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Reticulated With Care

Junkyard

Junkyard

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On Monday Dec 12 I picked up a Reticulated python in a raffle. This little guy was so dehydrated and emaciated that he was what looked like beyond saving. Since I took him home I kept full records of what I noticed along with feed, deification, and soaking records.

He was so bad off that he would not even stick out his tongue, or move. I took him home and swabbed his mouth, he was so dehydrated that his lips were stuck together. As soon as I applied water and separated his lips he instantly started licking the air. I soaked him for 40 minutes that night and 20 minutes everyday since. I put him on heat as soon as I could. I tried feeding him every night for 3 days, he would not eat or even smell the mouse so to make sure he was okay I used a pinkie pump with a mixture of vitamins and meat. I used a product called Carnivore Yummies. This was very unorthodox but he was so bad off that he needed something quick.

He has been nothing but a sweet heart, we are really hoping he keeps this personality, he is a great snake. I took pictures along the way. I am so pleased with the results that I want to share them with you.

Monday Dec 12 2005-The night I received him, notice how dry and wrinkled his skin is
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Tuesday Dec 13 2005-After being soaked two times now he has already made an incredible improvement.
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Wednesday Dec 16 2005-I used the pinkie pump the night before to get some food in him. Notice the difference since day 1!!
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Monday Dec 19 2005-you can see how he has taken well to the food and the soaking, he is not skinny.
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Tuesday Dec 20 2005-He ate last night a medium size mouse!!! AND defecated a huge healthy turd!! You can see he bulge from the mouse.
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I am so happy with his results that I upgraded his home to a bigger one. As time goes on I will continue with pictures and updates on him. We have are fingers crossed that he will continue to increase in health and size.

Thanks for looking
 
Pet America in Fullerton, CA. They donated him. When I am truley satisfied with his health and growth I will be sending them pics and info, along with my thoughts on them pawning off a snake in this condition to someone else. I think the little guy is happy I took him.

We have an offical name for him now: Jonesy

If any are curious about the yellow water, well it is not urine. I added a liquid vitamin to his water. I noticed that and thought eeewww!!!
 
It's amazing what a little knowledge and TLC will do....good for you, Michael!!! He's probably mighty lucky that you got him!
 
Thank you Cathy!

I love how vibrant his colors have become as he has been feeling better. He is far more alert and active, just loves being out of his cage. To think he could not even use his tongue when I first got him. He is a great little guy, so calm and docile. I was not sure if I would ever take on a retic(we already have a nasty little burm), but now I am happy I have him. He will be great for the reptile educational classes I teach.
 
Awesome job!
I wouldn't be surprised if it stays mellow for you. I swear retics know more about what is going on then other snakes.
I took in a thin retic with open wounds once and I swear he knew I was helping him. It was the most gentle retic I ever dealt with even when applying meds (I know that must've burned going on the open wounds) and after he got better.
Glad to see he is now in capable hands.
Keep us posted.
 
You rock Michael!!

For those of you who were not there, Michael could have picked a number of nice healthy animals, one being the emerald tree boa that I wanted soo badly. Michael and his wife Michelle opted to rehab the retic that others would have walked away from!! Merry Christmas to your little guy and his new family!! And welcome to SCHA, we need club members like you!!
 
Unfortunately I must report some bad news. At 1 am I found Jonesy dead in his water dish. Earlier during the nay I noticed he had dry poop stuck to his cloaca. The humidity was a little low, which I was thinking caused him to not defecate properly. I raised his humidity and found him in his water some hours later. I was even thinking I need to get him to the vet to check him for parasites just in case. This really bums me out, I got attached to this little fella too quickly.

Maybe it is just me, but it seems that the best snakes I have ever owned were the sick ones I have got from pet stores. Which has been the reason I stopped buying pet store reptiles. I have had two others, a dumerils boa, given to me by a pet store with a broken rib, she was so sweet, but could not pass food and died. JCP, great little guy came with respiratory infection, was a baby and his immune system could not handle the sickness and the vet treatments.

Sorry for the sad news. When I have more time I will post another pic I took of him in black and white.
 
I guess I jumped the gun on his health and started posting these pictures. I think we may get a CBB, as we really enjoyed this guy. We will have to name it Jonesy 2. What I enjoyed was how intently he watch me, he seem to really get a kick out of his surroundings.
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So sorry Michael

it really pisses me off when careless shop keepers put there animals on a raffle table to become someones pet, only to loose them 12 days later. Grrrrrrrr!!! Rest in peace little Jonesy,and watch over other snakes for us.
 
He will be an awesome guarding angle snake. He is very watchful.
 
hey michael,
nice job with the unfortunate one. i should have pics up and running for you soon. i got a new mega pixel digital cam for xmas. i just dont know how to get them into this site? any tips?
thanks,

josh
 
I'm so sorry. This thread started off great and then he died! :(
Why, oh why do people do this to animals. He probably wasn't strong enough to overcome the severe dehydration and whatever else he was subjected to before you got him. You did everything you could and he was looking very, very pretty. It was a shock to find out that he died.

