Very skinny ball python

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Originally Posted by Sargentnoid

Small update he still hasnt eaten on his own but I did get a nice one piece shed from him today

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That is awesome, that means you sure are doing things right !!!

Many don't want to eat right before or during a shed, anyway. So try again tonight or tomorrow.

I think this little guy has a bright future with you as the dedicated owner :)

Since this guy has had a couple meals now (assist fed) I decided to go a bit longer trying to get him to eat before doing it again I've tried f/t fuzzys and live hoppers (even left a live hopper in overnight and this morning he was moving arond his tub and the hopper was still there) but he just pays no attention to them so I've been doing more reading and came across people talking about braining fuzzys to get snakes to feed and since I'm stuck at work for a while longer I figured I'd see what people thought about this with nothing else working I'm about ready to try anything

My extremely fussy baby dumeril's boa will only eat live rat fuzzies left in her tank overnight. I've tried live mouse hoppers with her, and she won't eat them because they are too fast. Honestly, I see her point- they are jumpy and hard to catch. It's possible that this is an issue for your little guy too. I have tried offering f/t that were brained and the stomach opened a bit, but she still didn't acknowledge it as food. I know it works for some, so you can try, but you might have better luck with live fuzzies. They can crawl decently so there's movement but they're not fast enough that they can really get away. (sad, but baby needs to eat).

sometime it helps to use some tongs and squeeze out some juice from the head/mouth. the smell can really stimulates the feeding response. and BTW, I've just read through this whole thread for the first time and I have to say, I am raising a glass to you tonight my friend, you have done an absolutely stellar job from the sounds of it. somehow this guy was let go to the point of being on deaths door and you have brought it back. I suspect after it really starts to get it's, how shall I say, "legs back", it will likely start eating on it's own. If it were me, I'd outright ask for at least 50% of your money back from the breeder. I wouldn't settle for $25, they sent you an issue and you have plowed countless hours into recovery and that deserves something substantial. by offering you a full refund only if you sent it back, they were counting on you feeling bonded and sorry for the little one and unwilling to sentence it to sure death. that sounds kind of manipulative to me and there is something just generally dishonest about the dealing. I'd call them on it, demand at least 50% refund and see what he does with it... there is a way of being both firm and understanding at the same time.

anyway, keep up the good work!

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Originally Posted by Kcl

My extremely fussy baby dumeril's boa will only eat live rat fuzzies left in her tank overnight. I've tried live mouse hoppers with her, and she won't eat them because they are too fast. Honestly, I see her point- they are jumpy and hard to catch. It's possible that this is an issue for your little guy too. I have tried offering f/t that were brained and the stomach opened a bit, but she still didn't acknowledge it as food. I know it works for some, so you can try, but you might have better luck with live fuzzies. They can crawl decently so there's movement but they're not fast enough that they can really get away. (sad, but baby needs to eat).

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Ya I'd rather try live fuzzys unfortunately the only place I've found that sells young mice has been out of fuzzys for 3 weeks

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Originally Posted by Sargentnoid

Ya I'd rather try live fuzzys unfortunately the only place I've found that sells young mice has been out of fuzzys for 3 weeks

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I've had tons of trouble actually finding fuzzies too. Where I have actually found luck is craigslist. There are some home mouse/rat/asf breeders who post on there, so if you haven't yet, searching your local craigslist pets section is worth a try.

Heh. Too bad you don't live closer to me!

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Originally Posted by melcvt00

Heh. Too bad you don't live closer to me!

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ya I would have thought there would be more people selling mice around little rock AR

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Originally Posted by melcvt00

Heh. Too bad you don't live closer to me!

