This is Madam Walkabouts

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

This is her with a Fuzzie she didnt take. She is in tank with heat, hide and bedding. Had a bath this morning as well. She has no muscles whatsoever, had to hold her head while in the water, she would of drowned other wise. The warm water woke her up a bit tho, coz right now she is one feisty little snake haha Hasn't tried to bite me tho, which is a good sign.

[Nanci]

I would put her in a deli cup with her meal and leave her overnight, tonight. And I'd start with something WAY smaller. Maybe just the head of something that size, or even a live tiny pink if you can get it.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Does she look ok to you tho? I know the pic is bad but i only have my phone camera atm.

I don't have access to live pinks I'm afraid. Yeah I am gonna try cutting off the head (yuck) and leave it in with her.

[Nanci]

Cut the head off while it's frozen, then thaw it to REALLY hot, as hot as your tap water will go.

[kaypar2011]

You did not mention water in her tank. Snakes need accesss to fresh water in the tank.

[starsevol]

This is her with a Fuzzie she didnt take. She is in tank with heat, hide and bedding. Had a bath this morning as well. She has no muscles whatsoever, had to hold her head while in the water, she would of drowned other wise. The warm water woke her up a bit tho, coz right now she is one feisty little snake haha Hasn't tried to bite me tho, which is a good sign.

She really doesnt need a bath, ever. I will bet it stresses her to the point where she won't eat. And if the warm water "woke her up" I would be afraid the water was over 84 degrees and way too hot.
Mine never get baths, ever.

[Nanci]

Beth, I told her it might help to soak her to remove stuck shed, as well as let her soak up some hydration through her cloaca. I didn't know she was too weak to hold her head ou of the water...

[starsevol]

Beth, I told her it might help to soak her to remove stuck shed, as well as let her soak up some hydration through her cloaca. I didn't know she was too weak to hold her head ou of the water...

OH Nanci, I didnt know that!

I have 2 girls, Nyota and Grey Lady (remember Grey Lady?) that won't eat if I mess with them AT ALL before feeding them. I mean if I disturb them too much looking for them in their vivs they are too upset to deal with food. So I was just thinking what would happen if I tried to bathe either one of them.....

Bonkers, I am sorry your scalebaby is giving you trouble.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

I didnt know she was that weak until she was in the water cause she did move around beforehand and I made 100% sure the water wasnt too hot for her either.

I only want the best for this snake, so hope I am not making mistakes here. I have been leaving her alone apart from taking her out this morning to give her a quick soak. She wasnt even in the water for long coz I had to hold her. Just dried her properly and put her back in her tank.

She obv does have a bowl with fresh water in her tank. But she just really doesnt look right. She moves really slow, has no muscle tone to her whatsoever and hardly flicks her tongue????? I am very worried

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Well I didnt mention it in this thread but my scalebaby was missing for 6 months. Hence the baths and trying to get her to eat.

[starsevol]

Well I didnt mention it in this thread but my scalebaby was missing for 6 months. Hence the baths and trying to get her to eat.

Nanci is alot more on top of your troubles than I am.
I hope she makes it, I am so sorry.....

[bitsy]

I have to be honest, she doesn't look in that terrible shape from your photo. She seems to be holding her head up to look as you take her picture at least.

My guess is that she's very very stressed and might have been "playing dead" in the water or when handled, as a defence mechanism. I'd strongly recommend leaving her without handling for at least a week. As Nanci says, you need to try starting her off with something way smaller - doesn't have to be live. And you can leave a defrosted pinky in with her overnight also as suggested. With a runaway, she might be very nervous to eat unless it's absolutely dark and quiet. Get lots and lots of ground cover and hides in her tank to make her feel secure.

Personally there's nothing in your photo which would panic me into another attempted feed for a week, but that has to be your decision.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Thank you Bitsy and will go with what you're saying and absolutely leave her be for a week.

Thanks Bethany and I hope so too.

Will pick up Nutribac from the store tomorrow before work and see if that helps a bit. Yea she might well be playing dead. So no more poking around, all I will do for a week is change her water.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Here's a quick update on Miss Runaway - think that name's gonna stick lol

I left her alone for a couple of days and then gave her a bath in a Komodo (make) vitamin solution for snakes. I have seen her drink by herself but don't think she drinks enough. My friend has managed to feed her a pinkie last night. Had to force feed tho as all other attempts of getting her to eat failed miserably. So well he cut the pink in half and gave her both halves - one she sicked up during the night, but one half stayed down. Progress right? Small yes, but better than nothing.

She seems to be fine as long as left alone but as soon as someone goes to pick her up she kinda still plays dead and even very rarely flicks her tongue.

She managed to tag me once yesterday as well but she's nowhere near strong enough to break the skin with a bite so it wasn't too bad.

She looks very dull as well (she's a Creamsicle and used to be bright orange), she's kinda like a washed out peachy colour.

So what do you guys think, anything else I can try or do different/better?

[proileri]

Only things I can think of is giving her smallest food you can find, and maybe put a small water cup next to her favorite hides and shade them with something, so she can reach water with minimal stress. Maybe some kind of shade between the cool and warm hides would be in order, too, so she can thermoregulate while staying hidden.

