I've got a couple Newbie questions!

[pandoravalo]

I just purchased a young ball python from a craigslist ad. The previous owners didn't have time to spend on him. When I got him he was finishing up a really bad shed. I'm a first time BP owner so I did my research and got his eyecaps and some head shed off through soaking and a little mineral oil but one eye is still funny looking, like half the cap came off or something and there are still a few scales here and there hanging on. Should I be concerned or just let them come off with the next shed?

Also they previous owners told me they were feeding him one medium adult mouse every 10-14 days. According to them he's a year and a half old, but I think he looks a too small and underweight compared to other balls I've seen. I'm not sure of his exact weight yet, but he's almost 2 feet long. They fed him the day I picked him up so I've waited a week to feed him again (feeding him tomorrow) should I continue feeding this size mice and what frequency of feeding would be best for him?

Thank you!
Here's a pic of him (not the best quality)

[Vypyrz]

to BP.net..

Just wait till the next shed for the eyecap. If your husbandry and humidity are good then it will come off.
As far as what size of prey to feed, it should be about as big as your snakes largest girth or 10%-15% of it's body weight. You can feed every 7-10 days. There are some good care sheets that you can print off and keep for a quick reference. There is also a "Search" function located in the dark blue header bar at the top of the page which will pull up hundreds of threads on just about any topic, or you can just ask. As you can see, there is almost always some members on here....

[Kaorte]

Vypyrz is right on. Don't mess with the eyes anymore, it will come off with the next successful shed.

He does look a little small for his age. I would start feeding him an adult mouse every 5 days and put a little weight on him. 10-15% of the snakes body weight is a good rule to use for a growing snake.

[pandoravalo]

Thanks so much for the fast and insightful responses! Good news! all of the shed is off and only the partial eyecap remains. I just fed him tonight and he ate like a champ! He actually downed two medium f/t mice. I think his body size requires an adult instead of a hopper. His respose to the first was almost instant, then he went into his hide. I layed a second in the tank thinking if he wanted it he'd come get it in an hour or so, but the little guy was hungry! came out almost instantly and gobbled the thing up As the prey to girth ratio goes I think it's best to move his meals up a size. The previous owners said they always fed him live. What is everyone's opinion on live mice? I would keep a close eye on the situation naturally, but if he has such a good response to f/t should I continue the trend? or was the poor boy just soooo hungry?

[Vypyrz]

Congrats on the feeding. Personally, if he takes F/T, I would stick with it. It may have been because he was just really hungry, or he doesn't care. When feeding F/T, some will eat them just laying there, mine require the rats perform the dance of the dead so feed tongs are required for that. I would advise getting some in case you need them in the future. It's not a good idea to put your hands in the tank with prey in them. Your snake is thinking," If it looks like food and smells like food, and it has a heat signature..."

[pandoravalo]

Thanks for the advise Vypyrz. yeah, I used feeding tongs with the first mouse, dangling it in front of him and he went for it in a heartbeat. I made sure to rub the mouse in there a little bit before hand so he seemed to pick up the scent right after I put him in. The second mouse I just laid in there was really a surprise! I didn't think he would come back out of his hide as fast as he did for it :-P

[Swingline0.0.1]

I never rant so here I go, sorry to hijack this thread. Most of the time when people say they don't have time to care for a snake that is on Craigslist, that is such a cop out! Snakes do not take tons of time, you don't have to feed it and brush it and take it potty all the time! I wish people would just say "I don't WANT to care for it anymore." At least that would make sense. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

[Patricia]

I got our snake from Craigslist too. The prior owner was clueless, as was I, so I continued what they were feeding: 1 hopper mouse a week. Then I discovered this forum and learned that hoppers are for hatchlings, and that a snake several months old should be on much more substantial meals. I increased the size of the mouse, then went to 2 mice per meal, and our thin snake filled out nicely.

Having a gram scale helped tremendously. I go according to prey weight and it's worked out well. Good luck to you!

[CeeJay]

At some point you want to think about switching to rat pups. If the snake is able to eat an adult mouse then it should eat a rat put. The reason being, when a BP is full grown you want to be able to feed it rats equal to its size. Mice only grow to a certain size. If the BP only eats mice then you will have to give it multiple mice rather than one rat. Its just an easier way to go.

The sooner the better. As Bps get older they get used to certain meals and its tough to make the switch. I found out the hard way. My 1100g female normal will only eat mice. Its a pain.