Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A few Days Ago i purchased my first snake, so obviously i have no idea whats going on. books on pythons seem to be noexistant in my town, and though the place where i got him seemed very helpful, i have come to realize after doing som web research that they didn't know squat. i am concerned about his wrinkled looking skin. though he is only 18 inches and in the middle of shedding, i fear he actually may be dehydrated. The place where i purchased him said that they had been feeding him on saturdays but the mouse has been with him all night and all day today and he still hasent eaten it. also, when i purchased him he was the last one in the place and the were not going to be getting any more because snakes didn't sell for them. either his last meal or the meal before that had attacked him and left a few bite marks on him which they were treating with "snake oil" (oils of weat germ, tea tree, neem, ect...) which i continued to use, but after doing some reasearch, i no longer believe the "wounds" on his belly to be from the mouse. i bleave that it's blister disease. also, he tends to become very lethargic. if placed upside down he'll stay in that position for a long time (although if it's in his pen he'll right himself in a couple of minuts but in his feeding box, he stayed like that for over a half an hour until i fliped him over). His Poop looked like a yellowish goo of a toothpaste consistancy. and another thing... i'm not even shure if he is a he at all.

someone please help !!!

After reading that I seriously think you need to get that snake to a vet asap. It probably is blister disease, have a vet double check that. It is also probably dehydrated. Put the snake on new paper so you can get clean fecals and see if maybe it has mites. I suggest you place it in a rubbermaid filles an inch high with water for an hour and a half. Le it soak up. And increase humidity slightly. Right now I bet he/she is too weak for big food items. I suggest you get a pinkie or two into it. It'd be wise to let it relaxe and recover, don't hold it. Make sure the heat is perfect as well. I had two die on me when they arrived from shipping, they did the same thing. So I'm speaking from experience, it'll pull out of it. Check on it often too. He/she should be fine in a few days.
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Ball-Pythons.Net

I agree totally with the previous post. This snake needs professional vet care. Please don't hesitate.

id give it back to the store if they will let you. This snake will cost more than its worth in my opinion. i could see doing this for a morph, but not a pet store normal that you bought sick. Should have done your homework before you buy one thats for sure. Sorry if i am coming across as mean and rude but its the truth. Buy a 100$ CBB normal from any one and you should be set (no mites, ticks, sickness, and it will come sexed)

SOAK IT IN LUKE WARM WATER!! My ball had dry skin and its skin was loose and it looked dehydrated so I did some research about dehydration over the internet and actually found to soak your ball in gatorade, but I just put mine in a tubberware container with warm water and shut the lid so it was real humid. An hour later I took it out and it looked like a whole new snake!! it looked alot fatter and climbed right out I couldnt believe it. All of its dead old skin was left behind in the bath. It hadnt eaten for me all week so I thought I'd feed it and sure enough it ate no problem. Soaking was the key!

Where did you hear this? Interesting, I might try it some time if they are in shed or whatnot.
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Ball-Pythons.Net

Gatorade works very well for snakes, both internally and externally. The electrolytes help the integrity of their skin (when soaked in it), as well as the hydration process. The additional carbs are great, too.

Personally, I've had slightly better results from using pedialite. I inject about 2 mL's into a food item (also a good way to pre-kill live prey, as the mouse doesn't last long after a pedialite injection!), and the sicker animals get some Vitamin B-complex serum and an A/C/D/E mixture in their food as well. A vet could verify that this is okay, as well as be able to get you some syringes and vitamin solution.

I've found that treating my snakes' food is quite effective as a means of treating the snake. Force-feeding can be awfully stressful, and I don't really think yields any better result than the methods I mentioned above.

I was a little unclear with your story.

but the mouse has been with him all night and all day today and he still hasent eaten it.

Do you still have a mouse in with him? A live mouse? If so, take it out – RIGHT NOW.

Although you may not have easy access to books, there is good information on the husbandry of ball pythons online. Start with this:

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

You can search for other care sheets through whatever search engine you use, like Google. You can read through the posts on this forum.

It does appear from the little we can tell that you do need professional help. Until you see a vet, try to soften the old skin (if it really is in the middle of a shed, as you say) and try to get it to drink water. To do this put the snake in a small container (like tupperware) with a few holes in it. Put a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of water in the bottom. I’m talking like a HALF INCH, so that it will not drown in its weakened state. Keep it warm (more than 80 degrees, less than 90 degrees). Look in on it from time to time but leave it alone for several hours.

-Joan

Link

Again, I am not totally sure I understand you:

if placed upside down he'll stay in that position for a long time (although if it's in his pen he'll right himself in a couple of minuts but in his feeding box, he stayed like that for over a half an hour until i fliped him over).

It usually takes a snake a long time to get sick, and a long time to die, relative to, say, mammals or birds. If you are saying that your python has gotten to the point that he is barely able to right himself after being placed on his BACK, he is indeed in grave trouble. If, however, you are describing the way they often ball up when threatened, that is a totally different (and normal) behavior.

I've heard that inclusion disease can come on rather suddenly in bp's. In fact, I've heard accounts of breeders using bp's as the proverbial "canary" in their boa projects when they suspect the introduction of BID in their collection.

i think you mean IBD???

what does it stand for?
what are the symptoms???
what are the direct effects?
how long until death?
can it be fixed???

sorry for all the Q's but i had a bp die a while ago (with the assistance of a vet). there was just nothing to be done for him and i nor the vet really knew what it was. although i'm not to sure how compitent she was with snakes. she was the only vet i could fine so i figured one is better than none.
thanks