Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[cackle]

I have kind of rescued a royal python from a pet shop. The snake is apparently around 2 years of age. The pet shop told me they sold it to the person who bought it back to the shop. The snake was returned due to the old owners no longer being able to look after it. The snake is 36inch long and weighs only 300g (Very very underweight)
I have managed over the weeks to feed her a small mouse every three days (following vets instruction) and she is gaining weight. It took an hour of patient the first feed, but now strike feeding within 10 mins.

There are two sores on the snake. One towards the tail and one in the middle of the body. I have taken the snake to the vets who agreed with me that they look like old burns but because there was no infection and they were dry scabbed wounds told me no creams were necessary (I asked about flameze). My query is every time the snake coils round the scabs crack and they are looking very sore. There is no sign of swelling, and bathing does ease her but is there any creams I could use that would help. A friend suggested savalon where as someone else suggested Vaseline to keep it soft. At present I have used nothing but bathing to help with a bad shed she had. It does seem to be sore to her as if you touch her tail she shoots away. But she is also a little wild at the moment and I believe she hasn't been handled in a long time.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[mark]

any chance of taking pictures of the scabs ? also pete (goldenburm) is a good man to ask about this as he rescued a very badly burnt royal and nursed it back to a1 condition
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boas and burms

[goldenburm]

aloe vera gel

I had a royal in at the beginning of the year where its skin was literally falling off and I just kept it clean and dry and used chlorexhidine solution on the sores and open wounds and within 2 sheds most had cleared up. U need to keep the substrate dry and clean so on paper prefereably white paper , go to chippy and ask for some of the paper they wrap the chips up in! Small water bowl to stop soaking, but a humid hide be it moss, damp tissue paper etc. Mine shedded twice in a month and the difference was amazing!

check here

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1797&highlight=burnt+royal

then here

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2332&highlight=burnt+royal

now here

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3016&highlight=burnt+royal

again

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3361&highlight=burnt+royal

lastly

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3880&highlight=burnt+royal
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1.0 striped supersalmon DEAD
0.1 salmon poss TH moonglow DEAD
0.1 Orangasm DH ghost DEAD
1.0 pastel motley DEAD
2.0 sunglows 1.0 LIVING
1.1 pastel het snow 0.1 LIVING
2.2 albino boas DEAD
0.2 albino ara's DEAD
0.4 boa constrictors 0.2 LIVING

[cackle]

ok will try, If im not heard from within the next week send out search party as comp as beaten me (I'm not computer friendly)

[Dan]

Couple of points

Firstly, any healthy snake will jump if you touch its tail so nothing to worry yourself about there

Secondly, me personally i would go along with that feeding regime to a point. Little (prey size) and often is great for adding weight at a fast rate. However i would NOT recomend this over a prolonged period, it causes un-needed stress to many internal organs. I would either :
Feed every 3 days for 15 days and then stop for 7 then follow the same routine until you are happy with the weight.
OR
Feed once 7-10 days but give 2 or 3 items per sitting. This can involve waiting for the first item to be almost gone (just tail left) then placing the second in the mouth when it stretches and the same for the third.
These systems allow the digestive system to act normally, reducing the physical stress and just as importantly energy is not wasted keeping the organs running at 100% constantly, something you don't need when being underweight is not your only concern.

I would suggest that putting ANYTHING on the wounds is a bad idea. Keep the viv clean and if they start to look a little more pink than normal then add a touch of betadine (or something similar) to kill off any nasties but not so as the area is dripping. Keeping the scab damp will stop it cracking, yes, however it will significantly prolongue the healing process.
You want these to heal as quickly as possible and the best way to do that is let the snake heal itself, they are a LOT more resilient than people give them credit for. There ability to regenerate damaged areas is significantly more powerfull than ours, let the little love do her thing, just make sure she has plenty of food so he has the strength to do it properly.



She'll be fit and healthy before you know it
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TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!

[cackle]

Thanks for the good advice folks.

Here are some photo's, any further advice would be very welcome.

[Pendlehog]

Ouch poor thing, glad you're taking care of it now

I would go along with the aloe vera suggestion, having the sore
continually crack open will not encourage it to heal effectively. It certainly didn't do Goldenburm's royal harm.

With a bit of luck, providing it is kept clean the next few sheds should show a very marked improvement, as Dan says snakes are pretty tough all told.
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-Hannah-

[cackle]

Thank you again for all your help, He/she (Not sexed her yet, but kind of named her polly python) has already shown a great difference in just a few weeks. When we first had her she was so thin and lifeless, if you put her down she just did not move, no tongue licking or anything. We have only handled her as much as needed to bath old shed, her eye cap came of three days ago and she is starting to really move around her viv. tongue now going mad smelling around which is always a good sign. She has already bitten Darren, but in her defense it was feeding time and I don't think she could see properly at the time as she strikes three or four times before she actually gets her prey. She is now hissing at us when we open the viv door but we are very patient with her and she has all the time in the world to get to know us. (Ahhhhhh)

I have actually taken her moss box out a few days ago as most of her old skin is now off (just a little left on tip of nose) But I will now put it back in. We are going to visit our local Chippie today, thanks for the tip. And taking your feeding advise we are now going to change her over to every 7 days as she has taken 5 feeds at three day intervals. Thanks again everyone and I will keep you posted.

[cackle]

Hi update on my poorly snake.

I have now found a mite on her so any suggestions on best way of treating that along side her other problems.

[Stuart]

some good info on mites on this thread.. http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4033
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