Nala is a royal (ball) python who came to us on November 19th. She was surrendered to a Rescue group (which we belonged to at that time) in September with a slight wheeze due to being kept with no light, heat, shelter, or water for two weeks. She was staying with a person in the group for some time, eating well but still wheezing. Her story struck a deep chord with us and we called our friend to offer her our home. To our disappointment ~ another member of the group had already offered to take her in October, give her a home and take her to a Vet for the wheezing problem. We were glad for her however and rested easy that she was in a good home now and was going to get the medical care that she needed. A month went by and we thought about her occasionally ~ happy for her that she was being cared for by a fellow herper. One night an email was sent to us. Alas, her new owner, ("because something came up")~ no longer wanted her, (Or the other two recently acquired cagemates with her!) We agreed immediately to once again take her and place the other two pythons. By morning his email stated that only she was left. We arranged to pick her up in the evening at a half-way point of his choice. My husband waited in the cold for 45 minutes in a parking lot of a truck stop. Finally the guy showed up and quickly handed my husband a snakebag with an assurance that we will love her, she is very nice, a very big girl, a good eater and in good health. When my husband came home, we gently took her out of the bag...she indeed was a big girl ~ at least 49 to 52 inches long and with a 9 inch girth! I had a nice tank all set up for her. Upon a quick examination, to our dismay we noticed both eyes had very multiple dry, cracked retained eyecaps (we of course were told by the person that she had indeed just had a perfect shed - eyecaps and all) and what had to be old scarring on the whole right hand side of her head, encompassing the eye all the way down to the right bottom jaw. Not wanting to further stress her, we placed her in her tank to let her rest. Within moments we both mentioned that something did not look right. She laid with her body curled naturally but with her head straight up in the air! For the next five or six hours, into the wee hours of the morning we were sickened to watch her as she gasped for air,her body huffing and puffing as she made horrible sounds resembling the meow of a cat. We found out in an email to this guy that he was keeping her outside in a shed with the rest of his snakes. That morning our vet allowed us to rush in with her as soon as possible. He examined her throat (which she was puffing out like a tree frog) to find it severely clogged with thick mucous and swelling ~ she was suffering from Pneumonia. In the bright office light we were able to see the larval mites crawling all over her head and eyes. He gave her a shot of penicillin and we were given five more injections to be given at home, along with oral Clavamox to be given twice a day. For the next 10 days this girl endured getting oral antibiotics (no mean feat with a large snake), injections and eyedrops! She began to show great improvement and we were extremely relieved. Towards the end of her treatments we decided that another look by the vet and a consultation with a local reptile expert was necessary. Though she was much better, this problem was not completely gone. We stopped the treatments and began instead injections of Gentocin every 72 hours. This drug is stronger and a bit riskier, but now after 3 treatments she is much better. She has eaten a large meal for us, is more active and relaxed now, and best of all not making any audible breathing sounds! A trifling $78.00 has given her the medical treatment she needed from the time she was given up by her original owner to the group and a good chance at life (the advanced state that she was in could very well have ended her life if left untreated) and has given us a very big, beautiful python to love and enjoy! We still have our fingers crossed as she is still alone in quarrantine, but she has been very forgiving and is now gentle and outgoing to hold.
UPDATE: June 2000, We are happy to report that Nala is doing beautiful! She is a regular eater, has had no recurring problems with any respiratory ailments, and is one big, lovely, happy python. She does sleep a lot ~ we are unsure of her age, but she does seem to be enjoying her geriatric years! |
