Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, all. I'm a newbie to the forums. My son and I have started a little breeding venture, with too danged many baby snakes, LOL.

Anywho, while picking up crickets yesterday, a guy brought in two snakes for the petshop owner to look at. They were a 6 foot columbian boa and an adult ball python. The poor things were literally almost frozen. He claimed his heat lamp burnt out. He gave them to the shop owner, who immediately walked over and plunked them into my arms and said 'Merry Christmas.' Yikes!

They are all warmed up now and I will watch them closely for any signs of respiratory distress.

The main problem is the poor boa has rubbed and scarred its face up so badly that it doesn't have any visible nostrils left. The poor guy is having to breathe thru its mouth. This doesn't look recent. I'm wondering how the poor guy can eat if it can't breathe? I would be happy to hear any advice or experience any of you have had with this type of injury.

Thanks for listening, ShadyLady.

He can breathe through his glottis (even when he has a mouth full of rat).

For the nose rub, go to your vet and get some SSD (1% Silver Sulfadiazide Cream). A once a day application for a while will help tremendously.

Thanks, oldherper. The poor boa is real weak tonight. It was stronger last night after some warming. Now it looks about as weak as when it was still frozen. I was hoping to give them a day or two to warm up and see how they were going to do before taking them to the vet. They may just be too far gone. I'm pretty sure this one is a goner. Thanks for the info about the ointment. I'll pick some up.

ShadyLady