please help

[janis]

i JUST bought a baby ball python yesterday and i think its to small for its age although the guy didnt know the exact age he said its around 5 months old but its really small. so i bought it hoping i can take care of it better than he aparently can. the snake is the size of my fingers to my elbow. and very skinny. is this right? he said he was feeding it pinkies so i bought some and the baby ate 2 of them last night. please help! thank you!

[Daybreaker]

I need pics to see the condition of the snake.

Pinkies as in rat or mouse pinkies? Mouse pinkies are WAY to small for a BP, hatchlings can take adult mice out of the egg. Rat fuzzies may be okay if your BP is insanely small (haven't seen a rat fuzzy in person though), but as mentioned pics are needed.

[mues155]

Pictures would help maybe take a couple photos of him next to something for scale, a sharpie, etc. And it would be a good idea to invest in a digtal scale that reads in grams. You can buy one at your local store for around $20.
Its important to record his growth rate in grams once a month to make sure hes gaining enough weight.
You can feed him every 5 days and see how he does. Until then pictures will tell if hes thin.
Good Luck

[janis]

this is the only pic i have so far i dont really want to bother him or her yet but i can post a pic of the set up i have him/her in if that helps to...

[The Serpent Merchant]

ok, first off it looks like he is in shed so you will need to provide humidity levels between 60% and 80%.

he is thin, and small if he really is 5 months old (but I doubt that is actually the case)

You should weigh him and feed him rodents that weigh 15% of his body weight. (I would say mouse hoppers or rat pups at his size)

A pic of the set up would be greatly appreciated.

[mues155]

looks a little on the thin side but he looks very dry and possibly dehydrated.
Soak him in a half inch or an inch of warm water in a container (obviously one he can breathe out of) for about 15 minutes. This should help loosen some of that shed and help hydrate him. I would repeat a warm soak again the following day and then see how he looks.
And I would say that snake could eat rat fuzzies no problem, or mouse hoppers.

[The Serpent Merchant]

looks a little on the thin side but he looks very dry and possibly dehydrated.
Soak him in a half inch or an inch of warm water in a container (obviously one he can breathe out of) for about 15 minutes. This should help loosen some of that shed and help hydrate him. I would repeat a warm soak again the following day and then see how he looks.
And I would say that snake could eat rat fuzzies no problem, or mouse hoppers.

if he is actually in shed this could actually be detrimental. I would focus on getting the humidity up, and then go from there.

[RobNJ]

No ball python will eat adult mice out of the egg, that's far too large.

Your snake looks a little on the thin side, I'd just feed him something a bit larger. Probably fuzzy rat or hopper mouse, though it's hard to gauge its size by your pic. Try to feed it something equal in size to the thickest point in its body.

[mues155]

if he is actually in shed this could actually be detrimental. I would focus on getting the humidity up, and then go from there.

detrimental in what way?

[The Serpent Merchant]

No ball python will eat adult mice out of the egg, that's far too large.

I wouldn't say that, I haven't hatched one, but I did get one that was 3 weeks old and he was pounding adult mice already