Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,
Here are some pictures of the baby ball I posted about a couple of days ago. The update is that she has kept down the force-fed pinky. She's also a little more active and seems to be thermoregulating a bit.
What do you guys see? How bad does she look?
Thanks for your input!



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Chris
0.1 Normal "Pastel" BCI
1.0 Albino BCI
0.1 Normal Het Albino BCI
1.0 25% Suri Het Albino BCI
2.1 Striped BCI
0.1 Normal BP

Well, she is obviously underweight (but, you already know that).

Just keep up what you are doing. Her recovery could be pretty slow (at least in the beginning).

Even though she now has access to water, I would still suggest that you give her a soak at least once a week for a few more weeks. She could still be fairly dehydrated.

Other than offering her larger prey in the future I would suggest that you make sure she is left alone as much as possible. She will undoubtedly still be pretty stressed from her previous living arrangements.

Water, food and time in a good snake-hide are the best things you can give her at this point.

Keep us updated - she is a pretty snake.

It doesnt look as badly as i thought it would.I have seen them alot worse than that.She is a little underweight.But she looks like she could eat a rat pup with no problems.Be a larger meal for her and she wouldnt have to digest the fur.So should be pretty easy on the stomach.Just keep her well hydrated as the other guy said.A hide is a must.But i would still keep her in a room that doesnt get alot of traffic.Just for a little extra security.Not being fed no water and just guessing but not proper temps and being a pet store no hide.So she probably stresses pretty easy.Just keep up the good work. I have seen worse balls than this one brought back.I dont know the whole story but.In the picture i see of her now she is just a little underweight.So no respiratory infection or mites to deal with.With all shes been through she doesnt need that to add to it.
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kevin
36 pythons and boas and 4 lizards

DO NOT FEED HER LARGER PREY ITEMS JUST YET!!!! yes she could easily get them down, her stomach isn't ready yet. I have seen numerous times where appropriate sized items were fed to malnurished animals and they died within 48 hrs from the prey item rotting inside them. This snake does not have the digestive juices to handle a larger prey item. I would feed at least 4 or 5 more times of mouse pinkies then move up to rat pinkies. it is better to be slow and safe than have the snake die from rushing things.
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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!!!!!

That's sad...
I always want to buy poor little babies like that, but at the same time...you know the store is just going to get more snakes and treat them poorly...

Might I suggest soaking the little one in Pedialite?
That's supposed to help a bit as well from what I have heard.

Good luck! I nursed a baby back to health before. He was skinny, dehydrated, COVERED in stuck shed. In two months he doubled in size and started eating regularly.
I found a home for him and it was the greatest feeling.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

She looks better now than a couple of days ago. I think rehydrating her has helped fill her out a little. Some of the wrinkles are smoothing a bit.

I like the pedialite soak. I read about giving a 50/50 solution, but didn't want to force her to drink. That's a good alternative!

She's in a shoebox on moist papertowels with a low sided water dish and a hide. She's seeming so much better already, I think she's going to make it. It's still too early to say, and her eating will be important.

Thanks again for all the advice!
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Chris
0.1 Normal "Pastel" BCI
1.0 Albino BCI
0.1 Normal Het Albino BCI
1.0 25% Suri Het Albino BCI
2.1 Striped BCI
0.1 Normal BP

Definitely soak here for a few hours. Make sure the water is kept a an appropriate temp.
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John Vandegrift