Adopted an unkown ball python

Alright ill try to make this short this is my first post, i adopted this ball python that was left in a house when the people moved the new residents didnt know what to do with it i said id take it, the tank its in looks small to me this is my 2nd snake once had a corn that died at 7/8 yrs old but i have many questions and hooe some can be answered, how old would you gestimate he/she is , what gender or will i have to go to a vet for that one , does he/she look healthy and is the cage setup decent for a couple months 3 or 4 then ill get him a bigger one and better hides because the hide he has is for a cornsnake lol lifted it on a log and a rock. Thanks for the help. I just want to acquire the right knowledge from exeprienced ppl not just someone talkin to talk. Wont let me post pics but thatll be fixed in comment ill try comenting them

One thing is certain you can neither determine the age by size or based on a picture nor can you determine the gender so even if you were providing either it would be impossible to tell.

Understand that size may vary a poor feeder can be 200 grams at a year a strong feeder can be that much at 3 months just like a strong feeder can be 1000 grams by the time it reaches a year.

You will also see some 4000 grams animals that are 6 years and some of the same age in the 2500 grams genetics and feeding or lack there of all play a part.

As for sexing while female gets bigger some male can get pretty big too, and if the female was not care for properly it may have remain small so the option here is to have the animal popped or probed it will depend on the size of the animal and experience of the person doing it, some people have a hard time popping larger animals.

So basically unless the animal is around 60/80 grams you have a BP that is anywhere from 1 to 30 years old and you have a 50/50 chance on the gender.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...19cc62af6.jpeg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...19cc62af6.jpeg

It's hard to tell from the photos alone how big the snake is, could you weigh them and try to measure their length?

Also how are you heating the tank? The snake doesn't look unhealthy, it looks a healthy-ish weight and no stuck shed from what I can see.

The tank has a heat mat about 6by6inchs under his hide he shed when he was brought to my home eye caps are off for the length and weight i will get back to you on that also should i try popping it to know what sex it is or is it to old and i should go to a vet to get it probed

I applaudyou! :gj:Thanks for stepping up when someone decided it was too much to take careof an animal they brought into their home.

That beingsaid it looks like glass terrarium you have him/her in, if so the humidity willbe an issue if you going to keep him in there for now, if it has not been alreadyhandled. Card board/wooden plank, I used a cutting board for a while till I figuredit out lol.. :PWrapped in foil or I wrapped in shrink wrap over my screen meshtop, but that would be depending on your heat source if you using CTH as well. Iwill go with your last response and assume you just using UTH so you would befine.

Yousaid he had shed issues when you received him, just an FYI until you get his permanenthome (I’m just gona call it a “him”) especially in a glassenclosure, misting is crucial, as well as a big water bowl, wide… good substrate co-co nut husk I see .. & as Deb saidsex and age would be best determined by a more experienced person, who can physicallydo the “popping”, for someone who has never done this, it can causeserious injury to your snake and IMO, would not be worth the risk .. it is not importantif you do not intend to mate …but then genes becomes yournext question :confusd: n on that MORE pic of this beautiful looking normal?, I see lil reducedpattern very little to indicate other wise unless you want to elaborate on hismorph:D, but I am not your gene ID guy lol… I’m just a friendly FYI tohelp you better communicate as more experienced members will want to know moredetails far as:
temps, humidity, feeding, poop, handling, weight,etc. and also the Vet if you end up wanting to find out more about your animal.So just get as much details as you can from his previous owners and keep upwith his stats if you haven’t already started a log andall that, hopefully he will be just fine in your care… good luck!!:gj:
:salute:

Surprised it's owner left it behind. If you showed the pictures without the story, I'd think the owner loved and cared for it. (despite some apparent husbandry issues)

I have the heat mat and a 150watt light bcause the tank is hig a have a thermometer light is on 12/12 cycle i spray it with a mist bottle 2 times a day his bowl is a gog bowl that i taped to the bottom making sure no tape could touche the snake of course he ate 2 times i feed him once then 12 days after the meals are small rats petshop dnt have bigger. His shed went fine, top of his head looks dry when lookin at him one way and normal when you look. Closer its weird, as for the morph im pretty sure its a normal one but was curious to know

And also the substrate is those wood chunks or whatever dnt know the name but know its better than aspen as they swollow aspen and this they dont also with some dirt/sand looking thing i mixed with it to keep humidity i also have a curiosity question for a vet her in canada how much would it cost to get it sexed and evaluated health side

