Well just got my first BP....

[Smtie]

.....and I'm pretty excited about it. Always been a boa guy but this little guy grew on me within seconds.
Got him from a freind of the family who had to get rid of his reptiles, have to say the husbandry wasnt great at all. Looked to be about 8-12 months worth of poo and shed in the substrate! He also had a solid (except for eye caps) retained shed, with some pieces looking like they were from the shed before. I soaked him for about 45 minutes then placed him in a rubbermaid with moist paper towel....then started a'peelin! got almost 100% of it off. Anyway enough rambling, heres some pics i took after gettin off the old shed. Now i just gotta get this fella plumped up and hydrated!
Meet Therion!

It looks like he has a bite mark on his mouth? or an abration of some kind. Any tips on what to use to keep it clean would be much appreciated!



Darn cute face thats for sure! With those buggy eyes!

You can tell hes on the skinny side and alittle dehydrated in this picture.

Overall I love his pattern and am very glad to have him as part of my collection! Not sure on the sex, but judging by the huge spurs hes got going on, I'm gonna go ahead and assume hes a male.
Thanks for looking. Any tips advice would be greatly appreciated.
Matt

[fuglyfarmhand]

Cute lil b.p.

[Icicle]

Stunning.

Trying to sex be the size of the spurs is not 100% right.
To me looking at the tail being long as it is might be a male.
Go and get it probed if you want 100% proof.

	Spurs A pair of claws on each side of the cloaca which assist in mating. A spur is much more defined on a male

[Xeikeness]

I finished teaching my vet tech friend last night how to sex a snake. Two females that have given me eggs last year had HUGE!!! spurs. One male had average spurs, the other male had teeny tiny little spurs you couldn't even really see.

Spurs tell you absolutely nothing. Tail length might, but not always. Get it probed, that should help.

For the cut on his lip, plain neosporin WITHOUT pain relief... dabbed on once a day or so should help. If it's open, you can use a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.

Make sure as you're plumping him up, not to feed too large of food items. Gradually work him up. Start small just in case his body isn't used to eating. Keep clean water available to him, of course. That's a no-brainer.

Anything else, just give me a shout and I'll be glad to help you out as much as I can.

Also - if he was in filthy conditions like that, keep a close eye on him for any signs of respiratory infection or staph infection. Those two are pretty common in animals kept in filthy conditions.

Good luck with your new baby, he's beautiful and looks a lot like my very first 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.

	Spurs A pair of claws on each side of the cloaca which assist in mating. A spur is much more defined on a male

[Sakara]

He's adorable! I'm sure u will have him back to 100% in no time

[Smtie]

Thanks for the quick replys guys. The sex doesnt really matter to me at this point, was just taking a guess for name purposes only. As far as plumping her back up i have some f/t weaned rats that i use for my yearling BCI that should suit her fine. I'd say the widest part of her body is closer to a small/medium rat so the weaned should be a easy meal. I'm assuming this guy fed live and most likely mice so hopefully the switch isnt to hard.

I'll have to go pick up some neosporin that doesnt have pain releif, all mine does and I know that can be very toxic for reptiles. I've also had a boa get a RI on me before unfortunately, so I know what symptoms to look out for. As far as the staph infection I'm gonna have to do some research.

Just found a great herp vet close to my house, so she'll be going in for a check up her pretty soon.

Favorite part about her so far is her eyes. THAT used to be the reason i didnt care for b.p.'s, but up close they are adorable!

Thanks all,

Matt

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

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

	Respiratory Infection Respiratory Infection

[Smtie]

Well today was feeding day so I figured why not offer him a weaned rat. Sure enough, he took it! Even after all that bathing and me peeling his old shed off! He musta just been THAT hungry i guess.

1 quick question though. He struck about 3 time before actually tagging the rat, is this common with b.p.'s? I'm thinking mabey i didnt get the rat warm enough, but seemed strange. Almost like he couldnt see it.

