Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A guy at work asked be about some problems he was having with his Ball Python. I went over to his house to check it out and I found a snake that didn't look good at all. He was very dry with excessive vertical folds along the body. The belly is discolored and some of the scales have black tips. His vent does not look healthy at all. The eyes are dented like there is a retained eye cap. On top of all that, he has MITES! Take a look at the pic below and see for yourself. I took the pic even after I cleaned it up a bit.
I am already on his @#$ about proper heat and humidity. I just would lust like some advice for the immediate treatment of the snake. I do have more pics if you request. Thanks for your support. You guys (including Jenny and Tosha) are awesome.

-Allan

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1.0 Type II Anery Red-tail Boa
2.3 Het Anery(Type II) Dwarf Boas
1.0 Bralilian Rainbow Boa
1.2 Normal Ball Pythons
3.2 Het. Pied Ball Pythons
0.1 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Lemon Pastel Ball python
1.1 Bearded Dragons
X.X Rats for breeding and food
1.0 Bird (Conure)
0.1 Wife

Open to any ideas on how I can convince my wife to allow me to buy another herp.

I would soak the snake in some clean luke-warm water for about 30 min. This should help with the skin and eye cap if they are ready to come off. It also allows him/her to hydrate. Then get him in a proper enclosure with correct settings.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Looking at the pics looks like he has burns from a heat pad or rock? Looks very dehydrated, I would give him warm soak and maybe a humidity hide........Is he feeding ?

i agree with you... i thought it looked like burns on his belly.

I have seen worse bounce back though..

good luck with him.

~ Mike

Without seeing the in person I'm going to venture you've got some scale rot going on - I would first try to treat the mites using some reptile relief on his top and face to avoid irritation you can skip his underside. And give him a soak in luke warm water. Then I would start treating the rot. Antiseptic bath (betadine or hydrogen peroxide), keep on paper towels - if you see any blistering, bleeding or weeping you'll need to take it to the vet for drainage and antibiotic. Clean and disinfect the cage daily (if it is rot it's bacterial and if you don't keep cleaning the cage it's hard to get rid of the bacteria). And make sure he can't get into the water dish to soak but make sure he's got plenty of fresh water. Not sure what you've got going on in the vent tho? Does it look infected? Can you give a better description? If it's a burn you should pretty much do the same to make sure it doesn't become infected. See if you can't get a peak under some of the scales - make sure there aren't blisters or anything funky. It's late so I may have overlooked something obvious but it's a step in the right direction.

Thanks for caring enough to give this little guy a fighting chance and good luck!!!
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Tosha

I don't know why I didn't think it was a burn becauce he did have a heat rock near the hide box. We can see on the photo that the vent had a black tip. I did not pop him but for what I could see it was dry and kind of rough if that makes any sence. The color in the vent appears normal so I don't the vent itself is infected. To my suprise the shake is still eating like a champ. I was pressed for time so I will go back to help him with the treatment and cage setup.
I broke my foot last Friday so it is difficult for me to get around but I'll do my best. He is going to have to step up and take full responsibility for the care of his snake. I keep a good number of healthy, happy herps at my house but by no means am I some magical snake doctor. I just care and love these little guys. (Sorry for venting) I'll take another look and keep you posted. Thanks for all the help and the info.

-Allan
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1.0 Type II Anery Red-tail Boa
2.3 Het Anery(Type II) Dwarf Boas
1.0 Bralilian Rainbow Boa
1.2 Normal Ball Pythons
3.2 Het. Pied Ball Pythons
0.1 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Lemon Pastel Ball python
1.1 Bearded Dragons
X.X Rats for breeding and food
1.0 Bird (Conure)
0.1 Wife

Open to any ideas on how I can convince my wife to allow me to buy another herp.

Heat rocks have proven to be very good at burning reptiles. That's why you generally don't see them available anymore.

So, the first thing i would do is get rid of the hot rock and switch to under tank heating ASAP..

