Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need opinions.
My ball python the other day started acting different. I thought it might have just been stress because of weird people staring at him and touching him due to family over for Turkey day.
He was worse today. Rolling his head around upside down. And the upper half of his body to middle was concaved. He was also limp a barely reacted, but absolutly still alive. Took him to vet so they could see what is wrong and keep him for a few days.

Any idea what exactly is wrong? And if you do, what should be done about it? I am so worried and upset; any help at all would be so wonderful.

Is your snake a spider? That morph is prone to do that.

Otherwise there are a lot of reasons the snake may be doing that non of them particularly good.

If your snake is a spider and the vet doesn't know any better he will likely recommend putting it down unnecessarily.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

First time I've ever seen "nature" in a Rubbermaid. - Jeff Favelle

It is indeed a spider.
Though the Petco specialist, very reliable too, said it almost looked like a seizure.
And would you maybe name a few reasons? I've had many snakes, but this is the first time I have ever experienced a snake that looked like this.

Spiders are known for this behavior it comes in various forms (shakes, wobbles, looping etc.) and to varying degrees - it usually most pronounced under stress or at feeding time. If you go to youtube and look up spider wobble you can see several examples of it. It does look odd and disturbing to those that don't know what it is but it's just part of the morph. Once things settle down he should show less signs of it.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

First time I've ever seen "nature" in a Rubbermaid. - Jeff Favelle

Okay, that explains the wobble, but what about the severe concaving/skinnyness on the upper half of his body?
I have looked into the possibility of IBD, would you agree that it may be a possibility?

Normally, in IBD cases, the animal twists, flops AND cannot right itself!

Sorry, cannot a good picture to show what it looked like.

Cannot right itself, as in not being able to flip over? He was like that, but I would have just said that he was to limp/nonreative to flip over. However I have not seen regurgitating or RI symptoms, but was just wondering.

For the underbelly concave. Imagine folding a piece of paper horizontally and that's about what the upper half of his underbelly looked like.
He was quite tense, also. Another reason I thought it may have just been stress.

Maybe a picture would help.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

First time I've ever seen "nature" in a Rubbermaid. - Jeff Favelle

Has anyone sprayed any insecticides near the cage? Any roach bait traps nearby or any substance sprayed? Have you used any new substrate lately...namely any cedar?

Only tropical spray to get the humidity up, sense the cold was bringing it down some.
Otherwise, no. For the bedding we simply use soft padding they make for snakes.

How is the Spider ball doing now? Still symptomatic? Any changes? Did you increase heat or make any changes?

We took him over to the vet to stay for a few days with intensive care. Under intense heat lamp, force feeding, and check ups. We hear the results and get him back tomorrow.

Yikes - that sounds like a recipe for death. Did you take him to a herp vet?
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

First time I've ever seen "nature" in a Rubbermaid. - Jeff Favelle