rescued Bredli

[Chris1]

the sooner the better for getting it off, even if some comes off so it breaks the tight band around him would be better than nothing at all, and then hopefully he'll get it all off next time he sheds.

if u put him in a click clack with water on the heat mat it shouldnt be too stressful for him.

the rough log will work better fro him after a good soaking too,....

 

[ShepQLD]

Ive soaked her for 15 minutes and then let her/him slide over some paper towel to dry her off a bit before I put her back in her click clack. it did actually look like it loosened it a little but it hasnt come off. Im getting quite concerned because its moving in jerky movements alot of the time, not smooth movements, almost like it has hardly any strength to hold itself up. I think Ive pretty much done all I can for tonight though, Ive bumped the heat mat up a bit more (the temp is dropping as the night time cool sets in)
now that its back in its click clack its moving around alot again so hopefully the rough log will finish off the job that soaking it has hopefully started. fingers crossed! if not I might track down a reptile vet on the coast and get it checked out tomorrow just to be safe.

 

[ShepQLD]

ok update.
the bit that I was most concerned about has come off a little bit (about 5mm) but the buldge is still there as if the skin was still there if that makes sense. Im guessing that it might just return to normal slowly. I wish I knew how long the poor thing had been like this. The good news is that the snake seems intent on getting it off as well, he's going back and forth constantly over the log and has managed to tear the underneath of the retained skin a fair bit in half an hour. the top is still pretty much the same (other then the 5mm) but at least it will be releaving the pressure with the underside tearing a little. Im happy with the little bit of progress and will keep an eye on the buldge, if its still there in the morning I will still take him to the vet. (can anyone reccomend a good reptile vet on the gold coast?) if the buldge is gone I will soak him again in the morning.
thanks for all your help guys, he's become a bit of a community project!

 

[Darlyn]

Good luck mate!

 

[pythonmum]

Sounds like he's working with you now that he has the warmth to do so. I hope all keeps going in the same direction.

 

[shellfisch]

(can anyone reccomend a good reptile vet on the gold coast?)

I got this vets name from the Wiki Directory on here - not sure if there are any others on the Gold Coast.

Peter D Wilson
Currumbin Valley Veterinary Services
1596 Currumbin Creek Road
Currumbin Valley, QLD 4223
Tel: 07 5533 0381

 

[Chris1]

soak him daily or twice daily, and when hes finished soaking rub a bit of paw paw ointment on ur hands and let him slide thru, ive read that sorbolene cream (unscented ofcourse) works too,...then let him keep working on getting it off,...(or rub gently urself)

but ur right, as long as the band isnt constricting him it should be ok till next time he sheds,..

 

[zuesowns]

Hey mate, good news. Just im a quick tip - a user posted about bumping up humidity - this will help him with his shed, because it would losen up and be a lot easier to get off, you said he was trying to get it off to, it may come off by him doing it. you can put a extra water bowl in the hot end to bump the humidity up for a few days, and soak it again and dab it/wipe it with a damp cloth and it should come off. just a quick note - he is probably so calm with you because it's cold lol as soon as it's back to normal it won't be long till he tags ya out of love haha.

and another thing in my opinion - if you use boiling water out of the kettle, be careful not to cook the rodent and it could split, I use hot tape water and let it sit for 10-15mins and it full thaws out and still is offered hot. don't worry about boil water because when they are frozen the bacteria/parasites get killed anyway. I myself personally don't bother with a feeding tub because I don't believe it makes a difference to the snake and I don't like to handle my python after a feed at all. if you think about it this way, you want to feed it in another tub so each time you go to get out the python it doesn't think you are food right? but what about when you grab the python out then feed - wouldn't each time you grab him out he thinks it's feed? i donno if i'm making sense but i'm half asleep lol. either way I don't believe it makes a difference

 

[ShepQLD]

