Scooter was taken in by us along with Bennie the Boa (see Bennie's Page). At 4 feet long he weighs only 2 pounds. While Ball Python's are notorious for being poor feeders, this is definitely not the case with Scooter ~ to our great relief! He simply must have been severely underfed. Scooter is a poster child for exemplifying the things that can go wrong when you feed live prey. A rodent bite has left his entire nose deformed, including the nostrils. He cannot close his mouth properly due to the large scab at the front of his upper lip. This along with a respiratory infection has made it very difficult for him to breathe easily. A secondary infection inside the mouth, is also being treated. Scooter has a sweet manner & is not shy or jumpy. He is tolerant of the daily work we must do on him and eats like a trooper. Unfortunately many of our Ball pythons came to us in the same conditon. These snakes are much too easily attained and discarded by the pet trade. They are not hard to keep, if one simply finds out their requirements. They are shy, slow moving and usually gentle natured. It gives us much happiness that we were able to finally adopt Scooter (& Bennie). We are making every effort to get them well and ask that anyone who reads our stories say a small prayer for them. It is going to take some time, but I hope to update Scooter's page with a description of his wonderful recovery! Let's hope.
Update: August 30,2000 Well, there is good news! Scooter is doing well and slowly gaining ground...what a fighter. He went through two shed cycles only two weeks apart. We assisted him with his last shed to assure that both remaining eyecaps came off this time ~ also the scar tissue closing off his nostrils as well as a large loose scab covering his front labial area. It exhausted him and yet he bounced back and is now looking and acting very good! Mouthrot was a long difficult illness to treat but is now gone ~ fresh teeth and nice pale pink gums are now showing and the large swollen appearance of his mouth and nose are gone. He can see well now and has beautiful healthy eyes and is actually quite a calm little guy. Our goal now is to put slow, healthy weight gain on him. It has been a long, arduous struggle for him and us as well, but again we are impressed with this guy's tenacity and will for life. What a great snake! I shall have to put up a picture soon so you can see the wonderful difference. |
