Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just aquired a BP and she's about a year old. The person who had her before did not take good care of her at all. The poor thing was never fed and never had water. THere was a little lamp over the cage that was left on 24hours a day. The bedding was never changed. She ate as soon as I offered her food, but you can still see her spine and her skin is all loose. I've never had a snake before, but I don't think that's normal. Lastly, I know that when snakes don't have the proper humidity, they don't shed correctly. It seems like she has a retained eye cap. I'm not sure how long it's been like this, but would a vet be able to remove it? Sorry for the long post. Thanks!

Number one: be thankful you've rescued this girl at the right time. Yes, humidity plays an important part of shedding properly, but so does over all health. A snake with mites may not shed properly. If she spends alot of time soaking in water, she possible has mites, which you would see in the water dish. Also, mites can live around the eyes of a snake, so any puffiness around the eye could be a sure sign. The eye cap can be removed by a vet if he knows how to. I don't recommend trying it yourself b/c the eyes are so delicate (we've had snakes for awhile and we still take them to the vet).Before a vet, try soaking her in a tuperware container (lid on but with air holes) of warm water for awhile. Never leave her unattended b/c ball pythons are notorious escape artists. Also you can wait until the next shed (which at that age might not be that long) and make sure they both come off. Wilson (our female) has retained up to two eye caps at one time, and we took her to the vet to have them removed then. How big is this snake? You should feed it prey no more than three times the size of it's head, and some say no more than 1.5 half times the size of the fattest part of their body. I'm assuming she's around a foot to a foot and a half long so she should be able to eat two small mice once a week. It will take time to gain weight but it will happen. We had the same situation with Del, our 1.5 year old male. When we bought him the skin was hanging off his body and every rib was visible. After two months and a dose of wormer he was back to normal. Now, lighting--we use heat bulbs, and depending on the size of the tank is what wattage you should use. I don't like the heaters that go under the tank b/c the snake usually stays only on the pad where with a bulb they're warm thoughtout the tank making them much more willing to be active. Some say a light can stay on 24 hours, that you only turn them off when you're trying to bring on breeding season, but I prefer to turn them off at night, b/c ball pythons don't need to be at a constant high temperature. They are noturnial and in the wild the temps drop at night. I hope this helps you. Good luck in your new endeaver!

Lyndsey

P.S. you thought your post was long, lol