Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a ball python shipped to me. It got down to 36 degrees the night it was being shipped. The breeder didnt use a heat pack so the snake arived very cold. When I opend the package I though the snake was dead. I took it out of the delli cup and put him in my hands and held him in front of a heater. He was not moving. After a few mintuets he started to move he barely moved. Then he kind of flopped around and jerked his head funny. I put him in a plastic box on top of a cobra heat mat. After 30 mins he started trying to crawl. He would be crawling then he would suddenly jerk his head up to his body really fast. He would also kind of drag his head around wierd, and move around like he was blind. The next day he seemed better but was still acting wierd. The next day he was just shakey like when he was holding his head up. It has been a week now and he seems perfectly normal no shaking and no jerking. He ate 3 days before he was fedexed to me. And he pooped 2 days after I got him. I had never seen a snake do anything like this before. Could it have been a seizure? This is my first snake to be shipped to me does this happen often?

You are very lucky that the snake is still alive! From your description of it when you received it, it was minutes from death! I don't know who you bought the snake off, and I don't want to know, but I certainly wouldn't buy another from them!Heat packs are ESSENTIAL when shipping snakes!

I guess people just dont expect it to get that cold in texas. Our weather has been doing wierd things. One day it will be 40 degrees the next day it will be 78. Our weather is freaky.
Have you ever seen something simalar happen? Do you think my snake will have any long term damage? Will he be able to breed normaly? He is a great little snake. I have named him Alucard.

After I read your horror story, or should I say the snakes horror story, I thought that's one lucky snake. I know about the weather in Texas, been there, done that. It's true that the changes are extreme. But...I think you should contact the seller and advise them of the problem. This kind of exposure to a snake can be fatal at the worst and lead to respiratory infection at the least. You say it's acting normal now, but definitely observe carefully for signs of respiratory infection. Make sure you find a vet too. I'm not trying to scare you but it's always good to have a vet lined up. Your little guy has gone throught alot. Hope all turns out for the best.