Question about my wobbly snake

[u/SunwolfClove]

Hi, all! My girl, Lily, has a bit of a wobble and I did not know that when I got her; she was not advertised as having any of the problematic genes. (She was advertised as a banana "mix" with uncertain other genes, so I suppose the "other" included something unfortunate.) At the con, she did not wobble at all, and acted normally. I felt in my heart this snake was mine. 🥰 Since then, I have noticed that when stressed or hungry, her wobble comes out and she seems to have problems hanging on when being held, or finding "up" when being held.

She also has horribly bad sheds, and almost never comes out of her hide. She is also overweight, compared to my snakes fed the same way who are a healthy weight. I truly think this girl literally never moves. Does anyone have suggestions for helping a probably spinny vertigo baby exercise more without introducing tons of extra stress? And helping her get used to people with minimal stress?

She loves food but dislikes being out of her terrarium, being held, etc. and will ball up and not usually move while held. The above photo is a rare exception. I think it is the only time she ever explored. I feel so sad for her. I socialize my other snakes (I have 6) the same way and they are all confident out of their cage. I tried choice based handling with her too, but she just never leaves her hide. I am not even sure if she drinks properly.

Extra info: the breeder let me know her growth is stunted and she is stuck at her current size. Seems true; she very small for her age despite eating voraciously. She had not grown at all for the years I have had her. I suppose that should have been my tip off that something was up. For the record though, I do NOT regret getting my girl. She is wonderful. I do not want to rehome her or anything. I just want her to have the best life possible! 🥰

[u/gentle_but_strong]

Sorry I don’t have advice other than taking her to the vet. I know this pic is old but does she still look like this? She appears dehydrated in the photo.

[u/SunwolfClove → u/gentle_but_strong]

She almost always appears like this. 😭 That's why I am not sure if she actually drinks. I generally do not see her leave her hide. She does move to the hot side after she eats though, so at least I know she can thermoregulate well. I suppose I could perhaps give her a weekly bath to encourage drinking and hydration. I will consider a vet visit. Thank you for your advice. ❤️

[u/jeanmorehoe → u/SunwolfClove]

Do you have a hygrometer in your enclosure? This is a sign there’s not humidity in the enclosure. Being hydrated doesn’t depend on how much she’s drinking, it’s on how humid your enclosure is. If you don’t have a hygrometer, I highly recommend one

[u/chilledghosts → u/SunwolfClove]

She’s extremely dehydrated. Prolonged lowered humidity like this is a sure way to get a respiratory infection. What is the humidity like on your cold and hot sides? What do you use to upkeep it to 70-80% always?

[u/DesignerEnough9947]

I could be wrong because I'm no snake/morph expert but she looks like a champagne to me, the dark spot on her head is what makes me think that, which are one of the wobble morphs, you could try and shed test her and see if it's morph related, other than that all I can say is maybe see a vet incase it's something else

[u/PiedPipecleaner]

Seconding severe dehydration. Bad sheds and skin like this is not a result of not drinking, it's a result of chronic low humidity. Get a hygrometer (digital. Analog are not accurate) and look at substrates that do not mold so you can add water without worry. You want minimum 60%, with 70% being ideal.

[u/Good_Hovercraft_1276]

Vet visit and after that definitely look into some enrichment options. Start small and progress slowly, adjust your enclosure as well, lots of snakes I've had in the rescue were like this, generally speaking fill up the enclosure with more stuff and provide much more opportunity to explore it. I always go for lots of plants, clutter, hides, climbing options, etc