Buggsie's (Ongoing) Road to Recovery - A Rescue Story

[SmoothScales]

Day 14 - Buggsie might actually be a girl.

First, I want to thank everyone for their comments and show of support! It really means a lot and I hope that everyone is doing great! It's amazing that after only two weeks, little Buggsie has made such a turn around! It really shows just how resilient these little guys can be - from day 1 when he could barely move, to now when we can't get him to sit still! He's reached a point where I feel I can finally take a deep breath because he is going to make it!

He's come quite a long way, and yet he has a ways to go. It may not be that apparent in the video, but he is still severely underweight. Back in the day 1 photos, you can see he's sort of flopped over on his side. I think this is a combination of lack of muscle and lack of energy - he was just to weak to hold himself up. While his energy has been coming back with a vengeance, when he actually stops moving for a few seconds I've noticed he still has a tendency to end up on his side. Most notably is when I've just lifted his hide off when getting him from his tub. Does anyone have experience with a snake doing this? If yes, was it something that was corrected and how? I thought maybe having him slither through my hands for a time each day as a sort of 'exercise' might help him build muscle tone.

We've also yet to have a fecal elimination from him, though he has moved urates and peed approximately twice a week.

Now, onto something interesting - Buggsie might actually be a girl. We hadn't previously tried to pop 'him', taking the rescue's word that he was a 'he' because he looked more like a string impersonating a snake than an actual snake. Tonight we decided that - while still not a healthy weight - that he had put on enough padding that a gentle hand would be unlikely to harm him. Nothing popped out. Now we're not sure if we were a little to gentle, or if he's actually a girl but after three attempts, nothing that I would categorize as a hemipene came out. While I'm not ready to say for sure 'he' is actually a 'she' right now, it would be interesting. We've decided to wait until Buggsie has filled in a bit better and then check again when we're not so apprehensive about his size.

A conversation came up earlier as to when we'll be satisfied enough with Buggsie's recovery to declare his journey complete. Actual numbers aside, I would love to not be able to feel his little ribs. While I don't think he'll be able to catch up to Terrestria or Sharona (who are by our best estimates a month younger than Buggsie) and comparing him to Frank is just setting yourself up for failure (she is a Sept hatch, as we suspect he is based on the time line), I would like for him to achieve the same body shape they have.

If anyone would like to share their opinion on this matter, I would welcome the input.