Took my baby girl to the vet today...

[patientz3ro]

I took Ajja to the vet just to have her checked out, more of a preventative check up than anything. She hasn't eaten since I brought her home on the 30th, so that was a concern. She IS a ball, though, so I wasn't ready to panic. My other concern was her size. The shop I got her from at the SD Reptile Show said she was about 6 weeks old when THEY got her from the breeder, which would put her at about 9-10 weeks now. I'm not 100% sure I believe she's that old. She's noticeably thin, but not sickly looking, if that makes sense. She's about 15in and weighs 66 grams. I was also told that all of the babies they were selling were feeding weekly on hopper mice. I'm not completely sure I believe that either. I'm not an expert by ANY means, but based on her length and girth, I feel like fuzzies are more appropriate. Now if I can just get her to eat one...

The other issue we found was mites. We only saw two on her and they were tiny, nearly microscopic. She's never gotten in her water to soak, so I hadn't seen any signs of them. Still, those have to be treated as well. Fortunately, husbandry hasn't been an issue in terms of temps or humidity, and she's got matching hides at both ends of her enclosure. For the time being, she's on white paper towels for substrate, and I'll make another attempt to feed her Monday night. The vet gave her metronidazole, both to take care of any parasites she might have (she was captive bred in the US, but better safe than sorry) and to stimulate her appetite. We're treating the mites with Frontline, once today and again in three weeks. Hopefully, we'll get the mite issue resolved pretty quickly. It DOES seem like we caught and started treating before it became a full blown infestation. With any luck, getting rid of those little demons and giving her the metro will get her feeding. To be fair, I have to admit that some of the fault, at least, is my own. I've been guilty of some rookie mistakes with her. Most notably, handling her when she hasn't been feeding regularly. That's being rectified as well. Keep your fingers crossed.

There are a few lessons here that I think are worth pointing out, even though the majority of the members here may already have known them.

1. Do the PROPER research. I was told Ajja was about 7-8 weeks old and eating hoppers when I got her. She might have been, but the fact is, I don't know for sure. I have no idea when the last time she ate was, and if that contributes to any problems she has now or in the future, it's my own fault for not verifying what I was told.

2. The frequently mentioned advice about not handling a new python until she's started eating regularly is repeated for a reason. While Ajja seems to genuinely like being handled, I'm not a snake psychologist. If she's awake when I put my hand into her enclosure, she nearly always will slither into my hand, but I still feel like a jerk for possibly contributing to her stress.

3. Go to the vet! I see a lot of questions here that are answered with some variation of that advice. Most often, it's a sick snake or some change that seems abnormal. I'd recommend going one step further than that. Go to the vet when you DON'T need to. An office visit and an exam should be well under $100. That's a pretty good price for a little peace of mind.

4. Husbandry cannot be overemphasized. The first answer to every "what's wrong with my snake" question is always about husbandry. Most of the time that fixes whatever the problem was. In addition to that, if your snake gets sick and your husbandry is already spot on, you've already eliminated one possible cause of the illness. You're already that much closer to finding a cause and fixing it, not wasting valuable time adjusting things that should have been addressed before the snake came home.


Like I said before, I'm by no means an expert on Ball Pythons, and most of you already know all of this. I just wanted to put it out there in case it helps even one snake.

-Ryan-