[foghat]

Here's a quick update on Miss Runaway - think that name's gonna stick lol

I left her alone for a couple of days and then gave her a bath in a Komodo (make) vitamin solution for snakes. I have seen her drink by herself but don't think she drinks enough. My friend has managed to feed her a pinkie last night. Had to force feed tho as all other attempts of getting her to eat failed miserably. So well he cut the pink in half and gave her both halves - one she sicked up during the night, but one half stayed down. Progress right? Small yes, but better than nothing.

She seems to be fine as long as left alone but as soon as someone goes to pick her up she kinda still plays dead and even very rarely flicks her tongue.

She managed to tag me once yesterday as well but she's nowhere near strong enough to break the skin with a bite so it wasn't too bad.

She looks very dull as well (she's a Creamsicle and used to be bright orange), she's kinda like a washed out peachy colour.

So what do you guys think, anything else I can try or do different/better?

If she is dull, she may be about to shed. Don't think the regurge is good though. Might want to look at the regruge procedures. Mine just had a regurge last week. See my thread, nanci provided a lot of great info.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Don't think she is going to shed as she was lost in the house for six months without/or very little access to food and water.

I know a regurge is bad but considering how long she had not eaten before taking half a pink I am hoping for the best.

She has eaten and kept down a pink we brained. Will leave her be for a few days and try braining a pink again.

[SquamishSerpents]

If she has regurged, you must wait at least 10 days before offering ANY type of food again. I actually wait 14, if possible. Reason is that once they regurge, they don't usually have enough digestive juices left in order to process any food, so the regurges just keep happening over and over again, and if your snake is as weak as you say, this could very quickly become fatal.

Think of that gross yucky feeling you get when you've been sick and heaving your guts out all day, with nothing but bile coming up. I imagine that is sort of what it's like for the snake.

Waiting will definitely be your best bet, you don't want to overwhelm her digestive system, especially after being on such an adventure while lost!

Also it's possible that your snake shed somewhere in your house, and she could be going into another shed cycle. OR perhaps on her adventure she didn't have great access to water, and she is dehydrated. Maybe she has an entire layer of old shed stuck on her.

I'd leave her alone for awhile and see if her condition improves, then slowly start feeding her again, and very small meals.

I hope she recovers for you!

[Iguanagirl8662]

Don't think she is going to shed as she was lost in the house for six months without/or very little access to food and water.

I know a regurge is bad but considering how long she had not eaten before taking half a pink I am hoping for the best.

She has eaten and kept down a pink we brained. Will leave her be for a few days and try braining a pink again.

Just because she was missing without water/food doesn't mean she won't shed it is very possible she may be about to shed. We had a kingsnake at work that was MIA for at least 8 months. When we found it I couldn't even remember that we lost him that's how long it was missing lol.

I would honestly stop giving her bathes at this point, I think it is stressing her out more then helping now and I wouldn't force feed her either. I think she is just very stressed and you need to leave her alone. I wouldn't handle her other then for feeding and I would try to feed her again in 5-7 days. Put her in a deli cup with a small meal and cover it with a towel and leave her alone overnight and if that doesn't work you can try putting the food in her tank overnight (I put it near or under their favorite hide). Both have worked for me. Good luck, I hope she gets better.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Thanks for all your replies guys.

The snake is in the hands of my experienced mate now and seems to be doing alot better.

And you guys were right. She did shed last night :) My mate took two quick pics before putting her back in her tank.

He is gonna wait another week before attempting to feed her again. So far she has taken one super small pink which was left in her tank over night. So no more force feeding whoohooo

[AliCat37]

She isn't skinny at all, so I don't know why she was force fed in the first place. That muscle tone on her is excellent.. force feeding should only be used as a very last resort before a snake dies from starvation..
glad she is doing well though.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

I am glad you think the muscle tone is good.

She just showed NO interest in food whatsoever, but since giving her half the pink she eats. We left a brained pinkie in her tank and she took it no problems. Tried that before force feeding and she wouldnt even look at the food, it was like shed forgotten how to eat or that a mouse is intended for eating lol like i said before the force feeding times are over, just gonna brain the mouse next time and see if she takes it as well.

[AliCat37]

yeah, I actually really like that muscle tone on her, they should have that "loaf of bread" look, which she definitely does! You just don't want to see her spine protruding, it still looks nicely indented in the pics. I know some of my nicely toned corns look more like her. Some of my others are a little rounder.. :(

[Nanners]

She is beautiful and looks nice and healthy to me.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Miss Runaway is doing amazing.

She has a brand new viv and eats regularly. Still on pinks, don't wanna overdo it.

She is one curious snake and loves to be out and handled, not by me tho, she's defo taken a shine on my mate haha

He is going to keep her for a few more weeks and then give her either to our local zoo OR to one of his mates who absolutely loves corns.

I have got two scalebabies already and am in the process of moving, so sadly can't take her back.

Just glad she is doing so well. Hopefully where ever she goes will update me with pics from time to time :)

[Nanci]

All's well that ends well!