A little advice

[Mrfinn]

Hey guys,

I recently acquired a young and very malnourished little guy who was horribly taken care of by his previous owner. My question is what is the best way to get him up to speed with his weight and health? Feed him more at first or just get him set up on a good routine? Other than his weight he seems pretty healthy although he has had a horrible time shedding. He is also really really snappy as he has bit me about 50 times..pretty much every time I open his cage (if I was in his state I would be pretty peeved too). The snappy will go away with time and care but his weight problem is my primary concern.

Paul

[TammyJamaica]

What is he?

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Mrfinn]

Red tail..less than a year old.

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[TammyJamaica]

If you know the proper temps and humidity to set him up with, do that and give him nice clean water - a big bowl to soak in since he may be rather dehydrated. Keep him away from any other pets you have and wash hands before and after handling him, and all that hygeine stuff you already know!

Keep him in quarantine for at least six months. A vet visit in a few days after he has settled would be a very good idea if you know a good herp vet, or any good vet at this point. He needs to be checked for internal parasites, mites etc.

I would start slowly with a less than normal (smaller than girth) size prekilled or F/T rat and if he is not interested wait and try again, a day or two after a vet visit.

Other people here can advise you more about the right temps and humidity if you don't know, or you can check some of the boa care sheets. Don't handle him if you can help it, for now, as little as possible because he is under stress, and that will not help in his apparently compromised condition.

Some pictures would help if possible?

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

[Mrfinn]

I have had him isolated for about 2 weeks now. We went to the vet and he checked out fine other than the weight thing. I'll get some pictures up once I can get him out of his log! I wrapped him up in a nice steamy towel the other day to help him get that skin loosened up a bit and it seemed to help. Part of his initial snappiness had a lot to do with the shed I think as he could not really see and was really jittery. I set up his cage (20 gallon long) with aspen bedding(my other snakes love this stuff, makes feeding a bit more intricate but they can dig) with a heat pad for his hot zone and the water on the other side. Have not seen him soak too much though but he does drink a lot so dehydration is quite possible. I upped the humidity a bit for him to see if it would help and that also seemed to work. I feel bad for the little guy as he really had a hard time with someone who should never have owned a snake.

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[Mrfinn]

Here is a photo of him getting a drink.

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[Sakara]

do you happen to have an over head shot? from that shot he doesn't look skinny... he looks like he has eyecaps on his eyes and is his mouth swollen or is that just from the angle?

biggest thing for him right now... leave him alone... for about a week or so... then you can try to feed him... don't try to feed him something huge... if we can get another angle on him we might be able to see if he looks skinny, but from that angle he doesn't... give him an appropriate size prey and he should grow properly

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[Mrfinn]

Sorry that is the only shot I have of him now. He is not so much skinny as just showing signs of underfeeding which the vet confirmed (loose skin, lethargy etc). I'll try and get him out and get you guys some better pics of him asap as he has some amazing markings and will be a wonderful pet once he is fully healthy.

Also his mouth is open as I caught him coming out for a drink. He did knock his jaw a bit earlier in the day from smacking the glass but I did not notice anything amiss from that and, from past experience, it usually returns to normal in a day or so. But, I think it is just the angle. He is a shy guy so I have to take my shots when I get them!

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[Mrfinn]

Another odd thing and I think this might have to go in the paranormal section...If you look at the bend in his body..beneath it looks like a mouse is laying there. I feed him outside of the cage because of the bedding so there is no mouse there. So ghost mouse? (It actually is just a really strange trick of the bedding and shadows but a vengeful spirit mouse sounds much cooler)

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[nitram]

regular feedings should get him up to speed, no need to overfeed to makeup for it.
he looked fine judging by the picture, but it wasnt really clear.

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[Sakara]

LOL I dunno about the mouse thing.....

But For now, I would just leave him alone... let him settle in and just feed him a proper size prey every 7-10 days... see how he does... He should be alright as long as he's healthy otherwise

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