Totally agree with Constrictor’s advice. Commonly recommended range is 25C to 32-35C. Bumping it up at the high end will help stimulate metabolism and hopefully appetite, as well as helping to boost the immune system. Given you say the snake is timid, you can add some extra hides along the temperature gradient. Pill boxes, with a corner of the end torn off for access, are great for this. When soiled you just throw them away and put in a clean one. Make sure you provide clean fresh water at least once week. Twice weekly is even better as pythons are reluctant to drink water that has been standing for more than a few days. To add a little more to Constrictor’s advice on shedding: the surface of clay bricks /pavers, concrete building blocks, unglazed terracotta, and the like, are of suitable roughness. The old skin breaks along the lips, but the snake then needs to get it rolled it backwards over its face to allow the slough to be dragged off as it moves. Just like we might do to start peeling off a sock.
If you noticed the visible symptoms of respiratory infection (RI) only shortly after you got her, then she likely already had when you bought her. That may well be why she on special. Lethargy and loss of appetite are early signs of illness that the seller may have picked up on, but did not inform you about. Given it has been 9 months and they have still not completed the paper work, they sound dodgy anyway. While stress can induce RI, it is normally long-term stress due to incorrect or poor husbandry, rather than the short-term stress of a simple change of environment. Otherwise there would be a lot of people returning snake that they just bought. The sorts of stress factors are snakes not kept at the proper temperature range (most often consistently too cold), enclosure not cleaned and left unsanitary, insufficient ventilation resulting in too high humidity, insufficient access to clean water, and poor diet. Other causes can be the presence of certain parasites, virus or fungal infection or another underlying illness. This makes me wonder how experienced the vet is with reptiles.
