Say Cheese!

Got my first Ball Python 3 weeks ago and finally got around to taking some pics. Just thought I'd share 'em. Enjoy. :)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ttyPattern.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...tyCloseup1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17.../BettyHead.jpg

very nice pattern

Is that the newly-hatched baby that hasn't fed yet? Has s/he had it's first shed? S/he does have a great pattern, very busy and nice white, but does look severely underweight. I would say after it has eaten a few times, get a fecal sample to the vet and have him/her checked out just to be sure.

If you aren't already, just leave the snake alone for a good week to two weeks, in a quiet, dark place. Has it eaten? Or have you not tried yet? I'd say a rat crawler(about 1.5 weeks old) or a mouse hopper/sm. adult would be a good size to start with. Definately feed them alive to get him eating and get some weight on the little guy/gal. I wouldn't even handle him until he's fed a few times and is in a gaining state of weight.

Good luck to you and the little one. Keep us posted on his progress.

I have to agree with everything Becky said. He looks underweight to me too. You should never see the spine of a bp (that last pic really shows it).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Is that the newly-hatched baby that hasn't fed yet? Has s/he had it's first shed? S/he does have a great pattern, very busy and nice white, but does look severely underweight. I would say after it has eaten a few times, get a fecal sample to the vet and have him/her checked out just to be sure.

If you aren't already, just leave the snake alone for a good week to two weeks, in a quiet, dark place. Has it eaten? Or have you not tried yet? I'd say a rat crawler(about 1.5 weeks old) or a mouse hopper/sm. adult would be a good size to start with. Definately feed them alive to get him eating and get some weight on the little guy/gal. I wouldn't even handle him until he's fed a few times and is in a gaining state of weight.

Good luck to you and the little one. Keep us posted on his progress.

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Yep... that's the one that hatched on 4/1. She was getting quite thin... and after several attempts at trying to get her to eat, she just wouldn't take it. So finally last night, I persuaded her a little bit and she took down a pinky.

She went right to her hide box after she ate, and then this morning I found her in her humid hide box... which she stayed in all day. I just got home and she was out and about. She looks much better already. I'll probably try another pinky in 5-7 days, and then finish up the rest I have and after that hopefully she'll have a little more weight on her; maybe bump her up to something a little bigger. Oh, and yeah... definitely a vet check too. :)

Oh... and yes she has had her first shed (a day or two after I brought her home... around the 12th I think). Almost a perfect one; eyecaps and all. Just a spot on her head that took a little longer to come off.

Awesome! :) Glad she ate for you and had a good shed. It's ok if a little piece of shed is left on, just so it isn't encirling the body. It will come off with the next shed.

Nice snake. :)
Normally I would suggest soaking to get the extra skin off. But with such a young snake, who is really not eating reliably, I would probably advise against doing that.

Pretty BP - and nice shots too.

What kind of camera are you using there?

Thanks! It's a Sony DSC-P9. All settings normal I believe, but I used the macro feature.