Diamond Python Medical Assistance

[Pauls_Pythons]

I got some yearlings for sale here that have more body mass than this 4 or 5 year old!

 

[saikrett]

Would be good to see some photos of the inside of the enclosure,

 

[alexbee]

It makes me so angry that people are allowed to have these animals and do no research/have no education about them.. unfair to the animals. reptile licenses need to become harder to get

 

[Starlord]

"Unfair to the animals"
What, like those rodents that you feed your fellow reptilians?

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Of course change the subject once your arrogance completely overtook you.

 

[cement]

I've seen injuries just like this on a few different species of snake but they were all wild.
In these cases, they've been run over....
Can't help but wonder how someone can have a snake for "maybe 4 years" and not know what to feed it, or how it just suddenly over night de-gloves itself in an enclosure specifically designed and sold commercially for keeping snakes.
Maybe it's not such a strange situation at all.
My advice is that to care for this animal you need,... a hospital tub, to keep it dry and clean which means cleaning its tub every morning and night and as soon as it urinates or defacates. Wether it lives or dies is going to depend on many things but it is in bad shape to begin with so it is behind from the start.
It may be best to euthanase this animal. Or pass it onto someone who knows how, and has the time to properly care for it.

 

[oystapog]

Does he have mites? I have seen this once before about 6 years ago.

 

[JungleBoots]

"Unfair to the animals"
What, like those rodents that you feed your fellow reptilians?

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Of course change the subject once your arrogance completely overtook you.

Instead of firing back with an immature response, how about posting photos of your enclosure as requested multiple times by people trying to help you and this poor animal. And also try responding to the various other issues raised in regards to feeding and such.

 

[radioinvader]

"Unfair to the animals"
What, like those rodents that you feed your fellow reptilians?

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Of course change the subject once your arrogance completely overtook you.

So you're called out on pretty much abusing a snake, as evidenced by how malnourished/underfed it is, and refuse to show pictures of the enclosure like asked, and this is what you respond with. A+. I hope if that snake survives it finds a new home, or you learn how to properly care for your pets.

 

[Wokka]

Perhaps it squeezed between two sliding doors on the cage, particularly if the edge of the doors were not rounded.it does look thin!
Maybe change cages to a clean tub. Only use paper as substrate, avoid moisture including betadine unless infection is obvious, keep temperature in the higher range- say 30C for a diamond. Dont feed until healed.

 

[pythoninfinite]

"Unfair to the animals"
What, like those rodents that you feed your fellow reptilians?

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Of course change the subject once your arrogance completely overtook you.

You've not responded to the suggestions re: food size - you don't have to of course, but it would be nice if you acknowledged the advice offered here. From what I can see, however, it's hard not come to the conclusion that the animal has been almost starved to death prior to suffering that life-threatening injury. Going on the offensive helps neither you nor your very sick snake.

Jamie

 

[alexbee]

"Unfair to the animals"
What, like those rodents that you feed your fellow reptilians?

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Of course change the subject once your arrogance completely overtook you.

Yes its unfair that a snake has been under fed for 4+ years, how would you feel starving all the time? There is a slight difference between humanly killed rats and slowly starving a snake. I also think you know exactly how your snake got those injuries but you just dont want to say. how is it possible that this animal was so badly injured and there isnt a single thing in the enclosure that could of caused it.

instead of being so defensive about everything take what people are saying on board and if this poor snake survives maybe you can improve its quality of life.
Alex.

 

[mikey_mike]

Couldn't nutritional deficiency have contributed to the severity of these injuries? If so then healing may require some nutrition & it might be a good idea for starlord to have a chat with a reptile vet about the possibility of a small feed at some stage prior to resolution. Alternatively consider a frank discussion with a vet about whether euthanasia is warranted.

I totally get the consensus view that feeding an injured snack would be harmful, but this seems like an unusual situation.

Starlord in the interest of us all learning from this it would be helpful if you could post photos of the enclosure & some more details about feeding schedule. Love to hear what your vet has to say about it all. Good luck.

 

[Nailsinside]

Wow, what a horrid situation to be in. Stanlord, you really need to post pictures of the enclosure. As stated by others we could all learn a lot about the situation. The issue has definitely arose from its environment, whether a combination of factors or just one in particular.

 

[chilli-mudcrab]

4years old hopper once a month!! ***!!

 

[ronhalling]

@Pauls_Pythons I don't know what you by more to this story has yet to come out, it's happened over night while I've been asleep and noticed the morning after. about the bactroban, I read about it before hand (here's the link http://www.timsreptiles.co.za/reptile-keeping-advise/reptile-health-care) and from my own observations with it in past and it was quite effective.

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@pythoninfinite Actually he is 1.5 meters, and my mistake; i think he's closer to 4 years old. I've been feeding him hoppers every 3 weeks.

It's very strange, and even can only conceive a few scenarios that could've happened, but do have any tips on setting up an enclosure in safest way possible? just so this never happens again.
Thanks again.

