Help! Possible RI in baby ball python?
I have adopted a baby pastel ball python from a friend who could not keep him. When I first got him I wanted to make him adjust to his new home as easily as possible. My friend used plastic for everything because he said the snake does not need most of the special pet store decorations. After some research, I agreed. I wanted to be 100% sure everything was clean because I know how important it is to a snake.
- I went and bought new (cypress) bedding.
- I washed & sanitized two homemade hides from black plastic boxes.
- I wash and use plastic tupperware into a water bowl.
- Sanitized the 20gal tank
- Set it all up
For the first two days he looked happy and healthy. I'm always doing a tone of research in order to understand typical BP behavior and care. Then I came across a problem where I couldm't keep the heat & humidity in balance because the terrarium has a screen cover. (This is what the damn petco recommended to my friend) I used a new spray gun from the 99 cent store to evenly spray water onto the cypress mulch hoping this would get the humidity higher. That only worked for maybe a few hours and the Humidity would drop to the 20-30% range. Even when I turned the heat lamp off it would not raise above 45% humidity. Of course, the temp dropped too and I knew this was NOT good. I need to get paid before I can go buy him a new tank....
After about two weeks he was fine until recently I noticed that his colors began to get very dark and his belly has a pink tint to it. He stopped coming out of his hides unless he was switching to the opposite side and eventually stopped moving all together. He did not refuse to eat at all and actually ate very quickly (especially after holding a thawed mouse next to the lamp). I have been guessing he's been getting ready to shed sometime soon....
The only thing is....I have not noticed his eye's become grey or blue. Hes been dark in color for about 3 or 4 days.
I've been reading on all different types of heath issues. The only things that have caused me to think respiratory infection was when I read that they should not always be on wet bedding along with a very hard to hear clicking when he breathes. It doesn't happen every breath but if you stop and listen you can notice it.
Just today I solved my heat and humidity balance issues but I'm afraid I might be too late.Please help.
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