Well I wasn't planning on getting a ball python til I moved out of my parent's house at least, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity! A neighbor kid was giving his away for free, with a 20 gallon tank and all accessories. So I went over to get it this Saturday. The snake is docile, eats well according to them, and has no wounds, signs of URI or other illness...

BUT! (There's always a but... Especially with 'free' animals.)

For one, they never took him to the vet. And he is rather undersized. They got him from a Petco around 2 years ago... And I weighed him today and he's a mere 144 grams and 18 inches. But not emaciated by any stretch- he just seems to be very small.

They fed him live adult mice, which can be okay but... They apparently used to feed him mice they caught from outside! So I'd bet money this guy is chock full of all sorts of nasty parasites- which may help account for how small he is. They said they fed him once a week, but I dunno, something seems off. Maybe they were feeding too small stuff for too long? As soon as he's settled in and eating so I can get a stool sample I'm taking him to a local vet.

Because it was hard enough to convince my mom to let me take him, I'm going to be trying to switch him to f/t and I've ordered some from Big Cheese Rodent Factory. But if he really won't, I'm sure I can get him to eat live still... But I bet he just didn't like the nasty frozen feeders they tried from Petco. Yuck.

Here's a pic I took of him with some stuff for reference...



And here's the tank he came with. I have changed nothing yet, except to stick in some digital thermometers/hygrometers, cover most of the top with plastic wrap to hold humidity in, and to cover the sides with dark foam sheets so he'll hopefully feel more comfortable. Thankfully, because he came with his old home with familiar sights and smells, the move hasn't been too traumatic! But I still need to add some decent hides and maybe take out that gigantic water dish... I also need to get a UTH. It's all currently on the way in the mail!


I will definitely be changing things in here! More, better hides, and lots of fake plants for cover.

I use a temperature gun to measure the temps... It's around 90 under the light and around 75-80 throughout, overall seems too cool... I hope once I get the UTH I can raise the temps all around some more.

I plan to try feeding him this week once the feeders come in.

So, any recommendations? I've been leaving him alone except to weight him once and to change his water bowl and such. Is he really scarily small for his age or is it not too bad? Will he be able to catch up? It doesn't seem like they neglected him so why would he even be so small...? I'll find out more from the vet in a few weeks I suppose...

(I do have some experience with herps- I've had a bearded dragon for 3 years, and I've had leopard geckos and currently have a crested gecko, but snakes are new to me.)