How's this for abuse?

[BurmBaroness]

This guy was given to me yesterday, after being dropped of at the breeder I usually buy from. He's a 6ft BCI, a little underweight, with an old injury to his head. It looks like someone whacked him with a ballpeen hammer. His mouth doesn't close properly, and his head is kinda flat and wide. he seems healthy otherwise, and is very sweet, in spite of the rough life he apparently has had. He was dropped of by a friend of a friend, who said he didn't know what happened to his head, as it was like that when his friend got the boa. Anyway, here he is. We call him Picasso.
http://photo.reptilehaven.net/albums/albus51/Free_Boa_014.sized.jpg

I know I look mad, and I am. There was no reason for this snake to be in this condition

[snakemann87]

awesome, hes really pretty. Nice what you do for snakes, i cant wait until i can. Is he feeding and everything for you?? Good luck with him.

[BWSmith]

I don't hink pretty would be the word I would use to describe him :(

[BoidKeeper]

Man that is terrible, he looks awful. Well I'm glad it is in capable hands now, good luck with him.
Trevor

[Tim_Cranwill]

That is truely sad and it makes me want to smack whoever did that with a hammer! :(

I hope he's still able to lead a decent life with those injuries. Best of luck to you both....

[Xetox]

Even if they do change it wont do no good, even now when they arrest someone in US for even the worst animal abuse crimes, they go to jail over night sometime most of the time they go for a hour, then are bailed and normally get a 500-1000$ fine.

They are a little bit harder on the dog fighting rings but not by much!

It really pisses me off to see a animal in that condition but its good to know that someone who cares has it now! Hope everything turns out alright for him!

[Matt]

Im glad you took it upon yourself to make sure he gets a proper home, you should be commended!
....plus, I love the name!!

[stormyva]

It really is a shame!
Glad you could be there for him :)

[BurmBaroness]

OK, now for the update after the vet trip. It was determined that this boa was bitten, in the nose, by a live rat. The vet removed the scab, which was the size of a quarter, and now there is a huge hole where his nose USED to be. It is badly infected, and the first round of antibiotics was started today. I say first round, because it will take 4-6 MONTHS before his nose heals. The upper right bone in his jaw is also infected, and if the antibiotics do not take care of that, the bone will have to be surgically removed. This snake is so sweet, he never got upset, not even when they cleaned out the hole where his nose was. It was estimated that he is 5-6 yrs old, and only 6ft. He is so thin that you can feel and SEE every rib. If he doesn't eat in 2 weeks, he will have to be force-fed. CASE IN POINT------DO NOT FEED LIVE!!

[Scales Zoo]

SCALES Zoo is home to Fang, a common boa that came to us as a rescue. He was formerly a stage prop for a "crackhead stripper" (their words, not ours) until he was "rescued" by an equally upstanding pair of people who wanted to see him kill something. He was bitten in the face by a live hamster, and refused to eat thereafter. These people brought him to the rescue in the back of a pickup truck, in November, in Alberta. The bottom had broken out of his aquarium during the drive. Lying among pieces of broken glass, with a huge festering abcess on his face, was Fang. In spite of his history, he still likes people. We spent $1000 we did not have to save this sweet snake. Infected bone was removed, and the wound cleaned daily for months. He still likes people, and is a testament to why we feed only prekilled prey.

[BurmBaroness]

Thanks, it's good to hear a story that turned out good. I will probably read it over and over in the next few months, when things are going good or bad. Thanks for sharing

Another update: He DID eat a med rat tonight. even tho he should have eaten a large one, I don't want to overdo it and cause a regurge.......God only knows when the last time he ate was, as you can see every rib in his body. Yeah, one strike on the good side!

[Xetox]

You all should be commended for what you did and are doing for those snakes! What you are doing is great!

[tightsqueeze]

:medstrung thats is so sad i am so happy that you took this apon yourself to help this gentle giant. BCI's are the altime favorite of my passion...i commende you

jay

[BurmBaroness]

Thanks for the nice comments. The reason I post these stories is so that someone, somewhere, might see it and say,"I sure don't want that to happen to MY snake, I think I'll stop feeding live."
EDUCATION is the key

[eclypse_boy]

It's people like you that make me say I love the people in this site. Not too often do people take on such big rescues and when they do I wish them all the best of luck. About the live issue I was one of those clowns at first till I realized how stupid I was being. Now I have friends come over and they beg me to feed my snakes live and I tell them only if they take the large rat out of the box with their mouth. No ones tried yet so it wont happen. Best of luck. Wes

[Linds]

Poor baby :( I don't understand how anyone could do that to such a beautiful, innocent animal. At least he's found his way to good home now :D It's remarkable how the abused ones seem to have the best spirits. Good luck with him, keep us posted on his recovery :thumbsup:

[tightsqueeze]

i always feed frsh killed or f/t
i used to have a BP that would only eat live but i have gotten her on to fresh killed now , and good thing to !

[Nanashi04]

your doing great, and I wish you all the luck in the world!

[reptilez]

Hope he/she keeps eating and good luck to him/her and you in the near future,
Happy herping.

[djnzlab]

Hi,
WHile we are talking about rat/mice bites please visit this post concerning the results of a python being consumed by the food.
It pretty gross be warned.
http://www.koalaskritters.net/livefeeding.html

I have read post about snakes dying from the toxic effect of the bacteria that can live in a rodents mouth , this toxin can kill the snake even if treated with antibiotics from a single bite any where on there body.
The one thing I ve learned is its very difficult to treat infection in reptiles it requires the right antibiotic and the right amount of heat. My Vet said you can load them up with antibiotics but the extra heat helps wake up the immune system to help the snake fight infections.
WHen a reptile is not at the right temp the normal flora can cause infection in the lungs, low temps cause the immune system to stop woking, so tropical snakes need the right amount of heat to have good health.
Good luck with that boa's i have seen them heal but there will always be a scar on his head.
On another subject that causes the BP's to be lunch is they can hibernate from Oct to May this occurs in Africa and may be triggerd by sun light stimulation( less day light and cooling of the homes ).
And with the wild caught and some 1 st& 2nd generations it will occur so presenting a live food item is going to result in bites to a lazy
python who wants to sleep off the winter. Once a python is bit its hard to convince them they can eat that food safely.
Most boa's returned and many pythons have scars when returned to petsore's for adoption..
Doug

[paolo_28]

Aww, feel sorry for Picasso, but atleast he's in better hands now!

Paolo.

[boa]

Glad to hear he is in a great home now best of luck with him.

[BurmBaroness]

Just an update: Picasso is doing very well, finished up his 1st round of amikacin last night, and the nose seems to be healing nicely. He had a few feeds on Med rats, which were a little small, but I didn't want to cause a regurge, as he was SO thin. Now he's taking large f/t rats, and is a very pleasant snake. I am optimistic for a great recovery, even though he won't be the cutest mug on the block...........lol.

[Mr Maggot]

Greatest of luck to you in your efforts. Sounds like he's in good hands. Keep up the good work! :)