new ball python : malnourished

Does anyone know of any vets in the SoCal area or any breeders that are willing to help me out?
the guy I bought him from had experience with other snakes that were more costly than this one so idk maybe he was just a problem feeder. Can anyone guesstimate his age? I met a local rat breeder that told me to not worry about assist feeding for a month or so.

Generally speaking, most babies hatch out weighing more than he does now. With his unknown history (that I assume isn't very great), I'd be wanting to get him to eat as soon as realistically possible. It's unknown how many meals he's eaten in his entire life, which is why I would recommend a vet check up, it couldn't hurt and he's in bad enough shape to really need one. If you're in Cali, then I'm sure you have some herp vets local. Hopefully someone from the area can recommend one. You want to make sure everything's okay on the inside, and nothings hiding in there.

Holy smokes, that weight is frightful. You're on the internet, get to searching for a vet! Any good breeders or keepers shop number you can find in the area would be able to give you a vet number or help directly. Or give a zip code and research can be done... Not much time to waste...

Watch a video on how to assist feed and it might be worth a shot.


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If it's too dehydrated or weak assist feeding without professional help could be dangerous for the snake. Please update us?

Hope you've had some success getting food in him. It's been a week since your original post. There is also a sticky post in the bp husbandry forum on assist feeding. I highly recommend you try it before more time passes looking for a vet. Honestly, unless the vet can tube feed him or has a pinky pump, I'm not sure the stress of a vet trip is worth it. Get some frozen mouse pinks and thaw one in warm water for 10 min, make sure its warm all the way through, and try assist feeging. I use mouse pinks cause they are super small and easy for them to swallow and easy for you to keep in the snakes mouth. Bigger prey can be spit out easily and takes more effort to swallow.

Here's what I'd do. First I'd soak him in luke warm water for a bit, but only enough to cover the lower 1/4th of his body. That way he can soak without having to swim. Then I'd place him back in his enclosure. Now I'm going to assume that you have him in either a tank or some sort of cage. If he's in a tank, cover most of the sides so he isn't stressed by the outside world. I would put him on some sort of bedding, but that's just my preference. Make sure he has a hide on the hot spot where he can hide, but it's nice and tight. Crank temps up to about 88-89 degrees on the hot side and leave him be for a few days. Then I'd offer him a mouse, small enough for him to eat with no problem, but large enough that its movement may catch his attention. Now if you're going to assist feed him, I, too would give him a small meal that is easier to push down.Even though it'd be a small meal, it's better than nothing.

Pics of your setup would greatly help us to see if everything is on point.

PS: don't worry about the drinking water being too cold, as long as he's not sitting in it for extended periods of time, you're fine.

Alright guys so I left a mouse furry (i think? A little bigger than a pinkie) over night and instead of him eating it, they cuddled all night lol. I moved him from a 34qt to a shoe box size tub with a hide on the hotspot at 90F. I have only Messed with him when I was weighing him and to change out the water. The bedding is moist paper towels to help out with the shed. I'm going to wait another week and if he doesn't eat I will try to assist feed.
I have a live furry with him and I'm not sure if I should leave him in there with the snake.any opinions?

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Originally Posted by Memo

Alright guys so I left a mouse furry (i think? A little bigger than a pinkie) over night and instead of him eating it, they cuddled all night lol. I moved him from a 34qt to a shoe box size tub with a hide on the hotspot at 90F. I have only Messed with him when I was weighing him and to change out the water. The bedding is moist paper towels to help out with the shed. I'm going to wait another week and if he doesn't eat I will try to assist feed.
I have a live furry with him and I'm not sure if I should leave him in there with the snake.any opinions?

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If you offer a prey too small and fuzzy are it will not be recognize as a prey you need to offer a hopper.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Memo

I'm going to wait another week and if he doesn't eat I will try to assist feed.
I have a live furry with him and I'm not sure if I should leave him in there with the snake.any opinions?

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The housing change will help but I worry that you don't have a week to wait. I'd kill that fuzzy and wet it in warm water and assist feed it now.