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What have I gotten myself into?

Drewby07

Drewby07

curiocreatures.com
So I responded to an ad on Craigslist yesterday for a ball python female....while my friend and I were at the guy's house, we said something about cornsnakes, and he said he had a couple he was trying to get rid of. First he pulled out a really nice hypo male...then he pulled out a female amel. The female is FAT! She has horrible hips and is squishy around the tail. I ended up buying the male hypo for a really low price, and he gave me the female.

My question now is, what have I gotten myself into? I certainly plan to cut her feeding to every 2-3 weeks and exercise her....but I'm sure she has to have health problems??? Can she ever be "normal" again?

Here they are...
 

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Oh my.. she has got some hips all right
but also nice amount of yellow in her neck.
 
Ohmigod, I've never seen anything like it! What did that man do to that poor girl?! (I obviously know the answer to my rhetorical question, but it's still a wonder!) Did he cohabitate them? Do you think that she might be pregnant on top of being obese? (I ask because the photo shows them together...and because he was an apparent numbskull!)
 
I don't know her history prior to when I saw her yesterday. Her previous owner said he "got her from someone" and she was in that condition. They were just together for the picture....that's at his house. He said she laid a clutch of slugs recently, though I'm not sure if she was actually bred or not. I felt her last night and I didn't feel any signs of eggs, but I'm terrible at feeling them even when I KNOW they're in there....her belly actually seems to be a little "caved in" but I think that might just be kind of an optical illusion from the fat deposits.

I think you need to build a water garden for swimming...
Click to expand...
Nanci - I think YOU should come build me one like yours! I've been envying it silently long enough!! :)
 
Drewby07 said:
Nanci - I think YOU should come build me one like yours! I've been envying it silently long enough!! :)
Click to expand...


Me too!
The rest of us are stuck with kiddie pools and bathtubs.;)

There have been a few folks here with hippy snakes.
The general recommendation....besides feeding correctly was to exercise them in water or on a ladder type structure etc.
I can't find it now but I do remember a before and after of a snake that slimmed down (still had a bit of hips) quite considerably.

ANy idea how old she/they are?

I also wonder if it isn't genetic like for humans. Some can eat a Snickers bar at every meal and not gain a pound while some can eat onll one Snickers bar a week and keep their 'girlish figures'.

Perhaps you could start a progression thread on her. It would be helpful...perhaps as a sticky after a bit.

Best of luck with your crew!
 
Unfortunately I don't know how old they are. He did say that she has been this way for "about 7 years". Info from this guy isn't the most reliable....the male is supposedly a "hypo sunglow"...:rolleyes:
 
That is more than just fat. There is something going on in there. I'd be interested to hear how she eats and then how she defecates.

I would wonder about bound eggs or an intestinal impaction. I would suggest you have a good herp vet look at her.
 
It's definitely something outside of her ribs, not an intestinal impaction or bound egg. It's either fat or fluid. She poops fine...she pooped on my while i was having a look over her last night. lol

I'll post some better pics tonight when I get home.
 
wade said:
That is more than just fat. There is something going on in there. I'd be interested to hear how she eats and then how she defecates.

I would wonder about bound eggs or an intestinal impaction. I would suggest you have a good herp vet look at her.
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Wade,

I'm glad that I'm not the only one thinking that way... fat I would have expected all the way through the body, just not the bottom half.
 
You misunderstand me. I'm not questioning your ability to care for the snake. But what I am saying is that I believe the snake has a more serious problem than just being fat. I have seen lots of snakes with "hips" and I've never seen anything like this snake.

I'm thinking maybe she has an infection or retained fluid or something more than just fat. I've never seen a snake that bloated up.

I hate to take snakes to the vet. It is expensive and time consuming, and very often they don't know any more about snakes than you do. Having said that, I think I would take that snake to a vet.
 
I edited my prior post...I didn't intend to take that tone.

The snake probably SHOULD see a vet. I happen to know one, so I will get her opinion next time I see her. If she really HAS been like this for 7 years or so, wouldn't you think she'd have other complications too? My main concern is that she may have liver and or kidney problems as well....
 
Drewby07 said:
I edited my prior post...I didn't intend to take that tone.

The snake probably SHOULD see a vet. I happen to know one, so I will get her opinion next time I see her. If she really HAS been like this for 7 years or so, wouldn't you think she'd have other complications too? My main concern is that she may have liver and or kidney problems as well....
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Which is why she should see a vet ASAP... delaying that will keep her from getting treatment if possible or being put out of her misery if necessary. I lost one that was just short of six years old and we'd had her since she was a hatchling. I should have taken her in earlier.. that's something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. We wouldn't have been able to save her due to all the damage done (I believe due to the parasites that she picked up at the pet store), but she would have been put out of her misery a lot sooner than she did.
 
Weebonilass said:
Sorry, I see more weight on Sangria all over than I do on this one.
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The first time I looked at this snake's picture, I thought of my girl Sangria. I made a HUGE mistake with her. She had picky sibs, and was always willing to clean up after them so I stupidly thought that feeding her a little more was better than throwing out food. And since I only had a few snakes, I really didn't keep feeding records, so Sangria plumped up before I even knew it was happening. It's no excuse, but these guys grow FAST!

Sangria was swum in the tub 4-5 times a week this spring, and gained ALOT of muscle tone. When I hold her and she wraps around my arm, it's really tight now and almost feels like a blood-pressure cuff. She recently laid a picture-perfect clutch of 17 eggs, but since then 1 has collapsed. She still has her flabby hips and bears a strong resemblance to this girl shape-wise though. She is fed a small prey item (hopper) once a week, but until she recovered from egg laying I was giving her a small adult mouse once a week.

She is 6 years old, and I hope my stupidity hasn't shortened her lifespan. Other than her wierd shape, she behaves like all my others do and that is comforting.
 
starsevol - Yeah, they guy said she has been on a "diet" and has lost some of the weight....so she apparently used to be even bigger.

P.s. - I JUST figured out that your name ia "loves rats" backwards...lol
 
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