ameliasark
Not so new Member
G'day everyone,
a couple of years back I was given a hatchling spotted python, I spent a couple months working to get some size on him and establish a good feed response and from all I saw in that time he was perfectly happy and healthy: eat, **** and shed fine so I was comfortable passing him onto a friend who wanted her first snake.
I trust this friend and set her up with a decent enclosure, she did her research and all seemed well. Every now and then she'd contact me and say he either wasn't eating, having issues shedding, wasn't growing, etc. I gave her pretty basic advice (soaking, trying different food items, even came over and helped her brain some mice early on and he didn't look bad at all, if not slightly small for his size).
Anyway, she's moving to tassie this year so I offered to take him back... I was shocked when she dropped him off:
- he is obviously severely underweight if not starving, spine protruding very noticeably
- She mentioned a small cut behind his neck before bringing him over which i cant even see due to the crappy shed he's currently going through
- his head to me looks deformed in some way, when i had him at 2-3ish months old he had a classic anteresia face, I've gone back to look at old photos and his head shape has 100% changed, looks significantly more sloped as though it's been condensed, his top jaw is protruding slightly and his eyes seem to be bulging.
- she showed me his two most recent sheds and the oldest one from about 2 months ago is significantly larger than the most recent from 2 weeks ago, he has lost an insane amount of weight over that time (obviously he's still going as he is in shed again now).
probably the weirdest thing is that when she cleaned his tank before bringing him to me she found dried-up mice throughout the substrate, to me this is concerning because she obviously did not keep on top of cleaning (no idea how she didn't smell them in there) and while she seemed to have been doing everything right at the time there may be aspects of his care in her time I am not aware of.
Obviously, this explains how he was 'eating' for her but still losing weight - he has a good food response but after holding onto the mouse for a bit will go and bury it somewhere in the tank. I've never seen this before its so bizarre, im thinking there may be something making it impossible/painful for him to eat, which may be linked to the odd face shape (something like a badly healed broken jaw?).
As soon as I saw him I set him up in a quarantine tank and called the vet, we're scheduled for Friday but i don't have any reptile specialists I trust in my area so am coming to the community as well to hopefully gain some insight from those with more experience.
I've attached some photos to show what kind of shape he is in, I'm concerned that if he doesn't get back on track soon he doesn't have much time left in his current condition.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/info
a couple of years back I was given a hatchling spotted python, I spent a couple months working to get some size on him and establish a good feed response and from all I saw in that time he was perfectly happy and healthy: eat, **** and shed fine so I was comfortable passing him onto a friend who wanted her first snake.
I trust this friend and set her up with a decent enclosure, she did her research and all seemed well. Every now and then she'd contact me and say he either wasn't eating, having issues shedding, wasn't growing, etc. I gave her pretty basic advice (soaking, trying different food items, even came over and helped her brain some mice early on and he didn't look bad at all, if not slightly small for his size).
Anyway, she's moving to tassie this year so I offered to take him back... I was shocked when she dropped him off:
- he is obviously severely underweight if not starving, spine protruding very noticeably
- She mentioned a small cut behind his neck before bringing him over which i cant even see due to the crappy shed he's currently going through
- his head to me looks deformed in some way, when i had him at 2-3ish months old he had a classic anteresia face, I've gone back to look at old photos and his head shape has 100% changed, looks significantly more sloped as though it's been condensed, his top jaw is protruding slightly and his eyes seem to be bulging.
- she showed me his two most recent sheds and the oldest one from about 2 months ago is significantly larger than the most recent from 2 weeks ago, he has lost an insane amount of weight over that time (obviously he's still going as he is in shed again now).
probably the weirdest thing is that when she cleaned his tank before bringing him to me she found dried-up mice throughout the substrate, to me this is concerning because she obviously did not keep on top of cleaning (no idea how she didn't smell them in there) and while she seemed to have been doing everything right at the time there may be aspects of his care in her time I am not aware of.
Obviously, this explains how he was 'eating' for her but still losing weight - he has a good food response but after holding onto the mouse for a bit will go and bury it somewhere in the tank. I've never seen this before its so bizarre, im thinking there may be something making it impossible/painful for him to eat, which may be linked to the odd face shape (something like a badly healed broken jaw?).
As soon as I saw him I set him up in a quarantine tank and called the vet, we're scheduled for Friday but i don't have any reptile specialists I trust in my area so am coming to the community as well to hopefully gain some insight from those with more experience.
I've attached some photos to show what kind of shape he is in, I'm concerned that if he doesn't get back on track soon he doesn't have much time left in his current condition.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/info
