Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ball python escaped a year ago on Christmas Eve. He has been well hidden in my house-no sign he was still here. We suspected he was still around this winter because we have not had any mice (we always get mice in the house in the winter, and have great sucess with traps). My furnace stopped working two days ago- relatively brand new, its only two years old. The repair guy couldnt figure out the problem, said the blower seemed plugged, and when he left for the night, he left the door off my furnace. Yesterday morning, my furnace works fine and brought the house temp to 78 degrees all day(nobody here to turn it down). Last night, I found my 44 inch guy inside my bathroom vanity. I do not know if he was in the furnace stuff or not- however, finding him scared the beejeesus out of me.

He looks great, or so I thought. He has an incomplete shed stuck on one eye, and he keeps gaping his mouth. Closer inspection, and he has slimey drool from his mouth, and is blowing bubbles. He definitely does not like to be handled, and twists and arcs and tries to get away.I tried soaking him for about fifteen minutes, then wanted to attempt to get the eye cap off-however, he did NOT approve, and was impossible for me to get close to his eye.

I need instruction as if I am a clueless new owner. I have him set up in a 20?long(30inchesX12inches) tank (his 'home' has long since been dismantled, I figured he was lost forever). This is not a large enclosure but it is the best I have for right now. It has a locking screen top, but I covered three quarters of it with aluminum foil. I have a ceramic heat emitter over one end, a hide box at each end, and a water dish in the middle. My heated end is registering at 90 degrees, and the humidity is only showing at 30%. Right now the snake is lying on top of his hidebox directly under the heat emitter.

I can take him to work (I am a veterinary technician) but my exotic vet is only there part time and will not be there again until Friday. I would appreciate any advice you can give, including suggestions on how to raise the humidity level, if so needed.

I would try to get the temp on the hot side up a little. He probably has a respiratory infection. It's pretty common if a ball gets too cool for a while. Usually just warming them up for a while will clear it up. At least it has for me. I'd try to get it up around 94/95. As far as getting the humidity up, it's pretty dependent on your substrate, heating method, cage, etc. With your setup I would probably try misting his enclosure every day and see what that does. What are you using as substrate?

I've had a few snakes die after gaping their mouth for a day or two, so I'd take that very seriously.
In my experience Fortaz injections clear the infections up, but you may have a different infection. Have a herp vet work out the dosage.
In summary: Run to a herp vet so this happy ending stays happy.

sounds like r.i.
make sure you hydrate the animal ( via soaking )as much as is reasonable prior to getting meds for the r.i. , antibiotics will kill a dehydrated snake.
good luck. let us know how it goes,
ck

Sounds like a full blown case of a respritory infection. When they arch like that, they have fluid in their lung. They're trying to clear it to breath. I just read about r.i's yesterday. Good luck, but it doesn't sound good. Sorry

it sounds like an RI like the other posters have stated. However, it's not the end of the world like some make it sound. Treated correctly the snake should make a full recovery if it isn't too far gone. First you are doing the right thing to a point. Raise the entire cages temp up to 90, do not give it a cool side. Next get the humidity up to around 65%, no more (too much humidity and too little can cause a RI) and hydrate the heck out of that thing. Since you work at a vet clinic bring your snake to work with you. Any competent vet can tell if a reptile has a RI (which it sounds like with giving the symptoms). If it is a RI you have two good choices of meds. The first is Baytril, the longstanding workhorse of the reptile community as far as infections go. The bad thing is that Baytril can cause skin necrosis and kidney damage. To counteract the skin necrosis, alternate injection sites by about an inch. To prevent kidney damage, give the injections in the first 1/3rd of the snake. The other medication that is successful in treating RI's is Fortaz. Fortaz works great but also has the same nephrotoxic effects and is extremely painful (read that to mean you will not be giving this injection by yourself at home). Fortaz also takes a little more time to prepare since you must bring it to room temp before injecting.
Some species respond better with one drug over the next but bp's typically respond the same with both drugs. I prefer baytril but that's just my personal preference. Either way here are the standard dosages that you can relay to your non-herp vet to assist you in treating your baby.

Bayril 5-10mg/kg IM or PO every 24hours (I prefer to do one injection every 48-72hours to prevent kidney damage and I've had very little success with giving it by mouth).

Fortaz 20mg/kg IM/SQ every 72hours.

I hope this information helps you and keep us updated.
-----
Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons, boas, dogs, cats, fish, an amel tiger retic female, a couple sulcatas and a few other odds and ends.

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

The above post is 100 percent correct. One thing that everyone has failed to mention is the ceramic heater. You need to get the temp up to 90 with undertank heaters. The ceramic heater is drying out the air and you will never get the humidity up to 65/70 percent. You need to change and disinfect his water bowl every morning and every night. Make the necessary changes in his enclosure and get him to the vet as soon as you can. Good luck. let us know how it goes.
Link

-----

gotten my temps up to 95 and the humidity is registering right at 70% (I added wet towels rolled up in the bottom/side of the tank). I have to get an accurate weight and will administer Baytril- which I have here at home.
This morning, he doesn't look as bad as he did yesterday morning- no obvious drool or bubbles.

I cleaned his waterbowl, there were some pieces of shed skin in there, so I assume he was active last night. However, when I went to bed at 11, he was in his hide, and he is in his hide now- so it appears he hadn't moved.

I will keep you updated. Thanks again.

With initial concern for the snake, everyone failed to mention to take all measures neseccary to make sure he doesn't escape again!
Link

-----