Sam got a snake! o.O

[_Sam_]

Okay… I got my BP today, and I figured it’d be a good time to share his story. (yeah yeah, you can scroll down and skip to the pictures if you want to, you picture-fiends!)

I was at work a few months ago, and this guy walks in with a ten gallon tank and a critter keeper. In the ten-gal was a BP, in the critter keeper was a fairly large rat. He handed them over because he was “no longer able to care for the snake” (seems to be a common theme here in MI- we get animals handed over to us on a daily basis). Anyway, he turned away and left. I didn’t realize how bad a condition the snake was in until I took a closer look. In the ten-gal there was that care fresh hamster bedding stuff, and at least a few inches of rat poop. Yeah, there was more rat poop in there than bedding. It was obvious that he fed live and left the rat in there with the snake for long periods of time. There was also no water bowl or hide cave or anything. The cage was absolutely disgusting, caked with crud. You know how if you go to someone’s house who’s a REALLY heavy smoker, their walls are actually tinted with a dingy yellow crud? It was kinda like that. Absolutely disgusting. So I took the snake out for a better look and he had stuck shed everywhere. So, after 3 hours and 2 soaks later, I had finally got all the shed off him.. Only to realize he had dozens of scars all down his body and a few really bad scars on the top of his head. These were all obviously rodent bites. It was becoming more and more apparent that this snake had never been fed anything but live his whole life - ick!
So, I got him cleaned up and set up in a proper tank and gave him a few days to adjust before I fed him. (oh, the rat that came in with him was more than 4x his girth- I really hope the guy wasn’t offering that rat to this snake- no wonder he wasn’t eating and was being attacked). At this point, I just wanted him to EAT and I wanted him to eat a proper-sized prey item. So, knowing that BPs are usually picky when switching to f/t, I gave him a live large mouse just so he could get something in his system. I know, that was a bad idea, but I wasn’t thinking straight at the time. Anyway, I held the mouse in my hand (again- stupid, but I’d rather get bit than let that snake get bit more) so that he got the mouse right on the head (not giving the mouse any chance to bite him). He took the mouse easy and that was that. So a week later, I wanted to try him on f/t, just because I really hoped he would take it. I knew it was a long shot since he’d only ever eaten live, but I tried anyway. A friend had stopped in to say hi while I was working, so she was watching me try to feed him. I thawed out a mouse, dried it off with paper towel, put it in front of his face and *bam* he took it! No hesitation whatsoever, he just took it! I was so excited that I was literally jumping up and down. This snake was so obviously traumatized from being attacked and such, that I just wanted to make sure he never had to deal with that again. So, the next week, I tried a VERY small f/t rat- probably the size of a weaned rat I guess. Again, he took it with no issue. Since then, he’s had no issues eating. Eats every week with no problem, sheds with absolutely no issues. He has shed a few times since we’ve had him and every time his scars are less and less visible. So, his first feeding with me was a regular size mouse…..now he’s eating LARGE small rats. He even took a really small medium this week. He’s growing like a weed and shedding like crazy. Most of his scars are gone, but the few bad ones on his head are still there- I don’t think they’ll ever go away.
Anyway.. As most of you know, I still live at home and my mother is 100% against snakes. I’ve spent a REALLY long time trying to convince her to let me get one and it’s been a solid “NO” every time. But this snake was such a special case and I’ve grown so attached to him after essentially making sure he survived and got healthy again, that I knew I needed to take the begging up a notch. So, in the end, I got her to agree to it. In her words- not mine- she has NOT lifted her ban on snakes in the house, rather she has made an exception for THIS particular snake, lol. So, no boas for now, and I’m okay with that. I finally have my snake. He's imperfect, but healthy, and I couldn’t be happier.

I don’t have a ton of pics right now, but here he is. For now his name is Edwin, but I may end up changing it:












[[before his most recent shed, you can see some of the small scars left]]

Yesterday & today:





scar on his head...









and finaly, me with my new little buddy




thanks for looking, and reading!
[all the pics were with my camera phone, so they're nothing special, I know. we're gonna do some outdoor shots with the good camera sometime this week]

[Icicle]

How Sweet, Give your mom a big hug for me, for letting you have it.

Cute bp.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[luker3232]

Its great to finaly see this guy!
CONGRATS!!!

[louise]

thanks for taking him in and giving him a nice new home with a mommy who cares. he is adorable. BPs are such adorable snakes.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[_Sam_]

thanks guys

it got to the point where I was letting him chill on my wrist or neck almost all day at work, so I knew i NEEDED to have him :P

[BlackLava]

awww, how cute he is!! poor thing, look at those big scars on his head, but at least hes eating f/t with no probs, great job with him!!

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