Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Blood Python — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Open-mouth breathing, wheezing, clicking, bubbling from the nose or mouth, or excess mucus — possible respiratory infection; see an exotics vet.
- Retained, patchy, or stuck shed (especially over the eyes) despite correct humidity, or repeated bad sheds.
- Discolored, blistered, sunken, or foul-smelling belly scales — possible scale rot from overly wet or dirty substrate.
- Refusing several meals in a row with visible weight loss, a sunken body, or lethargy (beyond a normal seasonal slow-down).
- Regurgitating a meal, straining, or a swollen/bloated body — stop feeding and seek veterinary advice.
- Tiny moving specks on the snake or in the water bowl (mites), or any wound, burn, or sudden behavior change.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Warm end / hotspot around 86-88°F (30-31°C). This species is heat-sensitive: keep ambient warm-side temps in the 78-82°F range and treat 85°F as the ceiling for the general warm area. Use a thermostat on all heat sources and verify with a probe thermometer, not the dial. Cool end 75-78°F (24-26°C). The gradient between warm and cool is what lets the snake self-regulate. A mild night drop into the low-to-mid 70s°F is fine and natural; do not let it fall to 65°F (18°C) or below.
- UVB & lighting
- Low / optional. Blood pythons are nocturnal-to-crepuscular and there is no proven UVB requirement, so they can be kept successfully without it. Modern best practice is that a low-output UVB bulb (a low Ferguson-zone lamp giving a UVI of roughly 1-2 at basking height) is a reasonable enrichment upgrade rather than a necessity. If you skip UVB, feeding whole rodents covers vitamin D3.
- Humidity
- 60-70% ambient, with many experienced keepers targeting around 60% average as the sweet spot. Too dry causes bad sheds and respiratory trouble; chronically soggy, stale, poorly ventilated air causes scale rot and infection. Aim for a large water bowl, a humid hide, and good airflow rather than constant misting.
- Enclosure
- Adult minimum roughly 48" L x 24" D (a 4 x 2 ft footprint, about 1,000+ sq in of floor space); a 6 x 2 ft enclosure is better for a big female. Height can be modest (12-24") since they are terrestrial, not climbers. A front-opening, solid-walled terrarium or tub holds humidity and helps a nervous snake feel secure.
- Substrate
- A deep (at least 4", ideally 4-6") layer of a moisture-holding but breathable substrate: cypress mulch is the keeper favorite; sphagnum moss, coconut husk chips, or peat blends also work. Spot-clean constantly and fully replace every few months. Avoid cedar and pine (toxic oils).
- Diet
- Strict carnivore fed appropriately sized frozen-thawed rodents. Hatchlings start on mice/small rats; adults eat large rats (very large females may take small rabbits). Prey should be roughly the girth of the snake, about 10% of its body weight, and no more than ~1.5x its widest point.
- Supplements
- Generally none needed when feeding whole, appropriately sized frozen-thawed rodents — a whole prey item supplies calcium and vitamin D3. Supplementation is not part of routine blood python care.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?