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Please Help!!

Turtlegirl Sep 24, 2004 09:29 PM

Hi everyone,

Well I got this new Ball Python tonight, (he's a rescue) and he is in pretty bad shape. He/she is a WC adult and has Ticks, probably mites, retained eye caps, pieces of stuck shed, and probably isn't feeding well.
He has these white patches on him where the skin is coming off (like separateing from his body) and it's really gross. I have no clue what it is, but I'm guessing maybe an old rodent bite or something?? Anyway, I have been putting Neosporine on him, and I soaked him for awhile this afternoon.. I am going to call the vet tomorrow, and try to get an appointment for Monday afternoon. Is there anything else that I can do for him or put on his wounds?

Here are some pictures (sorry, they're not that great..)

-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

Replies (10)

Turtlegirl Sep 24, 2004 09:30 PM

Pic # 2

-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

Turtlegirl Sep 24, 2004 09:31 PM

Anyone have any ideas as to what this might be?

-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

boajeff Sep 24, 2004 09:51 PM

Blurry pics and hard to tell not seeing it in person, but I would say they look like burns.

To answer your questions I would soak him and then dry him off. Then apply Betadine to his wounds. TONIGHT and until you get to the vet.

Second I would start treating the mites by rubbing him down with vegetable oil (this will suffocate the mites).

Third if you feel comfortable, remove the ticks with tweezers. And treat that area with betadine as well.

And on Monday I would have your vet treat him for internal parasites.
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Jeff West

Carmichael Sep 24, 2004 09:52 PM

Our wildlife center, where I am curator, rescues MANY balls like the one pictured. Here are some pointers:

1) If possible, get the snake to a good herp vet to have him look it over. If that isn't possible, here are a few things that have worked well for us:

2) Keep the snake on newspaper for now (in fact, permanently; its still teh best substrate for snakes). Make sure the snake is kept in a well ventilated cage and the substrate is kept dry.

3) Make sure the snake has two hide areas; one on the warm side and one on the cool side. During treatment of sick ball pythons, we typically keep temps up a bit (82 cool side and 86-88 warm side with a basking area that reaches 90-92).

4) Those white "pock" marks look like old scars from this snake being fed live prey. These can lead to secondary infections if left untreated which is why getting the snake to a vet is important as this snake may need some antibiotics. We treat these wounds with Tricide/ampicillin and then apply Silvadene; these two work great.

5) keep stress to a minimum...NO HANDLING. Offer warmed frozen/thawed adult mice to start via forceps. We first offer food at night when bp's are most apt to accept food.

6) take things REAL SLOW. Recuperation can take months. The key right now is proper meds, proper thermal gradient, keeping substrate dry (but a good soak once a week and some every other day misting is beneficial), and keeping the snake safe and secure will go a long way towards recovery. Good luck.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest, IL

boajeff Sep 24, 2004 09:57 PM

Rob gives some very good advice here as well. Guess us Illinois guys know our stuff.

I say follow the advice given so far and hopefully your ball will be on the road to recovery.
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Jeff West

Turtlegirl Sep 24, 2004 09:57 PM

Thanx
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-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

CrystalBlue Sep 25, 2004 05:50 AM

Yikes! It looks like someone left him in a cage with a live rodent. Which is a big no no. Did you buy him in that condition? Hope he gets better.

Turtlegirl Sep 25, 2004 11:03 AM

Ya, I'm thinking that it was either a rodent bite or a burn... he has three of the spots on him, and they are all farily close together. I used to have a rescued Mali Uromastyx that had some old burn scars on his back (from a heat lamp) and that's what the white areas on the python remind me of.

He was given to me in that condition last night, and I have a vet appointment for him on Monday afternoon.

Thanks for all of the replies.
-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

Turtlegirl Sep 25, 2004 11:08 AM

Here is a new and hopefully better picture..

-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

http://www.laurenslizards.20m.com

ginevive Sep 25, 2004 12:36 PM

I see that you have switched to newspaper. good choice with a sick/tick-having bp; you can monitor him better, and see any signs of mites better.
Those scars look really awful. I cannot believe that some idiot let that snake get into such bad shape, and then just dumped it off. But I am glad that you have it, and are going to help the poor guy out. I really wish you luck with him, and hope to hear updates!
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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.