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    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

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Wish me luck! RI

A

A_Kendergirl

AKA Grinning Geckos
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Ugh, everything started out so well with my guy! Somehow, he's gone from apparently good to RI in just a few days. The vet is finally open tomorrow, so he'll be going in first thing.

I am just amazed at how quickly this has progressed. The first day I got him (last Wednesday), I didn't notice anything and he ate for me. Three days later (Saturday), he defecated and I took him out to clean and spend a little time handling him, and he was pretty calm and curious. As I was handling him, I noticed some popping, a little mucus, and what seemed like a lot of yawning. Today (Monday) he's now gasping and blowing bubbles! I feel awful and I'm just stunned that he's taken such a quick turn for the worst.

I imagine part of this is my fault, as I was following outdated info in a book I got several years ago. I just picked up the book by NERD, and made the corrections needed. The humidity was low for the first two days I had him, I've since raised it, but it bounces around a bit from 75-80% after spraying to 55-60% by morning. The only other problem is that my night drop was too much thanks to the old book.

Could those two things have caused such a rapid deterioration in his health, or do you think I got him sick from the store and just made it worse with my inexperience?

Being a noob sucks at times!
 
Wow, goodness me..I do hope your BP comes right soon! I'm not an authority by any means, but sure wouldnt expect an infection to culminate so soon. Wonder if you maybe bought your BP with an infection?

Once again, the more experienced folk in this forum can help, but humidity of 75-80% seems high to me. Usually 50-60% is enough, maybe a little higher during shedding.

Best of luck at the vet..do let us know how it goes!!
 
RAISE THE HEAT! if i know anything about snakes, they will recover faster and maybe recover easier if you raise the temperature, a hot spot of 95 degrees is usually necessary, but you may want to give him an even hotter spot since he's sick. correct me if i'm off anyone, but heat will help his body fight the infection. I don't think higher humidity will do much for him right now...
the temperatures and stress probably helped get him sick. contact the seller of the animal after you raise temps and see the vet. they need to know about this, their other animals may be infected, and if it dies, you may be able to get a refund or replacement if it was sick to their knowladge when they sold it to you. However, as harsh as it is, you may have caused the RI, so don't expect a refund unless you know the previous owner was not taking proper care of it.
 
His daytime temps are fine, but I was following bad advice on the night drop and it was 75 at night.

I know I am probably the cause of it, but I am really surprised how fast this has progressed.
 
A_Kendergirl said:
Could those two things have caused such a rapid deterioration in his health, or do you think I got him sick from the store and just made it worse with my inexperience?
Click to expand...

Shanti, sorry to hear he got sick. I don't know a whole lot about bp's compared to some, but my first came down with a RI right after I "adopted" him, too. The vet gave me instructions on how to treat him without even using meds and it cleared up pretty quick. At least you caught it early. If I had to guess though, I'd say he was probably borderline sick at the store and the inevitable stress of moving just served as a catalyst for the infection taking hold--not your inexperience. That's what the vet figured caused "Bob's" infection too; he didn't think that it was because of my husbandry or anything I did/didn't do. Anyway, I hope he makes a speedy recovery.
 
A_Kendergirl said:
His daytime temps are fine, but I was following bad advice on the night drop and it was 75 at night.

I know I am probably the cause of it, but I am really surprised how fast this has progressed.
Click to expand...

Oh. That part I didn't know. :bolt01:
 
Is that drop in temps in the evening from say 80F to 75F important? I know some folk say a drop in temp is okay, even maybe recommended...I just thought the whole idea was keeping the environment as stable as possible?
 
I really feel like a heel.

The book says 68 - 73 for the night drop. I thought it sounded low...and figured 75 would be safer. I kept seeing mention of a night drop, but no numbers other than the book. Guess I need to learn the hard way.
 
Personally unless I am breeding my temps stay the same 24/7. 90-92 on the warm side and 76-80 on the cool.
 
Oh and kender..... truly sorry to hear you are having troubles with your first snake. Hope things get better, they truly are wonderful animals.
 
Come to think of it, he may have been sick when I brought him home. I remember Eric pointing out the snake the first night...he was pointing his head straight up in the air, not moving. It was a little odd. I saw him do the same thing when I noticed the popping and yawning on Saturday.
 
Flip...68F..that's incredibly low!! Suprised your book suggested that. What book was that BTW?
 
That exactly what his temps are during the day. There is one hot spot that gets to 95...he moved the mulch around when he was digesting his meal. I was doing the night drop because I had read it was bad for them to have the same temps 24/7.
 
I don't know if it's in publication anymore. "Ball Pythons" by John Coborn. I got it many moons ago when I first got interested in BPs.
 
That's what I like about the threads, prefer hearing about everyone elses experience rather than trusting websites and the odd book here and there. Some really good folk here at Fauna..helped me immeasurably!

Best of luck with your BP!
 
Well, until I get a chance to talk to the vet, I'm dropping the night drop (so to speak). That puts my temps at 90 - 95 on the warm side (the bedding makes it variable...I LOVE my temp gun), with the ambient/cool side at 80-82.

Currently he's hanging out on the 90ish area.

As for the humidity, it is only near 80 for an hour or two. It drops fairly quickly to 70, and stays there for about 1/2 the day. By the time I wake up, it's about 60 and I spray the tank again.
 
Shanti,
I'd be willing to bet that this was already cooking when you got the snake. An overnite temp of 75 degrees shouldn't do that to a healthy ball. Heck, when I was cooling stuff for breeding, my 05s were in 75-77 degrees for days at a time (finally got half a rack built and heated, so that is resolved). I'm not sure how you are set up, but shoot for ambient temps in the mid eighties & a hot spot in the low 90s - even if you have to temporarily put it in a smaller enclosure. I would also ease up a bit on the misting...too much humidity now will only compound the problem. Sorry to hear he's sick, but hopefully he'll recover quickly
 
For Ball Pythons I would not want the humidity any higher than 60. For me 55 to 60 is the sweet spot.
 
I guess I my thought would be to go a bit lower...but I haven't had to deal with this with my BPs, so I can't really say what the impact might be either way
 
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