Baby Ball losing weight NEED HELP

[Lizzytizzy]

We bought Noodle from a pet shop that I thought was a great shop. Locally owned, not a big box store kinda place. Well being new to snakes in general I soaked up every thing they told me. My BP looks the same as he did when we purchased him except he's bigger. He is very under weight. The shop told us he was to young to eat on his own and was being force fed and to bring him,back weekly for his feedings where they feed him pinkie mice. What can I do to help him gain weight?


Also he was in blue about a week ago and never shed, now his eyes look scaly or cracked. Humidity fluctuates between 55-70. Any help there??

[Bogertophis]

Pinkies are too small for him, it's not enough food, poor snake. I know you meant well but a new snake keeper getting a snake that's not feeding isn't a
great 'recipe' for success...but we'll try to help you all we can, unless you'd rather return him to the store. Honestly they shouldn't have sold him to you.
And there's no such thing as a snake that's "too young to eat on his own". Shame on them! If you keep him, it won't be easy nor can we guarantee your
success.

First: Have you checked him thoroughly for mites? wipe him with a damp white cloth & look for tiny moving specks, also check in his water bowl. You
should use plain white paper towels on the floor of his cage also, so you can easily check for mites or any other health issues (like bloody stool, etc).
If you find mites, let us know ASAP (unless you return him to the store, obviously).

He's in trouble with not enough humidity also...first thing, give him a "humid hide"- buy a plastic food container w/ snap-on lid that's large enough for him
plus a good supply of sphagnum moss (so probably 3-4 times his size to allow for the damp moss). You can use a very damp small towel if you can't find
the moss quickly (for now). Cut a doorway into the lid of the plastic container that's more than big enough for him to enter & exit easily.

How are you keeping him, anyway? To best help you, we need to know about his caging & temperatures (hi, low, ambient), kind of heat (regulated how?) etc.
How long have you had him? What is his hatch date? (his exact age?)

[Armiyana]

Lots of good points above! We can offer more help once we know what kind of setup you have. That will give us more info to help you reduce the snake's stress and get the little one eating well.

Otherwise....once he sheds... if it has been 4 or more days since his last force feed, you can try offering him a fuzzy mouse. I would avoid jumping directly to the small adult mice for the next two meals as you want to avoid a regurge after being fed so little as a meal.

Sometimes these little guys can be very fussy as well. So you may need to try something like a live fuzzy and then after a few live meals try some of the hairdryer tricks to switch back to frozen/thaw meal.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Do this to a T and I mean to a T https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

Do not take this animal to a petstore to be force fed or assisted especially pinkies, the whole concept shows are CLUELESS they are not to mention this

The shop told us he was to young to eat on his own

A/ The prey size is not a prey size that would ever be offered to a BP that's colubrid food
B/ The stress of the trip and this assist feed will only make it worse and food refusal will be a viscious circle.

[Craiga 01453]

Do this to a T and I mean to a T https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

Do not take this animal to a petstore to be force fed or assisted especially pinkies, the whole concept shows are CLUELESS they are not to mention this

A/ The prey size is not a prey size that would ever be offered to a BP that's colubrid food
B/ The stress of the trip and this assist feed will only make it worse and food refusal will be a viscious circle.

^^^^ this ^^^^

[Armiyana]

Actually, if you can post a couple photos of Noodle, that can be a big help!
Another concern is sometimes when little ones aren't eating enough they can get dehydrated very quickly. Looking back at your post, the wrinkled look can happen. With an underweight snake. But I do have that worry for your baby as well.

[Spoons]

Before feeding or attempting to, can we first see a pic of the little guy? And can you explain your housing? Cage, heat sources, thermostat, hidey huts, etc. A stressed out underweight snake with stuck shed isn't going to be likely to take food if he isn't comfortable and his tank conditions aren't right.

Ask me how I know, I am dealing with the same thing!

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