My baby got injured... need some advice.

[WannaTouchMySnake]

So here's the deal...

My ball python was out of her cage (she chills around my room a lot and is super tame and sweet) and the cat was also in the room. I never let them get too close but usually the python is under something asleep and the cat goes and sleeps on the bed without even knowing she is out of her cage.

Well this day the python was under her tank and while I didn't actually see it happen this is what I think occurred. I think my python was poking her head out and the cat tried to grab it thinking it looked fun to catch. I heard a swat sound and turned around and so I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

So when I took my ball python out from under the cage immediately to check her I noticed the cat had apparently got her on the eye. The eye cap itself was torn and kinda peeled back exposing the eye. The eye itself looked unscathed though. There was no blood or anything but it looked bad because I know she needs her eye cap.

I had to go to work so I put her in her tank and put up the humidity. (I pump it in with a humidifier) When I came home from work I checked on her and she looked great. I don't know if she peeled the rest of the eye cap off or somehow got it back in place but the torn eye cap was just... gone. If I hadn't seen it happen I wouldn't know there was anything wrong. She looked normal.

So I thought ok I'll hold off on freaking out too much and keep the humidity up and watch her progress closely.

Her eye looks a little cloudy but other than that it looks pretty normal. Nothing looks gross or infected or swollen so I assume that she is healing well. But here's my question that is really confusing me. Since that happens she hasn't been using her hides at all. She roams her cage and then goes to sleep but never inside her hides. It seems like that odd behavior must mean something but I couldn't figure it out.

Has anyone had this before and can tell me what she should look like when going through a normal healing process so I have some sort of idea of what I can expect? Also does anyone have any theory as to her eye miraculously looking great when I got home and what happened to the eye cap? And can anyone give me an idea why she might not be using her hides when her humidity and temps are fine?

Is she afraid to coil up? I can't figure it out. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

Well first off I'm gonna say this and I'm not jumping on you, but if your gonna have your snake out of it's cage put the cat in another room. That was an accident waiting to happen and now it did. So just in the future no play dates with the cat n the BP lol. For now just keep the humidity up and wait for a shed. I can't answer as to why it looks better and why you can't see where it was torn. I guess it's just healing. As long as it's not getting infected and oozing stuff then I'd say it will be fine. If it gets worse take your BP to the vet. Hope this helps n good luck!

[Simple Man]

Why do you let your python roam around whereever? I'm glad to hear no major damage occured but practice responsible snake keeping. I'll leave the more choice words out of this. You're lucky nothing worse happened and you need to think if a snake is for you if you plan on keeping up irresponsible practices.

B

[ballpythonluvr]

I own a cat and a ball python. I never ever leave the cat in my room when i have the snake out. My cat has a very high prey drive and I know he would hurt my snake if gvien a chance. I don't even let the cat in my room when my snake is secure and safe in his tub.

[WannaTouchMySnake]

and you need to think if a snake is for you if you plan on keeping up irresponsible practices.
B

Didn't ask for you to be a jerk. My snake has been with me for years so I'm pretty damn sure that the snake is for me.

And you ask why I let her roam around the room? Because there's no reason to keep her trapped in her cage all day when she's such a sweetheart.

As for this thread turning into a cat and snake issue that was just the back story for you guys... I have had them in the same room plenty of times and like I said the cat tends to not even know the snake is out. This was a one time occurrence out of many many times so you guys should calm down.

I was mostly interested in why she is not using her hides... if you aren't gonna talk to me about the issue then don't bother commenting.

[WannaTouchMySnake]

Also, clearly this won't be occurring again but there's nothing I can do to change what already happened.

[WannaTouchMySnake]

Well first off I'm gonna say this and I'm not jumping on you, but if your gonna have your snake out of it's cage put the cat in another room. That was an accident waiting to happen and now it did. So just in the future no play dates with the cat n the BP lol. For now just keep the humidity up and wait for a shed. I can't answer as to why it looks better and why you can't see where it was torn. I guess it's just healing. As long as it's not getting infected and oozing stuff then I'd say it will be fine. If it gets worse take your BP to the vet. Hope this helps n good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

[Kinra]

Didn't ask for you to be an jerk. My snake has been with me for years so I'm pretty damn sure that the snake is for me.

And you ask why I let her roam around the room? Because there's no reason to keep her trapped in her cage all day when she's such a sweetheart.

As for this thread turning into a cat and snake issue that was just the back story for you guys... I have had them in the same room plenty of times and like I said the cat tends to not even know the snake is out. This was a one time occurrence out of many many times so you guys should calm down.

I was mostly interested in why she is not using her hides... if you aren't gonna talk to me about the issue then don't bother commenting.

You should have known before posting that a lot of people were going to be upset about the cat and the snake in the same room. It's a bad idea, end of story. You could have easily written your original post so that you didn't look like an irresponsible pet owner letting your cat and your snake roam free around the room.

As for your snake's injury, just keep and eye on it and make sure nothing happens. She may shed soon to replace the damaged eye cap, but I don't know for sure, I've never experienced something like this. I have no idea why she isn't using her hides, it could be that she doesn't feel secure any more since it appears she was attacked close by.

[ballpythonluvr]

Didn't ask for you to be a jerk. My snake has been with me for years so I'm pretty damn sure that the snake is for me.

And you ask why I let her roam around the room? Because there's no reason to keep her trapped in her cage all day when she's such a sweetheart.

As for this thread turning into a cat and snake issue that was just the back story for you guys... I have had them in the same room plenty of times and like I said the cat tends to not even know the snake is out. This was a one time occurrence out of many many times so you guys should calm down.

I was mostly interested in why she is not using her hides... if you aren't gonna talk to me about the issue then don't bother commenting.

Well, my goodness! Calm down. I am just saying that in my situation I never leave my cat in the room with my snake because I absolutely know my cat would hurt my snake. I am not yelling at you or condemning you. Just keep an eye on your snake and everything should be fine. People tend to get a little excited here when folks have snakes that are injured. Everyone here is very passionate about their snakes hence why you see the reactions that you do.

[Simple Man]

Didn't ask for you to be a jerk. My snake has been with me for years so I'm pretty damn sure that the snake is for me.

And you ask why I let her roam around the room? Because there's no reason to keep her trapped in her cage all day when she's such a sweetheart.

As for this thread turning into a cat and snake issue that was just the back story for you guys... I have had them in the same room plenty of times and like I said the cat tends to not even know the snake is out. This was a one time occurrence out of many many times so you guys should calm down.

I was mostly interested in why she is not using her hides... if you aren't gonna talk to me about the issue then don't bother commenting.

Perhaps you should educate yourself if you plan on keeping an animal. What part of a snake loose and a cat in the same room sounds like a responsible idea?

You're irresponsibility when it comes to housing the snake caused it undue injury and stress. You're lucky worse didn't happen. You can be angry at me all you would like but you're the reason your snake is injured. You project all your anger at me instead of realizing that you're the one that is in the wrong. Fix your keeping habits and your snake won't have to suffer pointless stress and injury.

If you can't handle reading someone else's opinion on the RIGHT way to do something then you probably should't be posting things on an internet forum. You can't pick and choose who responds to your post. Not everyone is going to fluff you up about how you're somehow doing what is best for the snake. I'm certainly not going to pretend you're responsibly keeping a snake if it free roams your room. Add a cat to that equation and the whole mess just exponentially worse as you just learned. Hope you have a great day and realize that keeping your snake housed properly is best for all concerned! That is if you have any concern for your snake.

B