Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello-
I am an animal lover and owner of dogs, a cat, a rosy boa, and two redfooted tortoises. I have just started my student teaching in 7-8th grade science. The teacher I am working with has a ball python, Julius Squeezer, that is in really rough shape. Apparently the snake was handled regularly until several years ago when he went on sabatical to get his PhD. When he came back, it tried to bite him so he stopped handling it. His former student teacher who was really into snakes got him into it in the first place and when she came back for a visit,it also bit her. The poor thing is miserable! He said he feeds it a live mouse every couple of weeks, but it looks starving to me. I can see it's spine and it is all slack like it has no muscle tone. The cage looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a year or more, turds everywhere, almost like substrate. The water dish has an inch of algae like build-up, though it seems to be kept full. The snake appears to be shedding, but not in one whole peice like my rosy. It's all patchy and its eyes are scaled over. It makes me sick to see it and I don't know what to do. If it can't be handled, how can I clean its cage out? Does a body that would be triangular in cross section indicate starvation? I am counting on this experience to get me into the job market here so I can't really be rude, but something needs to be done! Any suggestions on what I can do?

Ask to tak ethe poor animal home to "see if you can tame it down". It really sounds as if the animal is starving for food. I feed all my BP's every week and if it is an adult I feed alot more than 1 mouse. If they will not let you take the poor thing home and it's insistant on biting, get a pair of leather gloves and pick the poor guy up and put him in a pillow case (knot the end) and clean it's cage and water dish. Make sure the Ball has a hiding place. Some BP's get aggressive if they have no "safe" place to hide. How big is this ball? Obviously it needs more than a mouse every few weeks. But, if it IS big enough for rats do not give it any until it is back up to proper weight. Feed several of small prey items (2-4 depending on the size of the snake) AT LEAST once a week. Twice if possible. You may be able to help tame this guy back down by feeding him in a seperate container from his enclosure EVERY time you feed(use the gloves until it stops biting). I never feed in the primary living enclosure as it can make a snake have a feeding response(this may be the case with this animal. If it was not handled regularly and fed in it's cage the biting may be because it thinks every time the cage is opened that it will be fed). Good luck and if you need more help please feel free to email me at djsreptiles@yahoo.com

Thanks for your response. Unfortunatly I was too late. I went in to the classroom the next day and got the terrible news that the snake had passed away the very night that I made this post. I wish I had been afforded the chance to save this poor creature, but I guess it wasn't ment to be. It did serve a good lesson to me in that it has made me take into consideration the commitment needed on behalf of the teacher to have pets in the classroom. I have always found time to take care of my zoo at home, but I can see how that can change once that resposibility is transfered to the classroom. Yet the importance of having those animals around is a huge factor in getting kids excited about biology. I am reassured to know that my ideas on the situation were right in line with what you had mentioned, I just didn't get the chance to act upon them I am going to bring my rosy boa into the room for my duration there so that the kids can still see how neat snakes are!

That's too bad to hear.

I commend you on your efforts though. You were making steps in the right direction, and that's important. I hope your class enjoys the rosy. They're great snakes.
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1.1.2 Python regius
0.0.1 Eunectes notaeus
0.0.1 Lampropeltis spp.
1.3.0 Triturus karelinii
1.3.0 Taricha granulosa
5.0.0 Ambystoma mexicanum
0.3.0 Ambystoma jeffersonianum
0.0.2 Ambystoma laterale
0.0.2 Ambystoma mavortium
0.0.3 Salamandra salamandra
0.0.1 Tylototriton verrucosus