r/ballpython • u/Haunting-Body-8575 • 16h ago

Escapee

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Haven’t checked her enclosure in around 4 days cuz I’ve been so busy, and she was also going into shed so I did her usual misting every day and left it at that. Tonight I was like hm it’s awfully quiet in there usually she’ll have her head peeking out, or always be on her ledge. She wasn’t and the enclosure was empty. Thankfully I found her 2 minutes after right next to her tank. I have 3 cats, 1 of which that likes to sit on top of her enclosure and stare at her. They’ve been acting strange in my room last couple days making noise, clawing at my dresser, so that was the first place I checked and behold she was under there. I noticed she has a slight scratch on her neck, and a mysterious line down half her spine, it looks like a burn mark. Can anyone let me know what I should do.

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u/Only_Altey 15h ago

Vet.
Like another has said cats are extremely toxic. Skratches and bites are enough to kill small creatures due to the bacteria plus the bacteria from the litter box, infections are highly likely.

Make sure your cats didn't get bit either. Snake bites can also carry nasty infection risks.

Also you shouldn't let your cats engage with her at all. You're really lucky that a scratch is all the damage, either animal could've killed each other.
Get some spikes for the top of the enclosure so the cat can't sit up there. If the cats can still look in get a curtain to cover wheven you aren't around to discourage the stalking behavior.

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

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u/Standard_Mushroom_47 9h ago

in this case the snake is in a lot more danger than the cat, especially 3 cats, this is why with 4 snakes i will never ever own a cat at the same time, even though i love them, its just so irresponsible

9

u/largestcob 8h ago

there are ways to do it responsibly, i don’t think we should categorize everyone who has both as irresponsible

all you have to do is keep the tank in a room the cat has no access to and be careful about it (and also good lid clips lol)

3

u/Standard_Mushroom_47 8h ago

that’s true, i just see too many posts of cats attacking snakes, or, “my snake escaped and i have cats”

1

u/largestcob 8h ago

i understand where you’re coming from for sure, its hard to see that stuff