i need help with a brisbane python

[tinjammer]

my son-in-law recently obtained a 3 1/2 foot brisbane python with enclosure about 2 weeks ago , he has been feeding her one guinea pig a week , which the first one she handled very well , no problems.. the second one that he fed her on saturday has made it down 2/3 of her length , but were the guniea pig is sitting inside her she has double in length and width to the size of the guinea pig, looks bloated/ swollen she seems distressed as well as she wont allow anyone to touch her.. do we take her to a vet? or reptile expert? not sure what to do with her... any feedback is appreciated..

 

[IgotFrogs]

if the food item isnt moving i'd say to take her to a reptile vet as a food item can get stuck and start to go bad inside them if the snake is in distress i'd do somthing

 

[Gibblore]

Has it got heating if its to cold it carnt digest properly A hot spot of 30 or just over should do it at the hot end. Also a guinea pig is a good size feed for a small carpet. I probaly wouldn't want ne one picking me up after I ate a whole cow. If all Heating cageing, husbandary are good than defintaly go to the vet and get it checked, hope this helps.

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

A full grown guinea pig is a fairly large prey item for a 100is cm python IMO. Certainly too large to be fed one a week!

I'd say the last item is not properly digested as yet and the new item is sitting in front of it rotting... Off to the vet with that snake as many problems can arise from undigested food items sitting in the gut, including septicemia and death as a result.

 

[J-A-X]

I run a hot spot of 34c for my brissie, 30 is bordering on the too cold to digest,
my 6ft carpet gets 350g rats every 10days or so,
a guinnea pig for a 3footer is too big to feed that often, and they shouldn't be long haired pigs either, i've heard the excess hair is a problem
if it seems distressed a vet trip asap before its too late to reverse whatever is going on

 

[tinjammer]

my son-in-law recently obtained a 9 foot brisbane python with enclosure about 2 weeks ago , he has been feeding her one guinea pig a week , which the first one she handled very well , no problems.. the second one that he fed her on saturday has made it down 2/3 of her length , but were the guniea pig is sitting inside her she has double in length and width to the size of the guinea pig, looks bloated/ swollen she seems distressed as well as she wont allow anyone to touch her.. do we take her to a vet? or reptile expert? not sure what to do with her... any feedback is appreciated..

sorry my error i put 3 half foot, but shes 9 foot

 

[J-A-X]

sorry my error 9 foot python

phew i had mental pictures of this poor tiny thing filled to bursting point, at 9ft the feed should be fortnightly maximum,

how is he defrosting the G'pig ? or is he feeding fresh killed,

I'd still boost the basking spot, it needs to be 34 where the python sits, but as i said, if its distressed, its a vet trip asap

 

[tinjammer]

hi im the owner of the snake my mum posted the question... the snake is actually 9 ft long and gets fed every 2 weeks we run the tank on aabout 24 degrees ... but the previous owners told us they never had a heat lamp on it at all even in winter and it apparently still ate masive rabbits

 

[JAS101]

hi im the owner of the snake my mum posted the question... the snake is actually 9 ft long and gets fed every 2 weeks we run the tank on aabout 24 degrees ... but the previous owners told us they never had a heat lamp on it at all even in winter and it apparently still ate masive rabbits

turn the heat up 24c is too cold , do as jaxtfm has said with reguards to heating .

 

[tinjammer]

feeding fresh killed.... vets around here dont know to much about snakes .... trying to getb a hold of snake experts and catchers

 

[pythrulz]

Make sure the heat is correct maybe why she/he isnt digesting the food properly.If at 24 to cold heat should be 30/31 once heat is corect should digest the meal if the heat stays on 24 and not 30/31 you may loose your pet

 

[J-A-X]

hi im the owner of the snake my mum posted the question... the snake is actually 9 ft long and gets fed every 2 weeks we run the tank on aabout 24 degrees ... but the previous owners told us they never had a heat lamp on it at all even in winter and it apparently still ate masive rabbits

24c is what i would have at the cold end, certainly not the 'hot' end,
unless the previous owner live next door, you cannot go by what he had the temps set at, he may have had his home heating set to 34c 24/7 and didn't need to regulate the tank,

they need heat to digest, and all that 24 will acheive is to make the snake ill - or worse, dead -

up the heat asap while you are hunting help, leaving it cold will end in disaster

if it still seems distressed, please get it to a vet asap

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Tinjammer,

Snakes are ectothermic, which means they get their body warmth from external sources. They need to be warm to function properly - if they don't have the opportunity to warm themselves, their immune system will be compromised, as will their ability to digest food.

You need to give your snake the opportunity to both warm and cool. The warm area should be at least 30 degrees, but ideally around 34. The cool end should be less than 26 degrees. This will allow your snake to digest its prey items with ease.

 

[tinjammer]

Thankyou everyone for your feedback it is greatly appreciated, we got hold of a vet he too agrees that the tank is too cold therefor making it difficult for the snake to digest her food.

suggested another uv heatlamp, and remove sand that is in the tank and replace it with paper towel, another suggestion was kitty litter , the recycled paper variety, he also suggested to give her a couple more days with the hotter tank and see if that helps her to digest... fingers crossed that it works its way through and NO MORE GUINEA PIGS.. Definatley sticking to rats in the future..... cheers

 

[J-A-X]

you dont 'need' a UV lamp for her, take her out in the sun for a little while, when ever you feel the urge, They are nocturnal so they don't need UV like lizards. Some people have them in the tank to enhance visual colour, but its probably an expense you don't need at the moment,

definately lose the sand, G'pigs will be fine but rats are easier to get, I hope you weren't buying the 'pet g'pigs' from the petshop ! they can be full of worming pastes etc, you should only feed her items that have been bred for food, therefore dont contain anything like flea treatments or harbour parasites.
Out of curiosity how are you planning on upping the heat ?

can you post a pic of the enclosure, it will make our efforts to assist a bit easier

 

[AM Pythons]

get yourself a heat mat & put it under one end of your enclosure(on the outside, not the inside) this will give your snake the heat gradiant it needs to digest..

 

[tinjammer]

so we dont need uv lamp, ok .... any other suggestions on how to up the heat in the tank?, a heat mat sounds good but not sure how we would get it to stay under the tank as the tank is on a wooden stand... and yes g pigs were purchased at a pet shop.. so thats a bit of a concern.. will try and get a photo up of her and her enclosure .

were do you purchase the heat mats?

 

[sophie]

why is sand so bad for them?

 

[tinjammer]

photos of the brisbane python and her enclosure

 

[JAS101]

now that i can see pics , i think that the enclosure need some branches so the snake can climb them .
i cant see a thermostat probe [ or any kind of thermostat] u need to beable to control the basking/hot area temp.
the snake needs a hide in the cool area and a hide in the hot area . plain old box`s will work [ saves some $$$ too ]