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 Member  Message

 #2171283


TrouserAtilla
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 HELP!

Hello everyone!
We are worried about our ball python. We recently noticed that he has a dent on the top of his lower body that causes the tail to curl up when he crawls. We attached pictures in hopes that someone has seem this before and has any advice to offer?? We are new owners and are worried!
Thanks!!



08/23/10  09:46pm

 #2171284


Tenten~
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171283


 HELP!

I’ve definitely never seen anything like that before. Is there anything in his cage that could have possibly fallen on him?
~Adeline~
08/23/10  09:52pm

 #2171296


KaleidoRats
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171283


 HELP!

It really does look like something smashed him. A vet would know for sure though :/



08/23/10  10:33pm

 #2171302


TrouserAtilla
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   Message To: KaleidoRats   In reference to Message Id: 2171296


 HELP!

There isn’t a single thing that could have fallen on him and we have been extra careful when handling him. :( That was our first guess but nothing in the cage is out of the ordinary.
08/23/10  11:26pm

 #2171305


Reflex
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171283


 HELP!

Looks to me like a broken spine, could someone have not been careful enough putting that log back down after picking it up?
08/23/10  11:34pm

 #2171310


KaleidoRats
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171302


 HELP!

I really have to agree with Reflex on this and suggest you take him to the vet.
08/23/10  11:50pm

 #2171314


TrouserAtilla
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   Message To: KaleidoRats   In reference to Message Id: 2171310


 HELP!

Well that was our guess as well, however we haven’t held him or messed with his cage in a few days, and the last time we held him he was normal. No one else has been around him and he is in a place where we can watch him everyday. I really don’t see any possible way he could have a broken spine. :(



08/24/10  12:10am

 #2171319


TrouserAtilla
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171314


 HELP!

In addition, he is still very active. It doesnt seem to bother him at all. He acts just as curious and climbs around like normal. If it was a broken spine wouldn’t this make him not want to move as much??
08/24/10  12:21am

 #2171326


KaleidoRats
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171319


 HELP!

My little brother and his friends once found a garter snake one night (this is back when I was 6 or 7) and they were having fun snapping the snake back and forth and listening to it’s bones break. I found them and chased them away. I scooped up the snake and took him home but obviously nothing could be done at that point and I just put him in a tank complete with a heat pad and light and made him as comfortable as possible. Even with his body in such bad shape he still was moving around and investigating the new surroundings as if nothing was wrong. By the next morning he was dead.



08/24/10  01:34am

 #2171434


TrouserAtilla
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   Message To: KaleidoRats   In reference to Message Id: 2171326


 HELP!

Oh gosh, thats an awful story :( i really hope this isnt the case for us. I’m going to talk to the vet tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your input.
08/24/10  05:40pm

 #2171454


KaleidoRats
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171434


 HELP!

Good. Good luck with the vet.
08/24/10  06:56pm

 #2171478


RichsBallPythons
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   Message To: Tenten~   In reference to Message Id: 2171284


 HELP!

This can be the sign of severe kinking which isnt known in normals but does happen.

Or from something falling on him or him falling. Vet does need to intervene as that may cause problems with digestion and passing stools.
08/24/10  09:13pm

 #2171493


Nate304
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   Message To: RichsBallPythons   In reference to Message Id: 2171478


 HELP!

man im not even going to speculate on whats happening. im just gonna say one thing if you have to spend 200 bucks once in that snakes life and youve had it 2 years if i recal. take him to a vet. snakes done show discofort. he could be in massive pain and have no way to tell you. lso from the pictures i tend to think that passing stooles is close to impossable or extreamly painfull. it could be an impaction it have to be a really bad one but its possable. only a vet can tell for sure.
08/24/10  10:44pm

 #2171592


RichsBallPythons
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   Message To: Nate304   In reference to Message Id: 2171493


 HELP!

For the record snakes lack the ability to feel pain. They do not have the nerve endings like mammals to decipher pain
08/25/10  02:35pm

 #2171596


Rick247
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   Message To: RichsBallPythons   In reference to Message Id: 2171592


 HELP!

Quote:

For the record snakes lack the ability to feel pain. They do not have the nerve endings like mammals to decipher pain




This is why a snake will lay on a heat pad and burn its self.
08/25/10  03:08pm

 #2171598


H00blah
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   Message To: RichsBallPythons   In reference to Message Id: 2171478


 HELP!

Quote:

This can be the sign of severe kinking which isnt known in normals but does happen.



kinking can happen to any BP. just seems to happen to caramels more often. people probably don’t see it often in normals bc most people don’t plan on breeding normals

looks like a kink to me as well, however, if this just started happening, i would say something fell on it and also yes, a vet is in order.
08/25/10  03:12pm

 #2171627


LGL
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   Message To: H00blah   In reference to Message Id: 2171598


 HELP!

I remember seeing this online somewhere a couple years ago. I’ve been searching and can’t find it. Regardless, a vet visit is definitely in order.
08/25/10  06:42pm

 #2172703


Kprincess
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   Message To: TrouserAtilla   In reference to Message Id: 2171283


 HELP!

HOW DID IT GO AT THE VETS????

Also, i don’t know that snakes feel NO pain at all..I once seen a very cruel (don’t even want to call this "person" a man-but he was of the male gender!)..so anyways,, he pierced a snake in the back-the pin only went into the snakes skin a couple millimeters, and the snake writhed every time..it must have been feeling something, no?

While snakes will sit on their heating pad until they burn pretty good, it definitely seems to irritate them afterwards..just a thought..



08/31/10  02:56am

 #2180377


Mybigsnake
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   Message To: Kprincess   In reference to Message Id: 2172703


 HELP!

im just curious, what was the outcome of this?
10/11/10  06:53pm

 #2180416


Pythonlover227
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   Message To: Mybigsnake   In reference to Message Id: 2180377


 HELP!

as am i what happened??
10/11/10  08:21pm

 #2180611


Fairy Frog Mother
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   Message To: Pythonlover227   In reference to Message Id: 2180416


 HELP!

Snakes DO feel pain. The DO have nerve endings. They are vertabrates, and vertabrates have neural (Nerve/brain) systems. Feeling pain has nothing to do with mammals or them being reptiles. Birds also feel pain and they are very simular to reptiles on the evolutionary scale of things. Reptiles are more likely not to show they are in pain as that would make them a candidate for predation. (Easy pickings) Many Venomoids die after that surgery because it is a very painful proceedure and they die from the stress of it, even before secondary infections can set in.

I hope your snake is alright. Still havent heard the outcome yet. That does look pretty darn serious though. Id invest the money in the vet bill.



10/12/10  12:34pm

 #2180613


Fairy Frog Mother
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   Message To: Pythonlover227   In reference to Message Id: 2180416


 HELP!

Suggested Reading:

Bennett, R.A. 1998. Pain and analgesia in reptiles and amphibians. Proc. Assoc. Rept. Amphib. Vet., Kansas City, pp. 1-5.

Lawton, M.P.C. 1999. Management after surgery. Proc. North Amer. Vet. Conf. Orlando, p. 782.

Snakes feel pain. They are Vertabrates with nerves. Pain from heat and cold may take longer for them to sense- like when you get a sun burn and dont notice it right away.

Take your snake to a vet and have it checked out. That is not normal, and yeah...I hope its alright.
10/12/10  12:54pm


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