lol yep that makes alot of sense actually Zuesown, it has crossed my mind but then I figured so many people had said it that it MUST be true LOL. I am quickly learning that this is not the case, when I first looked into getting a diamond alot of people said they couldnt be kept in QLD and I KNOW thats rubbish now LOL.
the one thing that does concern me with feeding in thier click clacks though is the substrate, Im pretty anal about the substrate anyway to be honest, I use the Aspen snake bedding but Im aware that if it gets damp it can encourage mites, so I change it pretty frequently... Ive looked at the recycled newspaper option (I used to use breeders choice for years with rats and mice but I actually had a rat die getting a bit of it caught between its two front teeth) and Ive heard that if a snake ingests it then it could kill them. (Ive seen how much they swell just if you spill water on them)
and yes I know... newspaper is the safest option but I dont like the thought of the newsprint rubbing all over the snake and Im a little aesthictically orientated lol. I like it all looking nice.
the point I was getting to somewhere in all that was that when I feed them in a seperate tub there is no substrate just a little bit of paper towel, but if I fed them in thier own click clacks wouldnt they manage to get substrate all over the food? I know in the wild they would get dirt and rubbish on thier food anyway.... but well it cant be healthy for them to eat the substrate?
Im just getting a tub ready to bath the poor little guy again, he will be getting bathed in 30 degree water for half an hour three times every day for a few days. What I realised last night is that ontop of everything else he is dehydrated. So the water should help with that aswell as getting the skin off. It seems I have a friend who rescued a snake in a similair condition awhile ago and this process worked well. Im desperate to get some weight on the little guy aswell looking at some photo's a member posted last night of another Bredli the same age I was horrified and can see now why there were comments about him looking so bad. I hadnt seen what he SHOULD look like to compare with. now that I have I am even more dedicated to helping him recover!!
by the way I have named him... ready? lol... his name is Paschar (Im a wee bit of a new age freak) it is the name of the Angel of Vision - and its meaning is 'disolves the illusion so that we may see the truth and projects gods highest visions for us into our consciousness'

 

[ShepQLD]

oh and shellfisch - Thank you very much for that, I will write that name down in my records book!
and Chris - Im off to get some baby sorbalene cream as soon as he has had his first bath for the day! Thank you

 

[zuesowns]

I only use news paper as my substrate, however - remembering pythons stomach acid can devolve bone - I don't think it would hurt to much. good idea with the soaks. be sure to put a perch in the bredli enclosure - they love to climb and go with height rather than length, you won't regret it. you will find bredli will feed on it's perch - mine has never feed off the ground, only my stimmie. so there won't be an issue with getting substrate on your bredli's food item because he will be up high! lol

 

[pythrulz]

well done shepqld yes just go buy a $2 spray bottle lighty spray with water once a day will help with the shed your little bredli can have a good life now

 

[ShepQLD]

wish I had my real camera, but I managed to snap one on my phone of the lump that Im a bit concerned about, anyone seen anything like it before? as you can see the shed is coming off little by little every bath time but that little lump looks rather like a blister, it is at the spot where the skin was the tightest around him, even though the skin is coming off the lump hasnt gone down at all.
(also snapped a wee picture of him having his bath in the sun.... he seemed rather keen on getting into the budgie cage! I admit I was trying to get him a little motivated to be hungry but Im not going to offer him any food until the skin is off him. I figure if he has been used to have his jaw forced open to eat he is probably terrified of food so a little stirring to kick his prey drive into action cant hurt, hopefully by the time I offer him food he will be so into eating that he will hammer it without thinking!)

 

[zuesowns]

Haven't seen anything like this before, is the lump hard?

 

[ShepQLD]

no, not hard at all, its very similiar to a blister. very fluidy looking and soft. Im hoping it is just a blister from the skin rubbing so tight? what do you think? is that possible?

 

[jamesbecker]

mm its possible it could be a fluid build up ... id take it to the vet asap to get that check out

also, you can gently peel the skin off after a few soaks if the snake is having trouble.

best of luck!

 

[bfg23]

Stop waiting for the python to rub off the remaining skin.
YOU will have to do it for him ASAP, especially if there is still skin on him.
Give him a bath tonight and get it all done in one go, so you dont have to keep bathing him three or four times a day (making him stress even more)

I rescued a darwin python that was in very bad shape, similar conditions to your bredli, he couldnt even close his mouth because it was full of the sand it was kept on. And I needed to help him remove the excess skin for several sheds once he was in my possession. One occasion I needed to get out medical scissors and cut away some shed that was cutting the circulation.

Bad sheds are from stress or not enough humidity. (both of which your bredli were living under)

Make sure you dont make it too humid in the click clack though, or you will give your poor Bredli scale rot (which I also did to my poor Darwin)

 

[ShepQLD]

 

[ShepQLD]

I took your advice bfg and got the rest of the shed off his belly AND worked out how to get better photo's up.
you can see the lump better, this was at the point where the shed was tightest. it looks very much like a blister, very fluidy not hard at all. still interested to know if anyone else has seen anything like this before? Im planning on taking him to the vets tomorrow as Im concerned by the look of his tail aswell, Im worried he may not have been able to go to the toilet while that skin was so tight. Ill upload the other photo again aswell since you should be able to see him a little better.

 

[ShepQLD]