Escape! Found! Question?

[Xotik]

So sometime between Friday night and today Sable got out - I was gone for two days so I didn't figure it out till I got home a bit ago.
Well the friends I had over helped me look for him, and he was found on a pipe in the ceiling of the basement. TOTALLY covered in cobwebs and fluff and dust.

My question is, should I be concerned about him getting an RI? If so - how concerned?

And if I should be very concerned, what should I do now to help prevent it? Other than making sure his tub is shut properly when I clean his tub next time...

[decensored]

Whenever you have an escape you should always be cautious. Up your temps a couple of degrees and keep an eye on him. Even if he does develop an RI your way ahead of it so the temp increase should be enough to fight it off without vet intervention.

With that said he's been on quite a journey it sounds like so I would check him over for injuries and burns and watch his behavior over the next couple of weeks. If you notice anything strange, signs of pain when handling, those kinds of things I would take him to a vet. You don't know if he ate anything either (not saying that you do.. but) If you have mice or rats in your home than I would take him to a vet. House rats and mice eat all kinds of gross things that you don't want in your ball python's belly.

My bet is he would be too stressed to hunt so I don't think you have that to worry about. Just up temps and watch for signs of injury. Consult a vet if your concerned.

Cheers,
Chris.

[Mike41793]

Pretty much what Chris said lol^
I would just keep an extra eye on him. Bumping his temps is a good idea. And closing his tub all the way next time would be a good idea too lol.

[Xotik]

Pretty much what Chris said lol^
I would just keep an extra eye on him. Bumping his temps is a good idea. And closing his tub all the way next time would be a good idea too lol.

Haha no kidding. I'm always so...well I'm usually very sure I have locked them shut.

Okay - Is it gonna bother the other three on the same thing of flexwatt if I bump them all up, or should I move him onto his own section if I can?

Also - We don't have "house" rats or mice. We only found him about 10 feet from his tub - just instead of being on the floor, he was in the beams on the pipes I doubt he ate anything, but hes probably hungry - he didn't want to eat the other day when I did his feeding.

[Slim]

Do you have any idea how cool (temp wise) he may have gotten up in the pipes? If he didn't drop below about 70ish for very long, I wouldn't get too worried about an RI, but I would keep an extra close eye on him for a while.

Very glad you found the little guy!

[RobNJ]

I'm with Slim, I wouldn't be all that worried...I had one out for a week that never had an issue. Just keep an eye on him. I wouldn't bump temps either, really no reason to. 2 days at a somewhat reasonable room temperature isn't going to do much harm to a ball python, and though maybe possible, I doubt a little dusty/webby residue will either.

[satomi325]

I hope this gives you some positive insight.

My little pastel got out in November and was gone for exactly a week.
She too was covered in cobwebs. I assume the room temps were about 65 and she didn't develop any RI (thankfully). I put her back into her tub and that was that. And its funny because she ended a hunger strike after she came back.

It's definitely warmer now than it was back in November, so that's a good sign already.
Just like the others have said, bump up your temperature as a precaution.

[Xotik]

Its about 75 in my basement right now - and it was warmer on Friday when I left - I can't imagine it went much below 70 at all.

And I think Sable would take offense to being called "little" Slim He is very proud to be almost 2000 grams, and I can almost guarantee you that the reason he was found so quickly was because he is larger and can't fit into small holes. But I too am very happy I found him - hes one of my favorites.