saggy snake

I have a baby ball about 2-3 months old. His skin looks almost to big for his body. I read online healthy snakes should have tight skin. is that just for adults and is my ball normal?

That doesn't sound normal. He could be dehydrated, but a picture would be very helpful.

Ya I would agree with humidity. Check the % and post it. What is your enclosure like. some are difficult to keep humidity right in.

here is several pictures of my ball. you can see where he bends how he gets pretty wrinkles and where he rests on my fingers there seems to be like a fold of extra skin. I could just be worrying to much because he has a different body type then my other snake.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/folds.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...rverinkles.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...rverinkle2.jpg




here is some more normal pictures of him stretched out.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...4/IMG_0359.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...4/IMG_0360.jpg

Also i fed him last Thursday and he still hasn't pooped.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gob144

here is several pictures of my ball. you can see where he bends how he gets pretty wrinkles and where he rests on my fingers there seems to be like a fold of extra skin. I could just be worrying to much because he has a different body type then my other snake.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/gob144/folds.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...rverinkles.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...rverinkle2.jpg




here is some more normal pictures of him stretched out.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...4/IMG_0359.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82...4/IMG_0360.jpg

Also i fed him last Thursday and he still hasn't pooped.

---

Looks like some dehydration. up the humidity and see what happens

Also, not pooping that long is normal in a lot of snakes. I have heard members tell stories about thier balls not pooping for like a month or two straight

he/she will let a big one rip soon enough lol!

I agree that the snake is dehydrated, but mostly it looks very skinny. I would continue to feed it every 5-7 days and it should fill out. Give mouse hoppers or small mice or if you feed rats give fuzzies.

Up the humidity first of all maybe give a little soak but honestly I would say he needs more food. He looks really skinny. What is your feeding rotation and what are you feeding him?

he is 2-3 months old and is eating a hopper once a month. I think the previous owner was feeding him 2 hoppers a week. When i looked on the net it said one a month. should i feed more?

I don't know where on earth you got that information, but it is about as wrong as it can get!!:mad:

That baby needs 1 large hopper/small adult mouse WEEKLY at minimum. There is no way ANY snake can live on one tiny meal a month for very long. You are in fact, starving that baby to death. Not on purpose of course, but you are.

Because he's so skinny, I recommend 1 small adult mouse every 5 days for about 3 months, then bump the food up to weaned rats and the schedule back to every 7 days, and he'll plump up like a healthy baby in no time!

Gale

jeez im sorry i ment to say one happer a week not month.

Should i be feeding him more than one hopper a week?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gob144

Should i be feeding him more than one hopper a week?

---

He can take a rat pup at his age. Try him with that, as he looks very skinny to me.
If he's skinny, he will not poop often as he's trying to get everything out of his meal as he can.

Hope this helps.:)

Ill up his food for sure thanks for the help everyone.

You might want to feed him the biggest prey size he can handle and feed him a bit more often, he's pretty thin. I got mine from a pet store that was feeding him one hopper a week and at his age he should really be eating an adult mouse a week, so I've been trying to beef him up quite a bit. Thankfully they put on the grams really quickly.

And definitely needs some humidity.

I have a brand new baby that is taking adults once every 7 days. Your snake as small as he is should probably be eating a regular to large adult mouse on a 5 day rotation right now. Remember that your snake can eat a mouse the size of his largest girth. Start off with one every 5 days and after a month you might even offer two if he wants it. I personally would not suggest changing his feed to rats only because at this point as skinny as he is you DO NOT want any refusals.

everyone is saying feed him an adult snake once a week and to feed hime something the size of his widest girth. A hopper is the size of his widest girth. when i feed him there a good sized bulge.

You can go slightly larger than the girth of the snake. You would be suprised at what they can handle! If you have a scale then you go feed a prey item that is 10-15% of his body weight! Try him with an adult mouse and see if he takes it! Most will refuse it if its too large! My two month old female pastel is take rat pups which is equal to an adult mouse!

If what he is eating is leaving a good sized lump, then just try to feed a bit more often, every 3 to 4 days as long as the snake accepts it.
You don't want to have him stressed and stop eating, though.

But you can carefully try to change things. See if he will eat more often and in no time you can up the size of the food. Always choose something at least the size of the girth of the snake. Right now he is skinny...so don't go to big to fast.

And don't stress yourself, you are doing good. You are trying, and you are coming here for help. So you care, and thats what matters.

Keep us up to date :)