Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi... I am having lots of problems from my 3 month old ball python. I bought it as a hatchling from a show, and got it with mites. I didn't know what the mites were though so I let them live on the snake for weeks. During this time the snake refused to eat. the snake also rubbed itself until it scabbed... I got some mite spray but it didnt work and the mites kept coming back... so I used the nix shampoo... and the snakes are now mite free... and the snake ate two meals... and grew 4 inches... she then went into a she cycle a week and a half ago. This is her first shed. she has reached a point where the skin should have come off... however it has not even started to... the humidity is right and I soaked her several times pre-shed... then tonight I decided (stupidly) to feed her... and the mouse got stuck in her throat... she couldnt get the mouse (fuzzy) past the scabs on her neck. I tried to help massage the mouse down and all I managed to do was cause a small cut in the skin of her neck... I peeled some of the top of the scab off to see if I could work with it to get the skin to streach... no luck.... so I backed the mouse back out of her mouth... she is underwieght and needs food... she also needs to shed. she is rather weak and I dont know what to do at this point other then vet... are there any suggestions on what to do for her until I can get her to a vet or that I could suggest to the vet?
thanks for any help...
-Alex-

this is her when she still had the mites...

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1.2 ball pythons (Draco and Naga and Athena)
looking for a good price on eyelash Geckos

if that is the baby and is a recent picture then she doesn't look to be severly under weight. a little thin but not enough to get worked up over. as far as how long she's taking to shed that sometimes happens. I have a male het pied that has started to shed for the 3rd time. his eyes got cloudy a week and a half ago and just started to rub about an hour ago. as long as the humidity is right and the snake has something to help the shedding out you shouldn't have any problems at least until you notice wrinkling of the skin then you may need to assist the shedding. remember healthy snakes tend to not have problems shedding and trouble could mean a more serious problem. mites on a snake for a week or two isn't major unless it is infested. if you are treating properly meaning the snake, the cage, and all surroundings then the mites will go away. i just got rid of a minor mite problem using provent-a-mite. it worked great so far. you treat the cage and surrounding furniture and in time the mites on the snake die. it's been 4 days and i haven't seen a live mite yet. there is more i would like to reply to but if you have any more questions and would like my advice just email me directly.
Josh Hutto
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2.0 het pied
1.1 het albino
1.7 normal
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 damn taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Feed smaller meals while she is in shed.
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Michael Enriquez

Don't feed her when she is in shed. There's lots of time pre or post shed that they'll eat.

Yeah, I avoid feeding them while in shed. I figure that they will become fatter if fed, and therefore it'd be harder for them to get out of that yucky old skin.
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2.1 Ball pythons: Goblin, Ashes, and Bela
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator: Apache Fog
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog: Bene
1.0 Tiger salamander: Slasher
1.0 black kittycat, Inky
A bunch of Oscar cichlids, one giant pleco, huge breeding lot of "fancy" (read: deformed) goldfish, and me an' the boyfriend.

that is not a new pic... that was when she was still under 2 months old. large areas of skin have been removed from the snake and because of the way it is healing the snake cannot get a pinky down. she is still in shed because she doesn't have the strength to move around the cage... not because she hasnt gotten around to it. she has gotten to the point of being very wrinkly because of the smaller skin on her... she was doing better when she could eat and grew several inches in a short amount of time... but now she cannot eat and is losing strength and weight fast. she has lost over a quarter of her body weight in the last 2 weeks.
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1.2 ball pythons (Draco and Naga and Athena)
looking for a good price on eyelash Geckos

I would think that if your snake is losing weight that fast that there may be something else going on, maybe internal parasites? Can you bring a fecal into a vet?
Otherwise, I would try something really small just to see if the snake can swallow it - maybe a mouse pinky or something just as a test. If that works, move up in size slowly. I don't know if this would help or not. Just some suggestions...

Calm down and don't try to force the snake to conform to your obsessive notions about how a snake should shed. You stated it correctly that you decided "stupidly" to feed her. You also decided stupidly to intervence in a shed process that the snake could easily achieve on its own, given that you believe that humidity and temps are good. Make sure that your humidity is 70-80% during a shed. Having said all this, you did a good thing to help the snake by getting rid of the mites. This, as well as temps and humidity, is something that you must control since the snake cannot. Its sounds like you have good intentions for your snake, but you need to be less compulsive and obsessive. It's natural to worry, but first get sound information before acting.

That said, if the temps and humidity were 'fine' then your ball would have shed fine. If the snake would have shed and you interrupted that process, disturbing her, offering her a meal and then having it get stuck in her throat has probably stressed your snake out way too much. No new advice here. Good luck.

My advice is pretty simple....if your snake is doing so badly please take it to a vet.