sick ball, crusty vent

[synnottpaul]

Hello, My girl friend bough a baby ball python on impulse the other,
She has kept corns in the past.
Its about 12’ or so

But as it was a spur of the moment thing, the snake wasn’t checked properly.

It seems to have dried faces on its vent, that wont wash off with soaking in warm water.
Its skin seems to be rippled in some areas, and it isn’t the most active ball I’ve seen.

It also seems to have a hard ball in its bowl area, that moves under the skin.

I think she should bring back and exchange it for another one,
She doesn’t want to as she has already become attached to it.

Can anyone help?
Any idea as to what the problem is with the snake, and is it going to cause
problems to its health in the future?
What would be the best thing to do?

Thanks to all who reply

[snakesteve]

why would your girlfriend want to put the snake back to the place it originally got ill in the first place(im geussing). i would tell her to find out as much as she can about ball pythons and nurse it back to health. but im no expert and if the snake is so unhealthy its dieing then maybe thats an option. i would check it out before it gets critical. the same thing happenned to me but not as drastic.

good luck

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I would find a vet ASAP!!!

[synnottpaul]

We wont be sending it back to the same place. Besides, We're trying to find out whats wrong with the snake. We've read up loads about it but we can't find out exactly whats wrong.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Originally Posted by synnottpaul

We wont be sending it back to the same place. Besides, We're trying to find out whats wrong with the snake. We've read up loads about it but we can't find out exactly whats wrong.

Maybe you could find a vet???? That is the best way to find out whats wrong with him. They have all the tools and they will be able to tell you what the problem is. If you don't find a good vet in your are then you may want to ask a well known ball breeder and discribe the problem. Just try and get some pictures and that may help us

[synnottpaul]

It’s very hard to find a vet who can deal with reptiles here over here.
We’ll do our best to find one, and I’ll try get pics soon.

thanks

[mouseboy]

The ball in the bowl area sounds like it hasnt pooped in a while,so just soak it in some tempid water for about and hour and that should loosen things up so it can poop, but for all the other things I would recommend seeing a vet.

[snakesteve]

this is just a thought but like im from ireland. and like we might have snakes that have came from the same breeder or source of some kind. wouldnt it be cool to know where our snakes came from? just a thought

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Originally Posted by synnottpaul

It’s very hard to find a vet who can deal with reptiles here over here.
We’ll do our best to find one, and I’ll try get pics soon.

thanks

I would ask the petstores what vet "cares" for there stock. They may be able to point you in the dirrection of one.

[Adrya]

Like said before, soak the ball for an hour to 2 hours in tepid water and that will not only help get the ball to deficate, but it will help hydrate the little guy as well.

Keep him plenty warm and humid in whatever enclosure you have him in now, just make sure it's not dripping wet with water.

If your snake doesn't poop, you may also try giving him a few drops of mineral oil to get him going.

Let us know what happens with him.

[synnottpaul]

we soaked the ball python. still no sign of Defecation.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by snakesteve

this is just a thought but like im from ireland. and like we might have snakes that have came from the same breeder or source of some kind. wouldnt it be cool to know where the #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& our snakes came from? just a thought

As far as I know most of the ball pythons in Ireland come from monkfield nutrition in England.
or from the north of Ireland.

[Adrya]

Originally Posted by synnottpaul

we soaked the ball python. still no sign of Defecation.

You might want to try soaking the ball python again for a couple more hours.

If still no sign of defication, try the few drops of mineral oil like I suggested and wait a few days or so.

And still if that doesn't work.... you may have to gently push out the hard urates (which is most likely what it is), just gently "roll" it along with your thumb or whatever digit works for you, and it will come out, it may seem impossible but it'll come popping out of there... Make sure you do it over a sink or something. I've had to do that with one of my ball pythons when it had an infection. She was really bloated and constipated, but after different thing