# Other Pythons > General Pythons >  Help

## matt&anndraea

This beautiful girl is so skinny  :Sad:  i need help she is said to be 8 yrs old she ate today when we got her home how can i get her to gain pretty sure she was neglected thank you in advance.

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## matt&anndraea

she is 36 inches long and can see her spine clear as day still learning we have expirence with iguanas but still learning snakes

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## tttaylorrr

welcome!
pictures of her and the enclosure, as well as sharing her husbandry, temps/regulation will help us help you. 😀

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## Stewart_Reptiles

Snake species? Pythons is pretty vague and knowing which species and placing the thread in the right category will help getting the appropriate answers based on experience people have with the particular species.

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_tttaylorrr_ (01-24-2017)

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## matt&anndraea

i have no idea species and heres enclosure she came with wan we mist twice a day rather than our iguana once 75-80 degrees not too sure how to post pics on the fourm

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## tttaylorrr

> i have no idea species and heres enclosure she came with wan we mist twice a day rather than our iguana once 75-80 degrees not too sure how to post pics on the fourm



How To Post Pictures

or download Tapatalk, a free app for smartphones. it allows you to upload images from you gallery.

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## matt&anndraea

trying to download she weighs 46.1 grams but she is eating im moving her to rats next week she was on pinkys from previous owners  :Sad:  i could kill someone right now the nerve of some people

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## matt&anndraea

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## matt&anndraea

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## matt&anndraea

Sand will be removed. This is what she came with 

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## matt&anndraea

Her widest spot

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## tttaylorrr

read through this post i've linked below: How to set up a Glass Tank

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show....php?p=2137110

good place to start for husbandry.

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## tttaylorrr

> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


she's a ball python. 😀

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## matt&anndraea

recommend glass or pvc?

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## cchardwick

That setup looks OK, I'd switch out the sand for coconut husk substrate like Ecoearth or Reptichip and keep it moist but not soaking wet.  You'll need a under tank heat mat with a thermostat set to 88F.  She should also be offered small rats once a week, she does look very skinny, should be eating weekly until she gets her shape back.  I'd say get some rats just smaller than the width of her widest spot to start.  You can do frozen thawed, just make sure they are thawed all the way through and warmed to about 110F before you feed.  Or you can do fresh killed using CO2, which I like the best.  I prefer not to feed live, but you can in a pinch if you need to.  Or you can do 3-4 adult mice about 10 minutes apart. 

I can't believe she is 8 years old, my snakes are that big at about one year old.  She should be triple that size.  I'd feed every 4-7 days for a full year, then once she is on bigger rats cut back to 7-10 days.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> trying to download she weighs 46.1 grams but she is eating im moving her to rats next week she was on pinkys from previous owners  i could kill someone right now the nerve of some people


Considering the size I would suggest to do this https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101 to a T until the animal reaches 200/250 grams. If the size is accurate having doubts considering your pics. If bigger the enclosure size will depends on the weight.

Do not feed 2 to 3 adult mice to a 46 grams snake if the snake is really 46 grams which I doubt given the size of your hand and the animal's body the prey would be smaller and you do not want to feed a starved animals too many preys.

First thing fing out how much this animal's weight. Second setup a proper enclosure get rid of the sand, have a heat pad, tight identical hides, digital thermometers, heat pad and thermostat.

Do not feed too much at once a neglected animal that has been severly underfed should be fed one appropriate size prey once every 5 to 7 days. (that's where knowing the weight and size is important)

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## matt&anndraea

OK scale mishap with a dummy here.  She's not that small lol. Oops. 

But she is just barely over a pound. Sorry for that mix up

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## tttaylorrr

> recommend glass or pvc?


i'd recommend pvc though i am currently using both glass and a T8 from Animal Plastics. both work fine for me, though the glass tank needed some tweaks when i first set it up. i shared the glass set-up advice so you could utilize what you have and get something up and running asap.

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## matt&anndraea

What about melamime

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> OK scale mishap with a dummy here.  She's not that small lol. Oops. 
> 
> But she is just barely over a pound. Sorry for that mix up
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


At barely over a lbs simply get her in a 15 quarts/32 quarts tub at the most, she is not ready for a permanent adult enclosure, the tigher the space the faster she will bounce back. Same thing you need proper temps, heat pad, thermostat, digital thermometer, tight hides.

Feed every 5 to 7 days for now and and only feed one prey (therr is a feeding chart in the husbandry forum).

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_tttaylorrr_ (01-25-2017)

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## matt&anndraea

Is there any possible way to tell age?  I thought saying 8 was really odd

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> Is there any possible way to tell age?  I thought saying 8 was really odd
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


Nope there is not, I have seen very small older animals due to improper care and failure to feed the animal approprietely, sex plays also a role in the size as males are much smaller (could very well be a male)

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