Take care of the mite situation, soak the snake as the others have advised, keep feeing him on a regular basis. Also, raise the humidity in his enclosure when he goes into his next shed and hopefully he will shed out and look better than he does now.

keep us posted on his progress..

~ mike

Like Tosha said, put the snake on papertowel. Keep it dry, keep it clean, and make sure it's properly hydrated. The belly did look like scale rot burn, and a betadine rinse will definately help keep infection away. The folds you described sounded like dehydration, which you can fix with the soaks that everyone recommended.
Provent-a-mite sprayed in the cage while the snake is soaking can also help with getting the mites out of the cage itself (obviously let the cage air out thoroughly before the snake goes back in). Also, if you or your friend can, set the cage outside in direct sunlight for a while. Direct sunlight kills lots of bacteria that scrubbing misses, and fresh air never hurt anybody.
If the vent is irritated, the soak oughtta help, and after the snake's had a good long drink, you can try putting in a bit of betadine in the water (just enough to turn the water ever so slightly yellow). Easy way to get the betadine on the belly scales

Folks who have more sick snake experience than me - I've heard pedialyte recommended for several severely dehydrated lizards that I've come across in the last few months. Would that also help a dehydrated snake, or is it overkill and plain water is good enough?

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 neurotic mouse (Cute Girl Mousey)
1.0 escape artist mouse (Jesusmouse)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

The Saddest Mouse

For scale rot, I personally prefer to rinse the area with 50/50 hydrogen peroxide/water. Betadine is very messy, it stains, and can be toxic if ingested in large amounts (although so can hydrogen peroxide)...I definetly wouldn't put it in the water if the snake was soaking, but that's just me After rinsing with hydrogen peroxide dab on a hefty amount of neosporin or polysporin (not plus). Def. keep him on paper towel otherwise the bedding will stick to him. Do this every day for a week. Once he sheds, he should look a lot better! I only have treated one snake with this condition, and I had a lot of advice from hobbyists in my area.

For the mites...Provent-a-mite is the best! The only thing that stinks is that once you apply the spray you shouldn't be cleaning the cage everyday as it will prevent the provent-a-mite from working properly. You are only supposed to apply it to the cage every other week (14 days, and shouldn't clean out the substrate until you reapply the spray. The belly rot is a bigger concern, so do your best to keep his paper towel clean. I use a 10% bleach solution to clean cages, as it works very well at killing bacteria.

Good luck!
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Thanks,
Amy
www.myboids.4t.com
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2.17 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
1.0 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
2.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
My list is too long, so I'll stop here!

I only suggest the betadine soak (after the snake's already been in the water for a while and has had a chance to drink) because it is a PAIN trying to thoroughly rinse a snake's belly unless you've got another pair of hands or two. Making it weak and keeping an eye on the snake (make sure it doesn't drink, etc) should prevent any ingested betadine problems.

I've had wonderful success with betadine keeping wounds clean for seveal animals (not all of them mine, though). I kinda just resign myself to getting messy, though

If hydrogen peroxide also works (and without the yellow stains on your hands) then hey, that's something to try too. Whatever works, works, and that's what matters!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 neurotic mouse (Cute Girl Mousey)
1.0 escape artist mouse (Jesusmouse)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

The Saddest Mouse

I would suggest putting her in a sterilite container until she's all healed. Of course you should clean out the normal tank and all, but it might be best to have an uncontaminated place to house her until she's fully well. That way you can have a chance to fully disinfect her normal enclosure a few times over.

A sterilite container should also give her some much needed humidity. All this, while using the paper towels of course.

Good luck!

im very sorry to hear bout that. never have heard of it infact. i dont kno what it is, but i suggest the only thing it to TAKE HIM TO THE VET IMMEDIATLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my heart just sank when i read that. i feel bad for the friend, too. i hope with all my love the bp gets better. good luck.