Rescue Rant and Information Request

[Productmur]

Oh, where to begin...

So, my friend got a ball python at a pet store two years ago, and since then not only has she acquired about twenty or so more animals (slight exaggeration, but just barely), but has also not much taken care of them. She's cleaned the tank maybe...3 times? I myself have cleaned it twice while I was over there because I couldn't stand the squalor conditions in which it was living. I've bought her mice because she's been on maintenance feed; I got her a 29 gallon tank as an upgrade from her 20 long, which isn't bad, but I wanted her to have more room--and they left it in their car for 6 months instead of carrying it upstairs for use; last time I was over, I noticed she had dented eye caps and a little stuck shed, so I soaked her, sprayed down her tank, and bought them sphagnum moss to use in a moist hide--which they didn't bother doing, either.

So, finally I got them to bring the poor gal over to me, saying I could clean her tank and feed her. And dear god, what a task! The aspen she was on was a solid, molding mat of poo and stuck shed pieces, and it smelled like rotting fish! x.x She was covered in stuck sheds, still has dented eyes, and was jumpy I assume from not being held, but it could've just been she can't tell what's coming at her. I spent an hour cleaning her tank, scrubbing it, and finally using a razorblade to get the crud from the stuck sheds, hard water, and poo off the sides. Then I spent an hour plus trying to clean her too-small water bowl with a razorblade as well, because it was SO caked with buildup that I thought the thing was BROWN--lo and behold, it's actually gray and black! Ended up giving her a different, bigger water bowl that I borrowed from one of my corns that may be gravid and doesn't need a large water bowl right now, anyway. I soaked her for a while during this cleaning process to help her get the stuck shed she still has off, and I think I got it all off, but I'll try again in a few days.

She is currently in the 29 gallon that I re-took from them and cleaned-up. She has that bigger water dish, which last time I peeked at her, she was soaking in. She is currently on the same paper bedding I keep my corns on (Eco Bedding--it's essentially shredded paper). She has a half-log hide, and I made her up a moist hide with the sphagnum moss and a couple of moist paper towels she can crawl through. Her tank is pretty bare at the moment, but I plan on fixing it up a bit with a climbing stick at least, maybe a few other things (any ideas?). I covered half of the tank to try to give her some privacy, since I'm sure she's been through a lot today. They last fed her two weeks ago, and while tomorrow is feeding day for my snakes, I'm going to let her settle in for a few days before I try to feed her, weigh her, and take pictures of her (not in that order). I really wish I had taken a picture of her stuff before I had cleaned it!! It was so ridiculous! But all I could think was "dear god, I need to clean this". How can someone let their pet's home get that bad?? :/

Anyway, I'm here not just to rant, but I'm also seeking a little insight on care for her. I've never personally owned a ball python (a lot of my friends have, though), and I have two corns, but I know their care differs. I already read about basic care--temperatures and the like. I'll have to get a thermometer/hygrometer for her when I can. But how often should she be fed, and what size prey (I only do frozen/thawed, so no worries there), or is that something you guys need the weight for? She's pretty thick around (could be I'm used to colubrids), but I can see her spine sticking up a bit. Anything else I can do for her eyes? Any other little info tidbits would be awesome and welcome. Thank you all in advance, and I promise to get pics of the little gem for you guys when I can. :]

[Badgemash]

Thank you for taking her in, it just makes me feel sick inside when I read things like this.

Key points, give her a warm hide and cool hide that are both pretty snug, the half logs sometimes don't give them a secure enough "safe zone." For food you can go off body width (they will definitely look porky compared to corns) or feed a prey item between 10-15% of body mass. Keep that humidity up and hopefully she'll have a good shed next time.

[Productmur]

Thanks. I'm hoping she does. :] But I don't know if I get to keep her. I'm hoping their sheer laziness will stop them from taking her back, but I'm technically only borrowing her for as long as I can. Would like to get one good shed and a couple good meals in her, at least.

Should I give her a smaller meal at first? Just in case she's underfed?

I'm also throwing out "her" a lot, but I don't actually know. Saw some pretty good-sized spurs on "her". Of course, from what I understand, the presence of spurs does not necessarily mean male. -shrugs- I'll take her to one of my friends to get her sexed later.

[MootWorm]

Dear lord, that poor girl. Again, thank you so much for taking her in. Definitely do what Badgemesh said. I like making my own hides from dollar store plastic bowls. Yay for cheap cage furniture! I like the accurite thermometers. I'd feed her smallish meals to start, you can't be 100% certain she was actually fed 2 weeks ago... I would definitely clutter her cage up with crumpled newspaper or fake plants if you want to get creative. Best of luck with her, I'll be looking forward to pics of her speedy recovery

[Jamesv85]

i WOULD PRETEND SHE DIED AND GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO TREAT HER RIGHT...

[Productmur]

So, saw her cruising around, slipped my hand in the tank and let her crawl on me. She's a curious sweetheart. Weighed her while I had her out: 604g. I'm assuming that's low? I'm pretty sure I've seen yearlings advertised with that weight.

[MootWorm]

That's definitely low for a two year old. I've got a 7ish month old at that weight.

[Productmur]

​That's a LOT more behind than I was expecting! Jeez! O.o

[Archimedes]

I wouldn't panic, my male yearling was only 450g at his first birthday and he's never refused a meal, so she could just be a slow grower. If she is in fact female though, she definitely needs a few real good meals. Thank you so much for 'borrowing' her, here's hoping you don't need to take her back! You mentioned that the original owner has 20+ more animals, are they all in this same state of neglect? Because that reaches a level of criminal if the aspen was literally a sheet of feces and mold.


Sent from my cool hide

[Productmur]

Archimedes, her aspen came up in solid sheets with a dust pan. It was just gross. And I know I bought them bedding.... The other animals include: 8 mice, 1 rat, 2 cats. I actually gave them a breeding pair of mice so that they would have food (I was breeding mice for my snakes at the time), but obviously they aren't using the offspring. The rodents probably are living in crap conditions, but the cats are decently kept. And judging by the spine on her, I'm going with she's not just a slow-grower. It's apparent, but not scary.