Anyways he/she seems to be doing fine for now will save up the $$ for the vet as this was not a planned thing and i want to be sure its good for my concience aha heres a pick of him before his 2nd meal.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...36bf2220b8.png

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Originally Posted by Nick6969

I have the heat mat and a 150watt light bcause the tank is hig a have a thermometer light is on 12/12 cycle i spray it with a mist bottle 2 times a day his bowl is a gog bowl that i taped to the bottom making sure no tape could touche the snake of course he ate 2 times i feed him once then 12 days after the meals are small rats petshop dnt have bigger. His shed went fine, top of his head looks dry when lookin at him one way and normal when you look. Closer its weird, as for the morph im pretty sure its a normal one but was curious to know

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If you have ANY tape inside the enclosure, remove it IMMEDIATELY. Even if you think the snake cannot get to it. They are very capable of moving things and getting into places you wouldn't expect.

Do a Google search about snakes and tape. Nothing good comes of it and there are much better solutions for inside a snake cage if you really need something to be stuck in place. (For example, hot glue can be used to secure thermometer probes to the glass and is relatively easy to remove down the road)

I am confused as to why you want to tape the water bowl to the bottom of the cage, though. Most dog bowls are heavy enough that they don't get dumped by the snake or have a wide enough base for the same reason. Can you clarify why it needs to be secured like that? (I would think that makes it difficult to remove to clean the bowl regularly)

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

If you have ANY tape inside the enclosure, remove it IMMEDIATELY. Even if you think the snake cannot get to it. They are very capable of moving things and getting into places you wouldn't expect.

Do a Google search about snakes and tape. Nothing good comes of it and there are much better solutions for inside a snake cage if you really need something to be stuck in place. (For example, hot glue can be used to secure thermometer probes to the glass and is relatively easy to remove down the road)

I am confused as to why you want to tape the water bowl to the bottom of the cage, though. Most dog bowls are heavy enough that they don't get dumped by the snake or have a wide enough base for the same reason. Can you clarify why it needs to be secured like that? (I would think that makes it difficult to remove to clean the bowl regularly)

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I was just about to suggest the removal of the tape..pretend2bnormal...i agree with everything you said... to be honest it is not that serious for the water bowl to be secure over the added risk of the tape getting stuck on some scales. if it has strong adhesive (like duct tape or gorilla tape)... it may require another vet visit and cause some serious damage. I am going to get a glue gun & do my water bowls now that you mentioned it... Thanks for the tip!
:D
I would look up the care sheet forum and re-read some husbandry rules to keep ya BP safe, happy, and healthy, Good luck again, keep us updated on his /her progress.

:gj:

Do you have a thermostat connected to the heat mat? If not, you should probably unplug it until you get one. They can get deadly hot without a thermostat to regulate them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nick6969

And also the substrate is those wood chunks or whatever dnt know the name but know its better than aspen as they swollow aspen and this they dont also with some dirt/sand looking thing i mixed with it to keep humidity i also have a curiosity question for a vet her in canada how much would it cost to get it sexed and evaluated health side

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The substrate appears to be "orchid bark" which is a good product to use with BPs (one of various options, anyway) as it holds humidity, gives traction & can
easily be spot-cleaned (also looks nice). You'll need to spray it from time to time (w/ water) to keep in the humidity, especially since using UTH heat will dry it out.

Don't know that any Canadian vets are reading your post here, you'd do better (get an answer faster as to the cost of health check-up & sexing BP) by making a few
calls to Canadian vets who work often with exotics, & snakes in particular. There are many things you can & should observe before you visit a vet anyway...they don't
have lots of time & it helps to share observations: listen to their breathing (any whistling? wheezing? squeaking sounds?); any abnormal lumps on the snake's body?
(snake's body should be symmetrical, ie. both sides the same...when they move in a serpentine fashion, do any areas appear caved-in? aka "concave"? that can be
broken ribs); any stuck "shed"skin including eye caps, tail tip, nostrils, cloaca (aka "vent")? any signs of blood or diarrhea? You'll probably want to wait & let the vet
check inside the mouth.

I have good news i made him a hide on the colder side have a thermometer for ambient temp and humidity which was at 39 very low!!!! I brought it up to 90 kept going down after a lot of misting now seems to be at 55 and drops at max 45 by morning

fed him today he seem alright though the rats are pretty small because pet shop never have big ones so i bought a male and female will make my own rats

had it for a more or less now and since i live in a bong shop well the old owner came by and recognized it

said he used to feed it 3 hamsters or small gerbals every two weeks and hesitated betweed 6/7 years old for the age now all i need to do is weigh it