In Need of Advice!

Hello Everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster, so I hope that I'm doing this correctly.

I was given a Ball Python yesterday from a family friend who no longer wants her. I have always loved BP's, but have never owned one. Thus how I wound up here! My concern is, she is severely malnourished. And I am definitely a beginner. She has in no way been cared for properly, that I can tell, and I absolutely want to get to helping her right away.

I have set up her glass tank exactly per the care sheet sticky thread on this site. Now, here are the problems:

1. They purchased her from the pet store about 6 years ago. She is very, very skinny and only about 2.5 feet long. She has never had anything other than f/t mouse fuzzies (1 every week or so, they said.)

2. She has...I'm not sure of the terminology, I apologize...old shed (?) all along the top of her, including her face. I was told that they do not remember the last time she had a full shed.

3.She is fairly active, and is so very sweet. Her tank is at the right temps right now on the basking side and the cool side, and the humidity currently is at 65%. (Is that okay?) I would weigh her for you, but she was apparently fed 2 mouse fuzzies before she came to me yesterday, and my understanding is that I can't handle her for 48 hours after eating...is that correct?

4. What size rodent should I be feeding her?? I'll head to the pet store today with your suggestions. (Also, when do I feed her again?)

5. How often do I feed her to get her to a healthy weight?

6. What do you suggest about the shedding issue?

If I need to clarify anything, please let me know and I'll be happy to do so. Thank you so much for your help!

Do you have a way to get her weight??

If not, that's OK...we can approximate the size food she needs.

Measure her at the thickest part of her, and give her a mouse/rat that is a little bigger round than she is at that widest point.

Humidity is a little high, but should (feel free to correct me) be fine. Temps at 91 and 79-ish??

Welcome to the site!

Stuck shed is the term you are looking for.

You want to feed her a rodent that is as big around as the widest part of the snake. For an adult that is probably going to be a small rat, mouse fuzzies are way too small.

Can you post a picture of the snake? That would help us determine how bad things are.

It is best to give a snake 48 hours to digest after eating, but a small amount of handling is ok. Especially after a meal that small.

You don't want to overdo things at first. The primary focus should be providing perfect cage conditions, and consistent feedings, even if the rodents are on the small side for her. I would keep the 7 day feeding schedule for now, then adjust it as you start to notice trends in her feeding/weight gain.

As for the shedding situation, a picture will help a lot. Depending on the severity we might suggest just leaving it until she sheds next time, or you might need to take steps to remove it now.

Here is how to post pictures:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

Humidity is a little high, but should (feel free to correct me) be fine. Temps at 91 and 79-ish??

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The OP's humidity is fine, I keep my cages at 60% all the time, The parts of Africa that BP's come from averages in the low to mid 70%'s

First I'am glad you have her. It sounds like she has had a very bad life. First at 2.5 feet she can eat larger prey, I would offer her a full size mouse, once a week. For the next several weeks, however as she gets use to a weekly feeding schedule, you will want to try and get her to eat a small rat. It may take a while to get her to switch over. So if she does not eat the rat give her a full size mouse. The biggest thing is to get her to eat as, from your description she is way under weight. As far as the shedding problem humidity is key. I keep my snakes in a rack system so humidity is not a big problem. So I will let someone else that has experience with keeping Bp's in an aquarium,give you some advice. Also welcome to the BP forum, I wish you the best with your new pet. Let us know how things are going with her.

Mephibosheth1: Thank you for the tip on measuring!! I will do that. And the cool side is at 78, the basking side is at 89. Is that good?

The Serpent Merchant: Thank you so much for answering! I will try my hand at posting a pic. I went ahead and weighed her. She was more interested in exploring (or getting away) than being still, but the scale continued to top out at 300g. Does that help?

Tigerhawk: Thank you! I'm really glad that I have her too. I just hope that I can help her. I feel better now though, after having heard from you guys! Thank you for that.

Okay, I'll try a pic...it's not the best, but hopefully you can get an idea. She wouldn't stretch out, but I'm hoping it helps. I think you can see the stuck shed (thank you for teaching me that!). If this doesn't work, I'll try again, lol.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psde148fa2.jpg

Temps look fine; like Serpent Merchant said the humidity is great too

I'll let everyone else chime in about the stuck shed issue; I don't have any experience with it, but I know others have. The main things I know is that when they start looking like they are going to shed is to get the humidity up to about 70-75%. I have my guy in a glass aquarium, and I use a spraybottle to dampen paper towels over the top of the cage when he sheds (in fact he just had his 4th successful shed with me today :D)

And be sure you have a thermostat....That's my main piece of advice for everyone

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LooptyLoo

Mephibosheth1: Thank you for the tip on measuring!! I will do that. And the cool side is at 78, the basking side is at 89. Is that good?