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To bad you didn't live one state over and bred rats lol oh well I get pups for $1.50 each and $.50 more each level higher


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Originally Posted by BBotteron

To bad you didn't live one state over and bred rats lol


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Nope. Not gonna do rats. I have read stories about the smell. :-)

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Originally Posted by melcvt00

Nope. Not gonna do rats. I have read stories about the smell. :-)

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See I heard opposite...the smell of rats is way better than mice but suppose it could have a lot to do with bedding/ventilation, heat, etc


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Originally Posted by BBotteron

See I heard opposite...the smell of rats is way better than mice but suppose it could have a lot to do with bedding/ventilation, heat, etc


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Yep. My mice aren't too bad, and some of my males are growing to be 45g pretty quickly, so with having a steady supply of mice, I am not worried about needing rats. I have a coworker with young corn snakes and is buying most of the pinkies.

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Nice I mean if people are getting your extras from you might as well just stick to mice since your bp can easily just stay on mice his whole life. I assume fully adult 3-5 large mice every 10-14 days really is good


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Exactly. I put 1.5lb on Malfoy on mice after he came to me.

At any rate, I would live to supply this python trying to not live with live fuzzies to help him eat, but I am not even remotely close enough.

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I've been following the thread since the beginning your doing an awesome job and you get some deep respect for doing what your doing. Keep it up and your new bp will be like normal in no time and you'll be able to make adjustments to his feeding/schedule without a lot less worries than you have now. Keep it up and great job. Your close enough (depending on where in IL) I would love to come see this noodle in person but oh well lol


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Got 2 more fuzzys in him last night (assist fed) his strength is definitely improving he struggled alot more than the last 2 times I found a place to get fuzzys although I have to order by Wednesday and they come in Friday and its a 1.5 hour round trip but its all that I've found so you gota do what you gota do.
At least he appears to be drinking good and enjoys peeing everywhere as soon as I clean his cage.
I got him some smaller hides after seeing him staying pressed against the side of his like he was trying to hide inside his hide

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Originally Posted by Sargentnoid

Got 2 more fuzzys in him last night (assist fed) his strength is definitely improving he struggled alot more than the last 2 times I found a place to get fuzzys although I have to order by Wednesday and they come in Friday and its a 1.5 hour round trip but its all that I've found so you gota do what you gota do.
At least he appears to be drinking good and enjoys peeing everywhere as soon as I clean his cage.
I got him some smaller hides after seeing him staying pressed against the side of his like he was trying to hide inside his hide

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He honestly looks healthier than you first photos. It's incredible that you've been able to save this little guy. He's so tiny! And beautiful. Idk if it's already been asked, but what morph is he? Enchi queenbee?

He's a butter spider

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Originally Posted by Sargentnoid

He's a butter spider

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At least thats what they said when I bought him they also said he was 100g and feeding well on rat pups

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Jeez, I can tell just by looking at how tiny he is in your hand that he's not 100g. I think the boy I brought home from the expo last year was bigger at 69g, and he was barely thicker than my thumb. Seller lied through his teeth there.

Ya he was 50g when I got him and hes 18-20 inches long

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Originally Posted by Sargentnoid

He's a butter spider. At least thats what they said when I bought him they also said he was 100g and feeding well on rat pups

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Did the guy you buy him from ever mention the pairing that produced him? I'm very very inclined to believe there's enchi in there, his color and pattern are just too clean and light and kinda off for a regular lesser spider, he's also very banded especially towards his tail. In fact I would venture to say I'm certain he has enchi in him, as that's actually the first gene that stood out to me when I checked out this thread in the first place, to me it seems very obvious. Idk, maybe others will have a different opinion.

Look up Butter Enchi Spider on WOBPs. The 6th photo by Markus Jayne BP's looks identical to yours.

Could be that this guy is just as clueless with ID'ing morphs as he is with how to care for his animals

I found out after my purchase the guy guy I bought them from was a wholesaler so anything is possible

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And the thing that drew me to him was the thick pattern on his back and the banding on his side

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Well then eating troubles aside, you may have gotten a three gene animal for the price of two.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!HE ATE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally found some fuzzys but I had to order them and drive 2 hour round trip so I got 2 fuzzys and 2 pinkys just to see if ether would entice him he still shyed away when offered them so I put one of each in his tub and left him alone I came back just before bed time and he was out of his hide and I couldn't see the mice so I decided to stick the other 2 in there. This morning I looked in his tub and he was coiled up were the mice were last night so I moved his hides,water bowl and even him and no mice to be found. they were the smallest fuzzys I've ever seen but he ate all 4 so im happy

Woohoo!

