What would you do ... ?

[k8nkane]

A couple weeks ago, I moved out of where I'd previously lived and into a house with someone about the same age as me. I thought it was great because I have a couple of dogs (one of which is a pit bull) and a snake, so I thought it would be harder to find housing. This person also owns a couple of dogs and a snake.

Anyways, I've noticed this guy isn't taking care of his BP. At all.

I'm talking improper temps, humidity at 25%, soiled substrate, not ENOUGH substrate, a dirty water bowl that's almost empty, and a rat that he'd left in the tank for FOUR days before I finally grabbed some tongs and fished it out of there. The snake looks in relative good health from what I can see with the exception of some small pieces of stuck shed on its head.

What would you do? Keeping in mind that 1) I've just moved into this guy's place three weeks ago and 2) a lot of people get defensive when the quality of their pet's care is called into question, however warranted it is.

[Xeperxi]

If I didn't live there I wouldn't be so nice, but since you are living there I'd talk to him about it, maybe make some suggestions nicely and see how that goes. I think it is all in the delivery. Also, persuade him to join this forum so he can see and talk to those more experienced and also to see how his husbandry is lacking.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.483622,-83.121079

[k8nkane]

Well, if I wasn't living here, I wouldn't be so nice about it, either.

But it IS really hard to find a place to live with a pit bull AND a snake (my golden retriever sadly doesn't cancel them out, lol), and I'm very hesitant to rock the boat and jeopardize my living situation.

Suggesting he come to this forum is not an option, unfortunately. He doesn't go online hardly at all, if ever, because of the demands of his job.

[HighVoltageRoyals]

That is a touchy subject and is really dependent on the overall attitude of your new house mate. Try bringing up snakes in a casual conversation and then ween into talking about your guy's snakes. Although he may need to be told how horrible he's treating his snake, maybe he's just not educated enough in BPs to know that what he is doing is wrong.

What I would do: Be honest but not blunt. Next time you go out to buy a rat/mouse for your snakes, ask him if he would like you to pick one up for him. If you want to, offer to clean the cage for him or do anything else you feel he is negligent on.

Have you talked to him about his snakes? Does he seem bored with the subject when it is brought up? What's his schedule like (he might be "too busy" to care for it properly)? If he's interested in getting a new home for it, help him out; if he's too busy to take care of it, do some chore swapping (you take care of the snake and he does the dishes). All in all you just need to be honest with this guy. Try to judge his reactions to certain things before you rag him for being a bad snake parent.

[DellaF]

Poor snake. Do you guys talk about your snakes with each other? Maybe you could make a few suggestions. Tell him your not trying to tell him what to do. Give him some reasons why he should do things different. Such as leaving a nasty rat in the cage for 4 days. Nasty! Not good for the snake or you guys. You can do it without being ugly.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Tell him to come on here... I'll personally give him hell for it lol.

In the past I have had similar experiences (but not snake related) what I ended up doing one day was just fixing the issue myself and the guy finally saw the error of his ways. I can't say that this will work for you, but It did for me and my friend.

[cmack91]

what exactly are the "improper temps"?

as for humidity, wait untill the next time it goes into shedding, and go up to him and say, "you know what ive noticed helps mine shed? if you spray the cage down and get it up to 60-70%". something like that, and hopefully he'll listen, try it, and you'll be proven right. but dont just go up to him and tell him a buch of things hes doing wrong all at one time, for the reasons you've already pointed out, just give him a tip here, and a tip there

[WingedWolfPsion]

If you need the home situation that desperately, well, it's really not difficult to care for a ball python...I would say, simply offer to take care of the snake for him.

[blueberrypancakes]

I left rats in the tanks overnight and wake up needing to get rid of the smell immediately, I can't imagine after four days... that is nasty. I suffer from "too nice syndrome", I would also have a hard time confronting this issue. I would probably offer to take some of the responsibility, although it might not be ideal if you move out 'cause then the snake goes back to those conditions without the guy being any more educated on the issue. Really, he might just not know how to take care of it. You say he rarely gets on the internet- I would know so much less than I do without the help of this website. Like what I learned from the pet store . Yipes.
Does he ever handle his snake or show any interest in it at all?

[Tempestas]

How about just offering to help him with his snake ? If he doesn't have time to come online often then could that be the factor to why he isn't able to care for his ball correctly ( granted this is no excuse ) I think just talking to him would be more benefitial than anything else

Good luck hope you manage to sort something out.