this is alot of questions and they may not seem relevant but it could help everyone figure out what is going on with that poor baby. So if you could answer them it may help us give you some ideas on what going on. But without a vet we won't be able to diagnose him.

Morgan

Thanks for your responses. Answers to your questions are the following:
1. about a week and a half (i thought it had stopped)
2. i have had him since his birth (he has always been in great health and physically looks healthy right now)
3. Temp with lamp is about 80, temp at night is about 72
4. Temps controlled by timer switch (he has lived completely fine on this system throughout his life)
5. Temps are measured with gauge.
6. He only does that flipping out motion when I go to touch him or try to pick him up. When left alone he calms down but still moves actively around the cage. Seems like he cant just go hide and relax.
7. Have not been weighing him regularly, from how he looks/feels it doesn't seem like that.
8. He normally eats one medium rat a month.
9. I have not had any contact with any other animals. It doesn't look like he has mites ( i have checked all of the areas for that and see nothing)

- I assume that I can take him to a vet, but I do not know where to go or do i have the money to shell out. I love him but cannot accumulate $500+ in vet bills. :/ I live in Orange County

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your help.

[surfingguitar]

This sounds similar: muscle spasms

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Reptiles-...ale-ball-1.htm

[loonunit]

Wow. At first I thought IBD for sure, but he's holding his head completely level. And he really looks like he's trying to get OUT.

If you can rule out mites, and you can't afford a vet, can you give him a different caging situation? Buy him an all-new, larger tank, use a completely different sort of bedding, give him a bunch of new hides? Because if it's not medical, and your husbandry is fine, that pretty much just leaves environmental.

(Or a girl. I suppose he could really, really want a female--he looks like my horny males when they wrestle. Except they usually wrestle with ANOTHER SNAKE, not by themselves.)

[purplemuffin]

Bizarre, it looks like he's trying to fight off the walls of the cage! That worries me, I would visit a vet if I saw Maru doing that!