The Serpent Merchant: Thank you so much for answering! I will try my hand at posting a pic. I went ahead and weighed her. She was more interested in exploring (or getting away) than being still, but the scale continued to top out at 300g. Does that help?

Tigerhawk: Thank you! I'm really glad that I have her too. I just hope that I can help her. I feel better now though, after having heard from you guys! Thank you for that.

Okay, I'll try a pic...it's not the best, but hopefully you can get an idea. She wouldn't stretch out, but I'm hoping it helps. I think you can see the stuck shed (thank you for teaching me that!). If this doesn't work, I'll try again, lol.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psde148fa2.jpg

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Wow, are you sure that BP is 6 years old?

Adult mice are probably as big as you are going to be able to feed for now, maybe very small, small rats. Rodents that weigh around 45 grams should be appropriate.

The stuck shed is pretty bad. I would suggest giving her a nice soak in warm water (water temperature in the low to mid 80's, if it feels hot to you it is too hot for a BP) Fill a tub/container with water so it goes half to 3/4 of the way up the side of the snake and let her soak for 20-30 minutes. After that let her slither through a towel as you apply some pressure around her. This should remove most of the stuck shed. This process will also help rehydrate her if she is dehydrated.

Make sure that you keep her cage spot on, 78-82 F cool side, 88-92 F hot side 40%-60% humidity normally, 60%-80% humidity during shed.

Can you post a picture of her cage so we can make sure you have it setup correctly as well?

Mephibosheth1: That is so awesome about his 4th successful shed! And thanks again. I'll also remember to raise the humidity when she starts to successfully shed!

The Serpent Merchant: They gave me everything that they had saved from when they purchased her, including the receipt, which is dated 2007. My jaw hit the floor. They said they've had her for "about 6 years," and she "loves her fuzzies." They gave me a box of 6 little bitty frozen mouse fuzzies. And I will do the soak as you've mentioned here! When do you suggest I do that, with her having had (albeit a very teeny) meal yesterday morning? Also, I'm assuming at some point I will get bitten? Or are they as docile as I've read? (I'll take the bite, lol, it's worth it. Just curious!)

I will try to post a pic now of her cage. Right now it is set up exactly as they had it, except that I cleaned it. I am heading to the pet store this afternoon for her, so please let me know if I need to change anything or pick anything up. I know I need two thermometers, is that right? Also, the humidity has dropped to 56 (going by the digital hygrometer.) Is that okay? It has a screen top.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps66ffb049.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LooptyLoo

Mephibosheth1: That is so awesome about his 4th successful shed! And thanks again. I'll also remember to raise the humidity when she starts to successfully shed!

The Serpent Merchant: They gave me everything that they had saved from when they purchased her, including the receipt, which is dated 2007. My jaw hit the floor. They said they've had her for "about 6 years," and she "loves her fuzzies." They gave me a box of 6 little bitty frozen mouse fuzzies. And I will do the soak as you've mentioned here! When do you suggest I do that, with her having had (albeit a very teeny) meal yesterday morning? Also, I'm assuming at some point I will get bitten? Or are they as docile as I've read? (I'll take the bite, lol, it's worth it. Just curious!)

I will try to post a pic now of her cage. Right now it is set up exactly as they had it, except that I cleaned it. I am heading to the pet store this afternoon for her, so please let me know if I need to change anything or pick anything up. I know I need two thermometers, is that right? Also, the humidity has dropped to 56 (going by the digital hygrometer.) Is that okay? It has a screen top.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps66ffb049.jpg

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That really is sad.

You can give her a day or so before trying to remove the stuck shed.

56% is still fine, just don't let it get below 40%.

I would recommend replacing the hide(s) with 2 of these, they will make her feel more secure:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/small-hide-box

2 thermometers would be best. I would recommend getting one of these:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...3.jpg~original

They cost $12 at walmart, and measure 2 temperatures and humidity. Simply place the probe on the hot side of the cage, and the unit itself on the cool side.