You ask for tips on how to set up your enclosure in the safest way possible, How can we do that if we have nothing to work with, not only won't you supply pics of your enclosure you have not even given us it's dimensions

How about we start from the beginning with you asking for our advice and supplying us with pics of the snake, pics of the enclosure from a few different angles and giving us the dimensions of the enclosure, it's not rocket science and i am sure there will be many contributors willing to give you good advice with this extra info. ..................Ron

 

[AdhamhRuadh]

I agree with what you (and others) have said ronhalling, but just wanted to mention that he gave the enclosure type and dimensions earlier in the thread (1200mm H x 600mm W x 900mm). Certainly didn't give any real information that could be of use to any of us, though.

Adam

 

[Starlord]

Couldn't nutritional deficiency have contributed to the severity of these injuries? If so then healing may require some nutrition & it might be a good idea for starlord to have a chat with a reptile vet about the possibility of a small feed at some stage prior to resolution. Alternatively consider a frank discussion with a vet about whether euthanasia is warranted.

I totally get the consensus view that feeding an injured snack would be harmful, but this seems like an unusual situation.

Starlord in the interest of us all learning from this it would be helpful if you could post photos of the enclosure & some more details about feeding schedule. Love to hear what your vet has to say about it all. Good luck.

Wow, an actually constructive reply. I completely agree with your comment on how nutritional deficiency could've played a part, the nearest reptile vet is 2 hours away from me. but the vet i went to were talking to a herpetologist and they sent photographs over and they said that injuries such as these are quite common.

About the feeding situation, I've already fed him a pinkie rat.
1. Because i had some left over
and 2. Because i figured it'd be good size as it wouldn't stretch him and his wounds out too much

The feeding schedule is simple 1 hopper every 3 weeks, i'm assuming that's going to change when/if he recovers after hearing the patronizing remarks about feeding from this thread.

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[MENTION=36030]ronhalling[/MENTION] Thanks for the reply.
As I've said in previous replies the enclosure is this model http://reptileone.com.au/products/housing/46161ah the ONLY DIFFERENCE are the dimensions (1200mm H x 600mm W x 900mm L)
I guess i could take some pictures when i get some spare time, is there any specific areas or objects that i should focusing the pictures on?

 

[ronhalling]

@Starlord, just pics giving us a general overview of the habitat will be fine, like 1 from the front as close as you can without it being so close it becomes blurry, 1 from the bottom looking up from outside the habitat and 1 from each side looking the opposite direction i.e. from the right looking to the left etc. Obviously something in the habitat has caused those injury's and good clear pics might help those experienced of us to see what, no one here is trying to vilify you, only pointing out things that really need attention, no one has really laid blame on you purse' for you snakes lack of condition but it would help if you could tell us how whoever you bought it from has explained the feeding regime you should follow, it is as you would have to agree very thin for it's length and age and if you have been following bad advice it could explain a few things. No one here at APS is going to crucify you if you are honest in your writings. .................Ron

 

[pythoninfinite]

Sorry Ron, but I'm going to unleash a bit here. It's actually hard to be diplomatic at this point, where there is such a massive display of total ignorance of the needs of an animal in your long-term care, but ONE HOPPER EVERY THREE WEEKS! Seriously? For a 4 year old Carpet Python? The animal is desperately undernourished - if you were caught with horses or dogs as emaciated as that, you be charged with serious neglect of the animals. Clearly it has had a tortured life in your "care." Your extremely offensive comment re: patronising remarks (by people who know far more than you and who were only trying to offer assistance to this poor blighted creature) about feeding is way off the mark - you are rightly accused of serious neglect and extreme ignorance regarding the needs of this animal, obviously throughout its life. A MEDIUM to LARGE RAT fortnightly would be appropriate for an animal such as this. How could you not see the debilitated condition of your pet as a result of slow starvation over all that time? You're only "assuming" your feeding regime is going to change when, and if, the animal survives?

Believe me that catastrophic injuries such as this ARE NOT "quite common" in the captive snake population. I've been keeping snakes for well over 50 years and I've NEVER seen a captive animal with such severe damage. I've seen a number of carcasses and dying animals with similar injuries on roads after encounters with cars, but never from damage in an enclosure. It beggars belief that you don't know what caused it, unless as a result of starvation the animal just went into a biting frenzy and did the damage to itself - it's about the only scenario I can imaging where an injury like this could happen, unless you had the enclosure lined with razor blades.

There seems to be a lot that doesn't add up here...

Jamie

 

[BredliFreak]

Something doesn't add up about this injury. I could think of possibilities, but a good idea of what furnishings you have in your tank could help. It could have to do with feeding as Jamie said, but again this is kind of mysterious how this injury happened. Trust me on this, these injuries are certainly not common. I hope your snake surrvives Starlord, and that you take into account what members have said.