Yaaaay!!!!!

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it's such a good feeling when things turn for the better, congrats!

Awesome!!! Wohooo

Sky's the limit :)

I was extremely happy when I saw it thanks again for all the help I've received on here now lets see if I can get a repeat again tomorrow

I'm so glad this cute little guy is doing so much better! My problem eater baby boa just ate f/t for what was only her third meal with us, which was awesome since I have the same kind of drive to get live fuzzies/pinkies as you (also, she's on treatment for a mild RI, so I'm very pleased that she's eating despite how mad she is about the daily injections).

If he's eating multiple pinkies & fuzzies, at some point you could try offering an f/t along with the live ones. I didn't wiggle the f/t for the baby boa or anything since that just seems to freak her out and she'd rather just eat completely alone with it left in her hide. I probably would've waited longer to switch her if it wasn't such a difficulty to get live pinkies and fuzzies, but she's apparently dropped her requirement of "must move" anyway and is only on "must be completely unseen when I eat" which I can definitely work with. Hopefully your little one will do the same now that he's decided food is a good thing!

Heres hoping. I'm going to do live again today then next Thursday I'm going to try f/t so I can get more live on Friday if needed hopefully he will start eating f/t so I can move him to larger prey or slightly more often so maby he will start gaining some weight he's only gained about 5g in the last 2 months but I can no longer see his ribs so there is improvement iv been looking for someone around here that has live pinky/fuzzy rats that would be more size appropriate but not having any luck I ordered a couple hopper mice this week hoping they would come in on the small side more like crawlers than hoppers and maby they won't scare him

When you try f/t - just make sure it's warm when you offer it , a hairdryer is great for that , if refused give it another quick blast and offer again immediately , keep repeating the process .

Appogies if you know all that :)

he ate much faster today still wont take them from me or even if I'm near but he did eat 4 more small fuzzys. next week I may try a fresh killed hopper https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ps57r7ymb3.jpgand see if he will take it

Well eating on his own is step up at least!

Gave him 2 live hoppers today and he ate both still wont take them with me there but at least he ate so happy hes doing better

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That is awesome !!

He will take off quickly now. :)

Looks like this little guy is going to start eating better and better I fed him Friday and he ate 2 fuzzys and 1 hopper (all live) even though he was in shed and I had a leftover hopper I threw in there monday night and he ate it too my next hope is to get him on f/t so I can feed him bigger prey. Im going to try to weigh him Friday before feeding and see how much weight he has gained but I can tell hes putting on some mass.
Thanks again for all the help and support yall have given me while getting this guy back healthy

Put him on a scale last night and I know he was full but he was at 108g over double what he was when I got him

i love reading all the positive updates on this guy. very happy for the both of you. 😊

I just read this whole thread and I was rooting for the cutie the whole time. Major props for being an awesome pet owner!!

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Originally Posted by IDorko

I just read this whole thread and I was rooting for the cutie the whole time. Major props for being an awesome pet owner!!

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Thanks it didnt feel to awesome when I lost him last Wednesday but I found him Friday night put him into his new home in the rack and he ate the same night so I guess he wasnt to stressed out

Friday I got the little guy to take his first prekilled and first adult mouse a sm/med he's doing so much better

This thread is amazing, just like you are! I am so glad you saved that little guy. Best of luck for the future!

Any way we can get updated pictures in the near future? This thread makes me happy.


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Wow. Had some down time, found this thread today and couldn't stop until I finished it. Way to go! You will have an extra special bond with this guy from here on out, one you wouldn't have had if you didn't take all that time and effort and save his life. Blessings in disguise eh??

side note, this encourages me as I will be attempting a similar job. About to get a BP that is extremely underweight and may soon be at the point of being very very sick if I don't help him. So thanks for being a good example! That was a great strorytime thread with a happy ending!!!!

or at least hoping that's the end of the eating troubles lol!