New ball python, simple questions

[lookout4theyeti]

Hello, Im new to the boards and am glad i found a forum for these snakes... Im a member of a ton of car forums and bird forums and love them so i was glad to stumble on this.

Anyways, I just picked up a ball python about a week and a half ago from petco. Yes i know i should have gone through a breeder, but i took a look their and talked to their reptile expert, and she was very knowledgeable, and repeated to me almost everything I had found on the web as far as husbandry for snakes. I was impressed, and the ball python was active, bright, his tank was clean, and he was eating.

Anyways, My only concern was how skinny he looks. I did some searching and saw that another member had this problem and everyone kinda agreed to just keep feeding every 5 days and keep an eye out.

I fed him coincidentally 5 days after i got him, and fed him today (5 days later). He has normal eating habits, and i didnt have any problems getting him to eat either time. He is active and aware of his surroundings, flicks his tongue, and is comfortable with handling. His humidity is about 55-60% in his tank, and heat on the cold side is 80 with a uth and 90-92 on the warm side with a heat light. Everything seems good with him, other than he is so skinny.

Here is a pic to show you guys



Should I just keep up with the every 5 day feeding, or be concerned? He seems very young still. The only thing i didnt like was the lady was unsure of exactly how old he was. Hes about 16-17 inches long (best measurement i could get without him moving lol) and is eating small fuzzy mice about the same size around as he his.

Thoughts?

[xdeus]

Hi and welcome to the site!

I'm glad you're taking the time to set up your snake correctly and get him healthy. He does look a little skinny which may mean that they weren't feeding him very often at Petco, but as long as he's eating regularly and isn't showing other signs of stress he should be okay. I'm sure with a 5 day schedule he'll get up to size in no time. You may want to bump up the food size to a small or even medium mouse. Also, check out his defecations. They should be firm and not runny. It is possible that he has parasites so if he has runny stools or if he isn't gaining weight a vet visit with a fecal sample would be in order.

Good luck!

[Snakeman]

welcome!!

well i glad you found someone that knows snakes. he might be skinny because he's most likely dehydrated as i see baggy skin. for feeding techniques i cant really say but im sure someone with more experience will jump in. one thing you're missing though is an acurite digital thermometer.you can,hopefully,find them at your local walmart for $12. they're better than the gauges at petco because sometimes the gauges will display incorrect temps and can screw up the setup. the acurites are digital and can measure both temps and humidity on both sides of the tank.

cool snake and welcome to BP.net!!

[Lucero87]

I got my BP from Petco too and mine was around as skinny as yours was it seems to be alrite for it's size and you might want to feed it small adult mice of fuzzy rats...make sure that the meal makes a bump on your snake, if those are two big then feed it like two or three of the pinkies at one sitting even though that's not convinient because it takes alot of energy for them to take them down. But atleast yours is eating mine didn't eat for about 2 weeks when i first got him so i think you should be fine...mine was around 10" when i got him and now atleast 42"+. good luck he looks good!

[lookout4theyeti]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone...

He did have one runny poo when i first got him home, but hes gone twice since then and they both seemed fine... Kinda wierd huh? I just assumed the first was due to stress of a new enclosure and such, but we'll see. The 15 day guarantee also says that if i notice something wrong, they will schedule a free vet visit for him, so i suppose i could do that if need be, but i checked him as best i could for mites and didnt see anything...

[xdeus]

He did have one runny poo when i first got him home, but hes gone twice since then and they both seemed fine... Kinda wierd huh?

He defecated three times in a week and a half? I'm not sure if that's indicative of a parasite problem, but it is unusual. They should go about once every 1-2 weeks, but young snakes may only go once every month or so. I'm not trying to frighten you and he's probably fine, but it's something to keep an eye on.

[lookout4theyeti]

He defecated three times in a week and a half? I'm not sure if that's indicative of a parasite problem, but it is unusual. They should go about once every 1-2 weeks, but young snakes may only go once every month or so. I'm not trying to frighten you and he's probably fine, but it's something to keep an eye on.

yea he went twice after the first time i fed him. once either the day after or two days after, and then again just the other day, and i fed him again today like i said

[Snakeman]

yea he went twice after the first time i fed him. once either the day after or two days after, and then again just the other day, and i fed him again today like i said

well like they say....when you gotta go, you gotta go

[DSGB]

move him up to either small hopper mice or rat pups. when i got my ball from petco he was skinny but after 3 good meals he plumped right up.

and also do you have any hides in the tank?? they should have identical hides on the hot and cold sides.

[lookout4theyeti]

Yea sorry i didnt post up full pics of the tank... its a 20 gallon, uth on cool side, heatlamp on warm... i have a hide on the cool side, and am goin tomorrow to pick up the warm side hide (this was one thing i was unaware of when buying him). Then i have the water dish he can get in and drink from and some fake greenery