Before & After of Phoenix, the worst of the Fire Victims from April 2016

Phoenix and 3 ball pythons were in a wooden box/cage that caught on fire. Phoenix pushed his way through the burning wood to escape, leaving him with half of his face burnt off and a large burn on his back. One of other ball pythons followed out of the burning box but died later that day. The two remaining ball pythons burned to death. 

Phoenix was the worst of all the burn victims. We were afraid that his eye was destroyed by the fire along with his lips and heat vents. He was severely emaciated and badly dehydrated. Dr Folland and I did not believe he would survive. We tube fed him multiple times to give him the nutrition to fight his burns. When he finally started to shed off the burnt skin, we were shocked to see movement in his eye! SHOCKED! His eye ball seriously was a shriveled up rock. He has most of the vision in his eye now. Half of his mouth still flares outward and he has areas of white, pignmentless skin, but he looks SO much better than we ever thought he would. 

You can see why we named him Phoenix. This poor blood python was sadly dying from poor care before the fire and literally crawled through the fire to a new life. 

Remember Phoenix?

Phoenix, the blood Python, was the worst of the fire victims. He pushed his way out of a burning wood crate that killed three other snakes. Half of his face was charred and we weren't sure if he'd make it. 

Today Phoenix is a champion! He eats great and is healthy. His face continues to clear up too. 

This is what he looked like when he left my house this summer. 

This is him now. 

He has FULL use of his eye. We feared it has been burned out. Nope!!! SO glad to be wrong. 

And look how chunky he is! 

He was very underweight when he had him because he hadn't eaten for over SIX months! 

Phoenix finally looks like a normal blood Python and is absolutely adored by his owner. 

Phoenix ate again!

Once I warmed it up enough, Phoenix went crazy for a small rat. 

He's well on his way to recovery. He fits his name so completely! I love it. 

Guess Who Ate Last Night?!?!

Phoenix!!!!

Cue the HAPPY dance!!! 

This guy truly is a Survivor! 

BEST News E.V.E.R.!!!

I got the BEST news today. Phoenix, the worst of the fire victims, will actually be able to SEE out of his burnt eye (the one we thought was dead). The burnt skin has healed up nicely and he is doing great. He'll always have a white head without scales, but he's healed like he should. 

Our next goal is to get him to eat on his own. He's lost a lot of weight, but once he starts eating, he'll be fine. 

Last week's vet visit didn't go well at all and I was prepared to choose to have Phoenix put down. Instead I got the best news ever!

This is the piece of skin that was burnt the worst. You can see how charred it was. 

Truly, this snake is a Survivor!! He literally crawled out of the ashes to grow again. 

Phoenix Update

Tonight was my first time giving Phoenix an antibiotic shot. He hated it, but I got it in him. Then I recoated his face and neck with antibiotic cream. The skin on his head and neck are so crispy and dead. I suspect that it will take 3 or 4 sheds before he's able to get healthy skin back. 

The good news is that he was strong and quick in fighting me. That's a good sign. His next vet visit is Wednesday and I hope we can tube feed him successfully again. 

Phoenix at the Vet

Phoenix needed another tube feeding today and a check up. 

It was a terrible experience for him. :( 

He fought us and ended up tearing off one of his scabs. He's been shedding, but struggling to slough off all the dead skin. I had skin pieces all over me. 

He peed and then pooped and thrashed some more. 

We're starting him on antibiotics now to help his skin heal quicker and to prevent a respiratory infection. We tube fed him Critical Care and he threw it all back up. 

By the time we got him back in his box, he was exhausted. He wouldn't even move. I worried the stress would kill him. 

His mouth is still swollen and raw. His one eye is completely dead. His other eye seems to be okay. The skin on his neck is burnt and dry, but not ready to shed off. And the fecal test shows he has pinworms. 

At this point, we will watch him for the next week. He's come so far, but still has so far to go. :( I hope he's able to pull through this okay. If not, I think the best option will be to let him be done with his misery. 

I hope it doesn't come to that. 

Update on Phoenix

I pulled Phoenix the blood python out tonight for a good check up. 

The side of his face is just burnt. His eye is dead and he has some raw spots. 

I think I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow for a check in. 

Poor snake. 

Phoenix, rescue 136

Phoenix is a male blood python that was in a wood box with two other snakes. When the box caught fire, the two other snakes died. Somehow Phoenix crawled through the flames and was rescued. That's why we named him "Phoenix." 

His eyes are singed; his mouth is burnt; his heat vents are burnt; his nostrils had blood in them; and he has scrapes on his back from getting out of the box. But he was drinking on his own. So even though he was in bad shape, he was still showing us that he had the will to live. 

Considering what he's been through, it's amazing that he's alive. 

He's in a moist warm crate where he can be calm and quiet. I will treat him face and head with antibiotic cream to help the burns heal. Because it had been months since he ate, my vet had him tube fed today. He, like the others, are very underweight too. 

I have a couple of blood python "experts" who are giving me frequent guidance with his set up. I switched the heat pad for an under tank heater with a thermostat regulator. 

If he doesn't eat next week, then we'll tube feed again. Hopefully, he'll be able to heal enough to want to eat by the end of the month. 

Fire Victims at the Vet

Today we took four fire reptile victims to the vet:

-Kindle, female Burmese python

-Flame, bearded dragon

-Blaze, Savannah monitor

-Phoenix, blood python 

Kindle is staying at my rescue sister's house and today was the first day I got to meet her. I had so much fun holding her that I forgot to take pics of anyone else! 

She crawled into my shirt. 

And I took a selfie with her! 

She held on to my leg tightly. 

And then she pushed her head near my neck and took a nap. 

Kindle has burns on her mouth and eyes. She also has a respiratory infection. She has antibiotic eye cream and antibiotic shots. Then then techs tube fed her because this sweet girl is only 15 pounds! She should be over 60. 

The blood python and Savannah monitor got tube fed too. 

Flame the beardie has slightly dry eyes (from the smoke) and got antibiotic eye cream too. I just need to fatten him up and give him extra care. He's super underweight too (180 grams instead of 240+ grams). 

The antibiotic eye cream and antibiotic skin cream will be used to treat the other snakes too. If they show signs of a Respiratory Infection, we'll put them on antibiotics too. But we should now be able to focus on giving the reptiles nutritional care and wound treatment without any further vet visits. 

Morning Roll Call

I'm happy to report that all the sicklies survived the night. Yay!! 

Blaze -- after his daily saline injection. He did NOT like it. 

Flame- woke up looking better and pooped. 

The Noodles-- were out and exploring. 

And Phoenix, the fire snake, is well. Vet visit in less than an hour.

It's always a good day when all the rescues wake up. :)