Anyways, I'm happy he got some food in him! Even though he ate it backwards haha.

Take it easy,

Matt

[snakemann6]

nice BP you have there...I pretty much had the smae thing going on with N'ko.

	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.

[BlackLava]

he was prob just startled when you first offered it, ive woken up a few of my snakes for feeding, they didnt appreciate their rat at first, but then, like a switch, i could just see them go into feeding mode then eat their food LOL.

[Smtie]

I was thinking the same thing but it really seems like he cant see very well. His eyes look clear as can be so i dont THINK there is any stuck shed on there.

He went into strike position, then shot the first one off far left and hit the cage hard, then went wide right then left and finally got it. Everytime going way to far and hitting the front of his tub. I'm just gonna chalk it up to being out of practice for now i guess, haha!

I know he can see somewhat because hes still in feed mode and when i walk by the cage he looks like hes gonna shoot. Funny little dude. Gonna feed once a week till he gets some wieght on him.


Take care guys,

Matt

[Alex]

Aww! He's a cutie! The feeding thing sounds just like my ball . Unless I dangle the rat DIRECTLY in front of his mouth, he misses. Some snakes are just "special", I guess. Anyway, good luck with him!

[BlackLava]

yea one of my balls is "special" too, he strikes but doesnt always get it LOL. even if his eyes look ok on the outside, who knows what could be wrong on the inside. id be happy as long as he continues to eat and get better

[Smtie]

Haha yeah for sure. Was just curious about it. I've never been so happy to see one of my animals eat lol! REALLY didnt expect him to slam f/t first try, specially first day w/me!

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

[BlackLava]

haha, getting really happy whenever you balls DO eat is a normal thing for bp keepers i have a stubborn one that eats like once a month at the most he never looses weight and he does great other than the feeding thing, but he sure aint a good eater

	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.

[Smtie]

Well since I've had Therion he has shed 3 times for me......and this was the first perfect one! The others started off horrible (only about 50% comming off) and continually improved until finally yesterday. So stoked for this guy, eating large rats every 7-10 days with no hesistation. Took him out for a few pics, finally starting to get the bp look to him I think he still could use more weight, not sure though. Let me know whatcha think, I know a slim boa is healthy but i think bps are supposed to be pretty thick looking. I'll weigh and measure him tomorow (day before feeding) to help you guys get an idea of size and weight. Oh yeah, his eyes look much more clear than before, I think it was possible that he did still have some retained eye caps.
ANYWAY, few pics in the grass....







I think hes making a good improvement, be just about 3 months now.
Take it easy,
Matt

	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.

[Icicle]

Stunning

[Oroborous]

Man, he is looking great! Big improvement! Good work, I am glad he's in a caring home now.

[Vypyrz]

Nice looking BP. Bp's have really poor eyesight. They can see motion more than a stationary object, which is why they will jump if you sit still in the room and suddenly move. One reason they can miss the strike, especially with F/T and P/K is because they are having problems detecting the heat signature. They can smell it but they can't "see" it. Reasons for this 1) if you stand too close to the enclosure when offering the prey, they are picking up your heat signature instead. 2) if your snake is on the cool side, the snake may not be able to detect the rodent because of the heat signature coming from the warm side. What I do is I use 24" feed tongs so I can stand back from the enclosure and after I thaw the prey, I grab it with the tongs and use a blow dryer to heat it up one last time. Plus, using the blowdryer blows the scent into the enclosure and usually within a few seconds a little BP head will be coming out of the hide with the tongue flicking. That's when I will offer the prey and usually I will get a strike. If not, then I will just lay it in the enclosure and then they will eat it... Hope this helps...



Rob

	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.

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

[Smtie]

Thanks for the tip Rob That makes alot of sense now that i think about it. I was standing right behind the rat lol.

[Vypyrz]

I always like those "snake in the grass" pics. I wish I had nice grass to do some of those. Good Job...


Rob