So I've already adopted my latest addition to the bunch from our local shelter a month or 2 ago, and lo and behold, ANOTHER ball python shows up on their doorstep. she was found out in a park, and seems well fed. but there's some strange things going on that I need opinions on...



she's a big (i'm assuming over 10 years old) female normal morph, no idea if she has other hidden morphs. just her head is about 3 inches long (big girl compared to my 6 year old at home!) and from eyeballing it shes about 5 to 6 ft long. no idea how much she weighs, these guys at the shelter don't know anything about taking care of reptiles.









on her head and next to her spurs on one side are two hard little lumps that can be seen in the pictures. they don't feel squishy, and they are resistant to moving around. no idea how long they've been there, that's how they found her. from reading around on here, its likely they are cysts from an injury and need to be surgically removed (I was kinda hoping the vet will remove them anyways just to be safe) and on her cloaca it either looks like a tumor or maybe she had an injury that tore her and she healed from it without growing back scales. not really sure. it doesn't feel anything like her lumps, just soft squishy pink tissue.

i worry that she cant poop without hurting herself, she hasnt pooped for them yet, but she has eaten 2 mice (again, they don't know what they are doing but at least she has some food in her belly and she's proved that she can eat) and has passed urates once. shes been there almost a month now.

she has what looks like a scratch on her eye, or some sort of injury but beneath it i could see her looking at me, so i feel like maybe it will shed off after a few shed cycles. something Ill also have the vet see.

when I got there, there was a heat lamp on top of a 30 gallon tank, with no way to measure temps or humidity, and a blanket for substrate, a tiny water bowl and no hides. I got them to get a bigger water bowl, a box to hide in and an analog gauge for temp and humidity, and get that stupid lamp off the mesh top and higher up so they didn't fry this poor girl. looks to be working so far, that's about the best they can do for her right now.

some of her scales are also white. NOT missing, NOT scarred, just white. no idea what that's about.

when I first saw her she looked to be in shed so we will see if she will shed for them or not.

sweetest old lady ball I've ever met, she let me hold her and cuddle and take these pics, then I went home and put my clothes in a bag to wash and took a shower (not risking anything getting to my precious bunch at home)

any thoughts? we made a deal for next week that I would drive her an hour away to the nearest reptile specialist vet to see whats wrong with her and get those lumps checked out, and their facility will pay for it. (yay, no vet bills for me!) then I can take her home with her tank once she gets a clean bill of health or is all healed up from possible surgery. that should line up with the time frame my new 5 shelf rack system and tubs will get here. she will stay in her tank for her quarantine period or at least 60 days (longer if she takes a while to heal from possible surgery or meds) so maybe 90 days. then she can join everyone else.

i decided if she ends up becoming mine to name her Mrs. P from guardians of Ga'hoole, an old lady snake character. LOL