Boa Rescue (Very Graphic Pics)

We took in a boa rescue today. I drove to Clinton to get it and a black and white tegu that the owner no longer had time for. He wasn't asking anything for them other than for them to go to a good home and not to try to flip them. I said we could help and went to pick them up. The tegu is in generally good health, a little thin, and pissy as it can be (I will be referring to both of them as "it" right now because I have not had time to even think about sexing them, though we think the tegu may be a female). The boa is not so lucky.
The guy told us that the snake was left in its cage with a feeder rat for almost a week because it normally eats two rats and had finished the first one so he put the other one in. And left it... Needless to say it has some terrible wounds on it's back and about an inch of the skin on the tail is missing. What I was not aware of was the mite infestation, horribly skinny (I seriously doubt it ate last week as the guy told us), probably two layers of dead skin including the eye caps, and extremely dehydrated. He put the boa in a bag before I really had the chance to get a look at it and I was in a hurry to get back home. Even if I had noticed it at the house, I would have had to take the poor animal anyway to get it out of there, I would have just handled it alot differently and alot more carefully. So here I am sitting on my front porch with this poor animal because I am still trying to work with the mites to just make me comfortable enough to bring it in the house.
We started by treating a tote with Proventamite and letting it dry so we could put the snake in it and hopefully kill some of the mites off. Right now we are soaking it to hopefully loosen some of the dead skin, remove more mites, and allow it to drink. It has been drinking for the last hour and is not showing signs of letting up any time soon. I doubt it has had any water in at least six weeks or so. Once I have given it enough time, I will start working on the wounds.
These are pics of the tubs after we took the boa out. You can clearly see all the mites.


Here are pics of the head. The eyes are pretty much completely clouded over right now. I will have to see if we can get the extra skin off or it may lose it's eyesight completely.



Here are pics of the wounds and the tail.



And finally the whole snake.


In the last two pics the snake is in the water and started drinking. That was almost an hour and a half ago and it is still drinking. It is amazing this poor creature is still alive. Gina and I will do everything in our power to keep it that way, and we have already been offered medical supplies and advice from some of our good friends on the forums. I am mostly posting this as a reminder why we don't leave live prey items in with our snakes. Some people think it's cool to watch the kill, but remember that in the wild the snake doesn't always win, so you shouldn't expect it in captivity either. At the suggestion of QuietTempest we are naming it Una, a Hopi word for "remember". Thanks for looking and for all the help and advice. We will be keeping everyone updated.

i couldn't take a snake like that. I would kill the owner and go to jail for it......

There is absolutely no excuse for allowing an animal to endure this kind of neglect and maltreatment. I'm so glad you guys are caring for it now because I really doubt it could have survived much more neglect. I do think you can salvage this poor snake and I applaud your efforts. I just wish they weren't necessary.

Hope all goes well, the story & pics. made me cry. I have 6 boas & tomorrow I may have #7, so I really hate to see one like that. I can't give you much advice, none of mine are or have ever been in that shape. I can only give you a great big "long distance" hug & an even bigger THANK YOU!!! for taking on such a heart breaking project. If you need further assistance in medical help I would be very happy to send a donation. Maybe everyone reading your story could help in that way. Just give me an email or a pm & let me know. I think my email is in my profile, I will go & check. Please let me know, I do want to help you & Una. Good luck.

I just wanted to cry when I opened the snake bag!! I couldn't believe the condition I was looking at !! I really hate that people don't think about the fact that animals are at our mercy especially when we have them in tanks and cages and out of their natural habitat. The least they deserve is correct care and feeding if nothing else!! We have had some experience with animals in poor shape from when I worked at a pet shop a few years ago. However I have never seen anything this bad!! Thank you soo much for the kind words and love!!! It really means a lot that we have others around us that care!!! I really do hope that this story does make someone take a step back and think maybe I could give my snake, lizard, cat, dog ect....better care than what they are getting!! This will be a long and hard recovery but I will keep everyone updated with breakthrough as well as other issues that might show later on!! Thanks again!!

I would have called animal control and tried my hardest to get the for animal cruelty. If that were a lovable dog that was in that condition, a person would have been burnt at the stake by activists and animal control units.

Im know you two can turn this snake around and make it healthy again with no doubt in my mind... But like sandy said, it should never be nessasary for an animal to have to be nursed back to health.

O.K. So I spent about two hours today peeling of the first layer of dead skin from the snake. I took alot of the mites with it and think that with a few more treatments and a few more soaks, we will have the mite problem taken care of. Still needing to work on the head and the eye-caps. I am very concerned about it's eyes and not sure it can even see now. I will soak it again tomorrow and hopefully be able to work on the eyes more after that. I don't want to stress it too much at once. I will try to gets some new pics up tomorrow. Thanks again every one.

When I had an eyecap issue I used a rubber finger (like postal workers and filing clerks would use) and it came right off.

Looks like this:

http://www.dinodirect.com/Electronic-DIY-Anti-Static-Rubber-Finger-Cots-10-Gross.html

Gina and I were able to remove one of the retained eye caps today and clear a good part of the other. Una also took a small gerbil for us tonight so were optimistic that the feeding response has not been totally destroyed. We did have to actually put it in the mouth but I can live with that for now. Anyway, here are some pics of the skin and mites I peeled off last night.


These are a few pics I got after the skin came off.



And finally a few pics of Una's first meal with us.



We also started on the second layer of retained skin from the rest of the body tonight. I am hoping this is the last one but im not sure yet. There may be layer number three under there somewhere. we just keep plugging away at it.

wow, awesome job, she is starting to actually look like a boa now! I hope the snake continues to do better

She looks so much better that I can actually say she is pretty! Keep up the good work.

Well I decided to try feeding Una again and she very quickly grabbed a small rat out of my hand and then a medium rat!!! YEAHHHHHH!!!!! She is on the right track to recovery!!!

This was the small rat!


This is the medium rat!

Awesome Gina! I can't wait to see her improve even further!

Oh and don't mind her skin she is shedding again...lol. I will be soaking her tomorrow.

It's great to see her doing so well!

Glad to see she is so far along on the upward trend--I just know she's gonna keep getting better and better--how could she not with you guys doing everything you can for her?!

Anxiously following this thread. Hopefully, these are all signs that she is on the mend. Well done.

I don't think I have ever seen a mite infestation that bad! With food, water, no mites, and a few good sheds it will be interesting to see how she changes and improves.

Please keep the updates and pics coming... And thanks for all you are doing.

Any updates?

She ate a medium rat and a small rat last week and kept it down. Hopefully she will start putting some weight back on. I'll get some pics up soon!!