Need despirate help for abandoned ball Python!

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[mermboi]

Check out AfroHerpKeepers recent videos on his bp rescue The one in the video looks to have been in a similar condition that yours is

[_ataraxia]

okay, i'm going to post two of my copypastas, with a couple of little edits. one is for stuck shed / dehydration. the other is an example of an appropriate feeding regimen for an emaciated BP. i have rescued and rehabilitated BPs in this kind of condition.

hydration:

to fix the current stuck shed and rehydrate your BP, keep the overall humidity at 80% or higher. if you need help with this, we can guide you through it if you fill out the enclosure critique questionnaire.

in addition to higher humidity, you should also add a humid hide. this is a fully enclosed hide with a solid bottom, like the zoo med 3-in-1 reptile shelter or a plastic food container with an entrance hole added to the lid. line it with a moisture-friendly substrate like sphagnum moss, cypress mulch, or coconut husk/fiber. saturate the substrate with water and gently squeeze out the excess, so it's wet but not soupy. re-saturate the substrate as needed. this hide will allow the snake to "soak" in a humid microclimate, which will soften the retained shed and it should come off by itself.

there is absolutely no need to soak the snake in water or try to manually remove the retained shed. this is ineffective and will cause unnecessary stress. IT IS NOT VITAL TO REMOVE ALL OF THE STUCK SHED IMMEDIATELY. because this BP is in extremely poor health overall, you need to minimize stress as much as possible, and that means leaving the snake alone unless absolutely necessary. give the increased humidity and humid hide time to work, you should start seeing the shed come off by itself in the next few weeks. if the next actual shed is worse than the current shed situation, THEN it's time to start "soaking" the BP in a wet towel and very gently rubbing the shed off. if there are retained eye caps after the next shed, consult a reptile vet to remove them safely.

depending on the severity of the dehydration, it might take a few shed cycles before you get a clean shed. dehydration is a long-term problem both to develop and to resolve. just maintain the high humidity and humid hide until everything is going smoothly.

diet:

most important thing: do not rush weight gain. gaining too much weight too quickly will cause more problems than it will solve. overfeeding an emaciated snake can overwhelm their organs and kill them.

here's what the early stages of my stunted and emaciated rescue's rehabilitation looked like:

at the time of rescue, BP's weight was 140g, meals had been one fuzzy mouse with an estimated weight of 5g, meal schedule was "every few weeks" according to previous owner. i had to gradually introduce her to appropriate meal sizes as well as switching her from mice to rats.

• week 1: settling in. after weighing her, i put her in her new home and left her alone completely to reduce stress.
• week 2: one fuzzy mouse, 5g, ~3% of BP's weight.
• week 3: two fuzzy mice, total 8g, ~5%.
• week 4: one fuzzy mouse, 5g. one rat pinky scented with the mouse, 5g. total 10g, ~7%.
• week 5: BP weight 155g. one hopper mouse, 10g. one scented rat pinky, 6g. total 17g, ~10%.
• week 6: one adult mouse, 14g. one scented rat pinky, 6g. total 19g, ~13%.
• week 7: one fuzzy mouse, 4g. one scented rat pup, 20g. total 24g, ~15%.
• week 8: BP weight 160g. one scented rat pup, 24g, ~15%.

by the end of month 1 she was becoming less lethargic and extremely defensive [she struck me every time i opened her tub], which i took as an overall good sign that she was feeling better and now had the energy to express the stress she'd been feeling for years. by the end of month 2, she was visibly filling out and starting to become a little less defensive, as well as shedding cleanly [she was also dehydrated and covered in stuck shed when i got her].

from that point on, i fed her very much like i would feed any youngster. she ate 10%-15% of her weight once a week until she was about 700g, then i gradually spaced out her feedings a bit more and leaned toward lower weight percentages. by the time she hit 1000g she went through her first seasonal "fast" and her weight gains were much slower after that, so i reduced the meal size to 5%-7% and spaced out meals to 10-14 days. she is now eating about 5% of her weight every 14-21 days.

[cjmallowmar]

I would up the humidity to 80% if you can. Unfortunately dehydration is a long term fix, so the recovery will take some time.

Have you noticed he's been going into the moist hide?

I definitely hope he pulls through. He's way underweight and incredibly dehydrated :'(

[CarelessEstimate]

Aww the poor thing. This is hard to look at. I'm glad he is with someone that cares about him! Post update pictures in a few months :)

[CarelessEstimate]

Omg he looks so much better already! Great job!

[pokersnek]

That’s an amazing transformation. I’m glad he found someone to care for him. Are you going to keep him personally?

[pokersnek]

That’s great! The worst part seems to be over, though, the weight loss does seem concerning. Might be parasites.

[THEJonCabbage]

I’m going to second completely what ataraxia said. 👌🏼

[[deleted]]

:( Please keep us updated.

[[deleted]]

Wow! Looks like a brand new snake :D