2nd shed - perm probs

[momakat]

El Cajon had his second shed since I bought him. It was an excellent shed - makes me feel good since must be doing something right for him. Eye caps came off and it all looked good this morning. Was able to untangle the shed and see that the last inch or so of his tail did not shed again. Think this will be a permanent problem for him the rest of his life.

As a recap - he is scared along his back from heat lamp burns, eyecaps had been retained, and his tail is deformed. At the 'skinny' point in his tail his shed does not continue - this point is like a sizable indent before the end of his tail and the shed doesn't seem to be able to get past this point. Last time I used a wet rag and wrapped his tail as I held him to get it off. I didn't want to bother him this morning as I was getting ready for work but will take him out tonight to check and remove this part of his shed. Hmmm . . . not too bad of a ritual for us to start and continue. hehe

As a side note . . . he is filling out quite nicely and growing well. Thanks to everyone one for their advice, suggestions and support after I brought him home.

[crush]

Glad all is going. I know how you feel. I rescued a female burm 16+ feet that had burns so bad they went past her scales and are about 1/3 of her lenth. She has shed about 4 times and I dont think she will ever have scales in these spots again. She had what looked like 4 or 5 layers of eye caps when I got her. Now she has 1 on her right eye that I hope comes off with the next shed. She is way to big for me to try and take it off. Any way I hope your baby keeps doing good.

[momakat]

Thanks, Crush. Sounds like that burm is lucky you have her. El Cajon has the scars from about an inch from his head to the tip of his tail - not sure there are even true scales in some places cuz of the scar tissue. Do tell if the eye cap comes off - hopefully it will with her next shed. Hmmm . . . 16+ feet . . . you do have some helping you with her? I can't imagine my ever owning a snake that big - especially living alone. hehe Was she still healing when you got her? Sounds like quite a tale if you want to tell it.

[louise]

chance will never have scales above her eye. i'm so glad people are out there saving these animals and letting them have a good rest of thier lives

[crush]

She is still on the mend moma. Her burns were pretty bad and from what I can tell they get alittle better with each shed. Like I said I dont have direct help but I have people that watch just incase. I have been grabbed and wrapped up on twice by 2 other burms both between 8 and 9'. I called for someone to bring me a cup of water and that helped both times. I just rescued a 5' male albino burm who bit me 5 times 2 days ago. He never grabbed me just kept biting. I do have to admitt I do have to care for them most of the time by myself and its not easy. I had an adult Male that was awsume who went to a program that teaches kids and adults about snakes and he also does birthdays. I hope luck will continue to be on my side I dont want to be one of the Headlines in the paper from a burm. Smokey who is the burnt burm being 16+ feet has reached the end of the road if I cant care for her she will have to die. Noone wants a 16+ foot burm and I cant let her die. I guess my heart is to big but what can you do.

[momakat]

Louise - I will say again that Chance is so lucky you have her - you are both lucky to have eachother.

Crush - Glad to hear Smokey is mending but I don't envy you her care at all at that size. How the heck do you feed her, and the rest? Do you have help at those times? What did you rescue the new little male from? Must have not been a good situation at all for him to have bit you so many times. Is he beginning to settle down?

Once things settled down tonight I got El out and worked on getting the rest of his shed off the tip of his tail. *sigh* I feel so awful! I should have done it before going to work and just been late - his 'skin' was terribly irritated and red under the remaining shed in the 'indented' part. It was too hard to tell if the skin had been broken or not so applied a small amount of bactroban to it. Then had some together time for a while before putting him back in his cage. I'm sorely tempted to have that little tip amputated but afraid of adding insult to injury with what he has already suffered. Will will see what happens the next shed. Perhaps he was just a bit to rigorous in pulling out of the shed? Whatever the case is this is something that will bear watching. My poor little baby.

[louise]

momakat i know how you feel. sometimes i think it causes us more pain then them. he is lucky to have you too.

[crush]

Well moma feeding and cleaning is all up to me. The little Biting Albino was just a pet someone didnt want anymore and we can see why. I am going to try and take him (Chedder) out tonight and see how many times he is going to try and bite me. Hope he settles down after awhile.
I thought I was doing the right thing for Smokey by taking her in. I know being that big is scarey but what was I supposed to do? Was I wrong for taking her or should I have let them destroy her? Well time will tell how things go.'
I hope your little guy gets better. And if they have to take the tip of his tail for him to be health then we know what we have to do.