What's the worst that could happen?

[MarkS]

Many years ago I had a shoebox where I had stuck some tape to the underside of the lid, I don't remember why but it was there. Eventually I needed to use the shoebox to house a baby corn snake, I made sure to peel the tape off of the underside of the lid and figured everything was fine. One day when I went in to check on my snake, I opened the box and peered in. No snake. I tore that place up looking for my escaped snake. Eventually I gave up and went to put the shoebox back in the rack. I picked up the lid and turned it over. There was my snake hanging upside down stuck to the underside of the shoebox lid. Enough of the stickum from the tape had been transfered to the lid to hold the little guy tight. BTW, olive oil and a q-tip work great for freeing a snake from a sticky situation.

[Mrl249]

. . .

[satomi325]

1) Do not use a heating source (UTH, heat tape, CHE, etc) without a thermoSTAT. Otherwise, you can burn your snake, melt tubs, cause fires, etc with an unregulated source.

2) Do not keep the thermoSTAT probe in the enclosure. It can get damaged or moved by the animal, thus giving you inaccurate readings and burn your animal.

3) Do not use tape in the enclosure. Your snake can get stuck and/or stripped of it's scales.

4) Be careful on how you tape your probe. If you tape(especially foil tape) over the whole probe, it can trap heat, thus giving you inaccurate readings. It will read warmer and regulate your heating source at a lower temperature. It is best just to tape down the cord closest to the probe and possibly the very tip of the probe.

5) Replace heating elements every few years.

6) Beware of cage accessories that have holes. Snakes can get stuck. (i.e. plastic/ceramic logs and skulls)

7) Try not to use the half log hides. They are not adequate hides due to the duel sided openings. They are also very difficult to sanitize and often mold.

8) Do not use Cedar or Pine bedding. The oils can cause respiratory issues and even death. (However, Kiln dried pine is safe)

9) Do no feed wild caught prey. Wild caught animals could get into poisons or toxic chemicals that can kill your snake. Also parasites are a possibility.

10) Do not leave live prey with your snake for an extended period of time. This is the number one cause for feeder related snake deaths. People leave their rats in for hours-days, and the rats go hungry. They eat the only other thing in the enclosure, aka the snake. And always keep feeders well fed and hydrated. Do not leave the feeder in with your snake for longer than 30 minutes max.

11) Always feed the appropriate sized live prey. I personally like smaller and more frequent meals than larger and less often. Weanlings and small rats are safe and harmless(to some extent). They're also not as conscious to danger as an adult would be. Adult rats can pack a nasty bite and are much stronger at fighting back, which is why "smaller and more frequent" is the way to go. A medium size would be the max appropriate live size for a ball python.

12) Don't dangle the live feeder. This puts them in panic mode. A freaked out feeder is a dangerous feeder. Gently place the feeder into your enclosure. Calm feeders are good.

13) Always thaw out F/T feeders thoroughly. A F/T feeder with a still frozen core will shock a snake's system and possibly cause death.

14) Do not use hydrogen peroxide on a wound continuously. It damages and kills healing tissue.

15) Do not use Neosporin with Pain Killer. It is toxic to snakes.

16) Do not use regular Neosporin extensively (more than a handful of times) because it softens and flakes off scales.

17) Beware of aerosols, scent plug ins, etc. These can be dangerous for snakes.

18) Do not touch stuck eye caps. You can accidentally remove the live membrane encasing the eye. The eye would be a definite loss if this happens. Just bump up the humidity and make sure the humidity is spot on for the next shed. It will come off with the next shed.

19) Always quarantine new arrivals COMPLETELY SEPARATE from your resident animals. (aka in a different room as far away as possible)
I personally QT for a minimum of 6 months. Some diseases and illnesses have been known to incubate up to 9 months before becoming active.

20) Always treat new animals for mites. It is a good preventative measure to protect your collection. Mites can spread very quickly. Eggs can lie dormant for months before hatching in ideal environmental conditions. The nymph stage of mites is also airborne.

21) When a snake has RI, always get a culture done. It will save you time and money in the long run. There are 3 types of RI; bacterial, viral, and fungal. You need a culture done to narrow down what type of RI it is and what type of treatment it needs. Not all treatments work for certain types of RI. Not all antibiotics will work for certain types of bacterial infections, which is the most common form of RI.

21) If using bleach to disinfect enclosures, make sure to wipe down the residue. The fumes are harmful.