I got a trinket snake at an auction in that same condition this past April. When he came up to be auctioned they just called him a rat snake, didn't even know what kind! They started him off at around $30 (I can't remember exactly). No one bid because everyone had looked at the animals before the auction and I did too. He looked much like your retic but had a stuck on shed which made him look like a wrinkled old man and he was so skinny I didn't think he would live through the day. No one bid at $30 and the auctioneer kept lowering the bid. Finally at $12.50 I couldn't take it any more and I bid and won him. I hoped he didn't die before I got him home.

On the way home (3 hour drive) I soaked him in some water and he drank and drank. I still have him and, like you did, I wish I would have documented how bad he looked from the start. He's beautiful now.

Yeah, yeah, I know all about not buying dying animals because it only gives the person selling dying animals money to go out and buy more animals to abuse but this time I couldn't help it. The owner had to lose money on this snake becuase I've never seen a trinket on any wholesale list for under $20 and he had to pay 15% comission and a $1 cage charge to the auction co. But I guess I'm a hypocrit because I've posted a dozen times about not buying animals in this shape because it only perpetuates the problem.
 
So I have just a couple concerns.. (1) The snake pics are of different snakes...then you get into black and white of an apparent dead snake....That would lead me to believe that someone is holding a grudge against someone...I am not pointing a finger, but you did elect to take the snake, if you knew, or thought, something was wrong with it then why not mention it to someone? Why take it and banter someone on line about it. I, personally, am an adult and you seem to know where it came from, have you contacted the spot were it came from to inquire if there was any issues with anything else? Or is it just more exciting to banter someone on line... I am not saying that the spot is completely Innocent in this, but you also inclined that it might not have been a CBB snake, do you know??? And Laura, is it?, sorry if I am wrong, why does it piss you off so bad?? Have you done it before?? Been involved in that type of thing??? Why banter on someone else's word instead of facts?? I have done a lot of purchases with herps and I lose some and some live, it kind of goes with the way the world turns. (i.e. some animals and people live and some don't per say) I just don't see the point in placing the blame somewhere that might not be to blame. I do not mean to offend, rather open another perspective on options...
 
where are you coming up with the notion of two different snakes? as for the rest of your post - did you read the thread? If you had, you would have realized that the only mention of the seller came in response to my questioning. The intent of the thread itself was not to malign anybody, but rather to show a new acquisition...one that had been "won", and selected from other (healthier) choices in an attempt to save it; and to show its progress. Unfortunately, its progress was short lived...hence the black and white "memorial" photos.

Welcome to Fauna, by the way.
 
But again here is a quote iclining the banter "When I am truley satisfied with his health and growth I will be sending them pics and info, along with my thoughts on them pawning off a snake in this condition to someone else." Along with Laura Cox's comments pretty much banter. The idea of 2 different photos comes from my background in photgraphy. Again, my post was not intended to aggrevate, rather open minds to another side of what "might have been" insyead of one persons word. Thanks for the welcome though... I can see how everyone believs the first thing they here instead of putting their own consensus together...
 
Micheal,
I just read this post, let me say that i am really sorry for your loss. This has to be one of the saddest posts I have ever read. But what I really wanted to say is that I think you are a great person, most people would've lookes at the green tree python, or whatever it was, and wouldnt've thought twice about a sick little retic. But you tried your best to save the little guy, and for that you have my total respect.
we need more people like you in the world
jamie
 
aNTItRUST said:
But again here is a quote iclining the banter "When I am truley satisfied with his health and growth I will be sending them pics and info, along with my thoughts on them pawning off a snake in this condition to someone else." Along with Laura Cox's comments pretty much banter. The idea of 2 different photos comes from my background in photgraphy. Again, my post was not intended to aggrevate, rather open minds to another side of what "might have been" insyead of one persons word. Thanks for the welcome though... I can see how everyone believs the first thing they here instead of putting their own consensus together...
Click to expand...

Hey Rob,

I think you are way off base here!! There is no doubt that those are the same snakes, the markings are the same in every photo! Out of the pure concern for the animal Michael decided to take that animal home. Regardless the care of that animal was not up to par before the raffle and for someone to try to "dump" their problem on unsuspecting people is wrong. This is an opinion based forum, which means everyone has the right to express their OPINIONS. If you want to call that banter, that is your opinion. I am truly sorry if you have had that many problems with reptiles that you expect it to be a part of life, but I expect it to be a rarity in my animals and would have said and done the same as Michael.


Keep up the good work Michael, hey Laura keep up that banter!!!!


:raspberry
 
Thanks for proving my point Will, you just proved that their are more children in the "professional Herp world" then adults. If the animal was not up to par then why take it? Why not report it to the person in charge of the raffle. It goes back to my point is there something personal against who put the snake up? How do YOU know that there was not a perfectly good snake taken and the one pictured is different? You don't, you go off of the word of others. I merely pointed out that there is 2 sides to every story. And if you look closely one is nearly a lavender retic and one is orange and the pixelation is way different, but then again, it does not matter because the negative opinions have already been formed. So in that case, Laura "keep up that banter!!!!" because we are in an adult world here.....
 
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