Got a free ball python, and it's rather undersized...

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

It might have been one of those things where a kid owns a goldfish that's 5 years old. :rolleyes:

Mom and Dad might have pulled a fast one on the kid.

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I dont know- my frineds mom has a goldfish, and some angel fish, that are seriously about 21 years old. I know- crazy, huh? lol

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Originally Posted by starmom

The triangular body shape suggests a very underweight snake. It is important that you get food into him!

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While the snake is thin, it's not life threateningly thin from what I see. Yes, you'll want to start feeding it on a regular weekly schedule. Yes, you'll want to get it checked by a vet and get a fecal done to check for parasites. No, it doesn't look like it's going to die tomorrow without food.

Hope this helps!

If he is two months old that means they just recently bought him, hardly enough time to get "bored". Unless it was a gift or something and the parents were against the idea, and even then I don't see why they would claim they had it for 2 years. They could be mistaken but that just seems so very odd.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

While I do not doubt you I seriously doubt this BP is 2 years old 18 inches and 144 grams.

This BP is likely couple of months old at the most.

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That's what I was sure of, but they were also positive they got him two summers ago, after their dog died... Maybe that first one died and the parents bought a replacement without the kids knowing? :\ Who knows... (This kid is a junior in high school though, not a little kid! Might be hard to 'pull a fast one' on him... But I really hope it's just a young snake!)

I ordered regular adult mice, and some jumbo adult mice for later. Eventually, if things work out, I'll switch over to rats.

The poor little guy is half the weight of my bearded dragon... He's still got a good strong grip and is active and alert at least, I'm sure he'll pull through anything!

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Originally Posted by Ivyna J Spyder

They said they fed him once a week, but it does sound quite suspicious to me judging by his weight.

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I am in no way saying that he was well cared for, but i will say that i had a '06 that at the time i sold her(about a month ago), she was only a mere 200 grams... but i did feed her appropriate sized rats, and weekly. but she was plump, not triangularish like that.

Are there any behaviors I should look out for with this guy? I know if they're active during the day a lot, or if they soak in their water a lot, those can be bad signs...

But anything else to watch out for? Maybe a checklist if 'good, happy BP behavior' and 'sick, unhappy BP behavior' XD (Though I suspect the only thing on the 'good' side is 'sits in hide all day, comes out once a week to eat' :P )


It's just without the personal experience with BPs it's very hard to judge what's 'normal' or not...

I agree with Jamie. While the snake looks thin, it doesn't look emaciated and on the verge of death.

I would definitely get that fecal done though, then I would sterilize the bejeezus out of that enclosure and all the stuff inside.

My second snake was at least a year old, but only weighed 165g. They only fed the poor thing mice pinkies. If you feed appropriate sized prey items, you should see good growth (unless there is a problem with parasites or protozoa)

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Originally Posted by jglass38

While the snake is thin, it's not life threateningly thin from what I see. Yes, you'll want to start feeding it on a regular weekly schedule. Yes, you'll want to get it checked by a vet and get a fecal done to check for parasites. No, it doesn't look like it's going to die tomorrow without food.

Hope this helps!

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I never said it was on the edge of life. It does have a poor body shape suggesting a very underweight snake. I also suggested feeding right away- as opposed to waiting 2 weeks to offer food...:O

I have an egg almost that size lol.. 120g