White-lipped python

[Awesomethepossum]

bummer to hear about your critter. I'd strongly suggest listening to those podcasts I suggested a while back. They're a very high strung and advanced species in general, though CBB seem to be slightly more manageable from what I've gathered.

I listened to them for sure, and I thank you for sharing them..will definitely give myself a refresher as well. There was a lot of solid info.

I had gone over my husbandry and overall approach, both on here, as well as in a WLP group on Facebook. Everyone had said the same, that he quarantibe tub looked good, and that as an import he probably had an overload of flagellates, among other things, and the typical import stress, which likely exacerbated the parasite load and weakened his resilience. It got bad overnight, no exaggeration.

What stool he had was complete liquid, urates a vibrantly, almost neon green, with an unusual consistency. He was drinking, but still appeared severely dehydrated (horizontal wrinkling, body "puckering" became suddenly very severe) despite the humidity being at 90-95% (I boosted when I thought he was going into shed a few weeks back) and 2 fresh water bowls in the tank at all time. I gave him pedialyte and an electrolyte soak for 30 minutes, this also didn't seem to help. His feistiness and intensity were gone, it was sad to see.

In the time I had him, I didn't handle him regularly, maybe once a week (if that) simply to check his body condition, get a quick weight and spot clean. No more than 10-15 minutes at a time. He was kept hidden away from all noise, other animals, with a blanket over the top to provide more security. I only fed via drop feeding. Temps and humidity were solid.

I can't say for sure what happened, but signs point to internal damage from a heavy parasite load and import stress. It spiraled downward fast.

I'm hoping that getting a CBH will be a safer bet. I just feel it removes more variables-ones that are almost inevitable with an imported WLP. I know they're more of a reclusive "do not touch" species, and I fully respect that. I need to look more into this

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk