Lucy & Buddy

These are my two ball pythons, both rescues. Both super nice & friendly. 

Super easy set up: an under tank heating pad on a thermostat for temps, a hide, a stick, and a bowl of water. I use paper towels for my substrate because it's easiest for me. 

Water Drinking Reptiles

I love watching my reptiles drinking.

Update on Buddy-- I'm so Proud!

Buddy went to the vet today for his check up and it went SOOOO much better than I thought it would. I knew he needed a final clearance, but I wasn't sure if it would be all good news or half good news & half bad news.

"Hey! Where are we going?" 

Of course, ironically, when I made the appointment on Monday, Buddy looked & acted poorly. I realize now that was just him getting ready to shed and being grumpy because of it. Last night, he completed his shedding. Today he was active and curious. He explored his travel box and the office.

He was so active! 

First of all, Dr Folland was SO impressed with how beautiful Buddy he is. He said he's rarely had such a beautiful specimen brought in and it had been a long time since he had seen such a gorgeous ball python. I was so proud!! ;)

Second, he said Buddy looks GREAT. His "bad" eye is actually not that bad and though it has some scarring around it, it still works fine.

His "good" bad eye

Third, his good eye looks great and the wrinkling on it is normal and not at all a problem.

Buddy has several healing wounds and scars on his mouth, jaw, and upper neck where he was obviously attacked by a feeder rodent. Those are all healing and look great. Buddy's mouth looks good and I was told to try to give him a frozen/thawed rat tonight. I have a nice & fat one in the freezer right now. Dr Folland even gave me some tips on how to train Buddy to take a f/t rat instead of a live one.

He'll get one last antibiotic shot tonight, a tank heating upgrade today, and a fat rat for dinner. Overall, Buddy is a healthy, beautiful, and mellow snake-- a far cry from the sickly snake who was foaming at the mouth and freezing cold that I picked up before Christmas. I'm so proud. :)

Buddy's Bad Eyes

It looks like one of Buddy's eyes is dying. Both eyes are covered with layers of stuck eye caps, but one of them is starting to shrivel up. He will be blind in that eye for sure. His last antibiotic shot is Wednesday morning and then he'll go back to the vet to see if we can treat his eyes somehow. I'm not very hopeful though- I think he'll be mostly blind for the rest of his life. 

His "good" eye (that's really not that healthy): 

His bad eye: 

Buddy, rescue number 78

I took in this sweet adult ball python who has s severe respiratory infection. He also has a swollen, wounded jaw. He has multiple layers of stuck eye caps on his eyes and needs a good shed. 

He went to the vet right after I got him and is now on antibiotics for the next three weeks. 

Luckily he's not dehydrated or skinny. He has really good muscle tone and should recover quickly from his URI. I'll give him a week or two on antibiotics before I try to feed him-- he hasn't eaten for weeks. 

Pocket Buddy, rescue number 42

Tonight I picked up a very small beardie named Buddy. He's supposed to be between 1 and 2 years old, but he is half the size he should be. I'm guessing that he had very poor nutrition as a baby and is (and will be) super stunted his whole life. I think he's a boy, but I'm not positive because he's so small. My little boy Toothless, who had severe MBD, is bigger than this guy. Buddy weighs 120 grams; Toothless weighs 145 grams.

Buddy isn't super friendly, but I think he'll adjust quickly to being handled. He won't be good for kids-- yet. I'll be working with him to get him friendlier and used to being held.

I did wrap him up in a blankie to bring him home and he loved that.

I put him in my empty 55 gallon tank and I don't think he knows what to do with all the room!