22) It is HIGHLY recommend not to house multiple ball pythons together for reasons other than breeding. While it is doable, it is not recommend for new keepers. It is rare, but there have been cases of cannibalism, illness/mite transfer, etc.

23) Know the laws regarding your pets. Know local, state, federal laws. Your animals can be confiscated and you can get fined if you are keeping them illegally.

That is all I can think for now. If I come up with something else, I'll add it later.

[ChaosAffect]

14) Do not use hydrogen peroxide on a wound continuously. It damages and kills healing tissue.

There's no point in using Hydrogen Peroxide at all. It's been proven that it's poor choice for wound care: http://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abst...mmonly.10.aspx

[satomi325]

Regarding Euthanasia:

1) Do not stick your live animal into the freezer. Freezing is NOT a humane method. Freezing is one of the most inhumane methods to euthanize a snake or anything for the matter. Freezing is highly painful. It can take hours for a snake to freeze to death. Because they are cold blooded, reptiles do not loose consciousness like mammals do when freezing. They can feel their cells freeze and burst. Putting a hand in ice water for 30 seconds hurts us already. I can't imagine doing that for hours...

2) Do not put your snake in a Co2 chamber. Co2 is not a good way to euthanize reptiles. Reptiles have a slow respiratory rate and metabolism. They go through spans of apnea, where they don't need air. So it would take a very very long time to euthanize via CO2. Quite agonizing really. Some may not even die because the person doesn't leave them in the Co2 chamber long enough. It takes a mouse roughly 2 minutes to die in a Co2 chamber. I can guarantee it won't take 2 minutes for a snake to die. Overall, not a very effective or efficient method.

3) Cutting off the head is inhumane because the head is still alive and can feel pain.

4) Pithing takes a little more skill, so it can be done incorrectly. But I don't suppose most people are using that specific technique anyway.

5) The only humane method for snakes you can do at home is instantaneous brain destruction(Crushing or destroying brain tissue).
And while it is not pretty, smashing, crushing, or chopping the head itself is the most effective way to euthanize a snake yourself.

If you take a snake to the vet, they will euthanize it with either an overdose of anesthesia or a cardiac puncture to the heart if a vein cannot be located in smaller animals. Don't worry about pain. The snakes are put under anesthesia during the heart puncture procedure. It's illegal to not do so.

[BHReptiles]

Settle down everyone.

If I was a new keeper, I would RATHER see 4 pages of discussion on what's safe/not safe regarding bleach than one line in one post that says "Bleach is bad. Don't use it." I would want to know WHY I can't use bleach. That's what the discussion is fore. Then, once the bleach topic has been hashed out, you move onto the next: no thermostat on the UTH. hash that one out for 10 pages and then move onto the next. That is IMMENSELY more informative than just one line in a post. if you talk about it a lot, you'll be able to find more hits using the "search" function which will lead no owners to this thread.

So OP, just let the people discuss things, in the end (even though you can't control it and I have a feeling you are wanting to be a control freak), this thread will help far more people.

Just my

[arialmt]

satomi325 for the win!

That list is a quick copy, paste and print.

Although it makes logical sense, I would not have prepared to replace all the heating in a just a couple more years. (#5)

Number 16 stands out as something new for me also. Again, it makes perfectly logical sense.

[BHReptiles]

Settle down everyone.

If I was a new keeper, I would RATHER see 4 pages of discussion on what's safe/not safe regarding bleach than one line in one post that says "Bleach is bad. Don't use it." I would want to know WHY I can't use bleach. That's what the discussion is for. Then, once the bleach topic has been hashed out, you move onto the next: no thermostat on the UTH. hash that one out for 10 pages and then move onto the next. That is IMMENSELY more informative than just one line in a post. if you talk about it a lot, you'll be able to find more hits using the "search" function which will lead new owners to this thread.

So OP, just let the people discuss things, in the end (even though you can't control it and I have a feeling you are wanting to be a control freak), this thread will help far more people.

Just my

Typing fail :/

[Tannerrrtx]

i just want to add my 0.02,
that list is great, dont get me wrong.
but expanding on the idea of this thread, a "dos" and "donts" list should be put together eliminating ANY grey area that could possibly be left,
someone new could have a random thought " oh dont use bleach, ill use (insert cleaning agent here) and nothing will happen," yet turns to be toxic to the animal.
i guess im suggesting a "safe" list? i dont know haha just rambling