Hello from Seattle! :)

Hi all!

I am new to the forums -- sort of. I had an account several (re: 8?) years ago when I still lived in the UK but can't remember what my username was to save my life. My partner and I recently moved to Seattle, and I just got a baby BP from an acquaintance who I would consider to be in rescue condition.

My snakey history is that I've a couple of BPs before, but was always a pet/casual keeper. My beloved Bellatrix was a female spider ball python who I had from hatchling stage to her unexpected death at age 8 in 2017. She was so chilled out and was a great eater. I also raised a lesser pastel female from baby to age 3, when I sold her to a breeder because she was a beautiful and huge but nippy and never really made a good pet.

I recently got a new baby normal after we moved from the UK to Seattle, who is in pretty rough shape. The acquaintance got him from Petco for her son and was keeping him a critter keeper with only an overhead heat lamp, a climbing log, water and no hides. She decided to get rid of him because he had bitten her son and wasn't eating, and asked if I wanted him because I had mentioned I was thinking about getting another snake. I've gotten him in a much better setup now, but I am a little worried because he's dangerously skinny and I'm not sure how much time I have to convince him to eat :(

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new little ball python. Sounds like you adopted him from what would of been a terrible life for him. Hopefully with the better setup and some hides to go in he will eat for you once he's settled in.

:welcome: Let's hope you can get this rescue BP up & eating then. Pics would help us give opinions, but it's great that you took him in.

Welcome aboard! :)

Here is what he looked like what I got him. I don't really want to fish him out of his terrarium again now until after he (hopefully) eats. My friend got him 3 weeks ago, so it's been at least that long since he last ate.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ur.com/B9OxHmHhttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ur.com/B9OxHmHhttps://ibb.co/L04tgLF
https://ibb.co/NnXJnM4


For extra information, I have looked into trying to find *anywhere* in Seattle that would sell live feeders if it does come to that. Apparently the Petco woman told her that he was eating "fuzzies" but did not know or did not specify if these were rats or mice. However, I have not been able to find anywhere in the city that sells them, so will have to try and make this work with f/t.

If he came from Petco, he was likely on f/t (frozen thawed)...hope so, but your're wise to think ahead, just in case.

I think we have a few members here in the Seattle area, I hope they chime in with sources for you.

No, don't fish him out...he doesn't look too bad in that photo...but he was probably eating mouse fuzzies & should have been on mouse HOPPERS to start.

Petco only does f/t. So your snake was used to that. Let's get husbandry correct and he will probably start eating again. Also live is only sold at Petco and little Amazon on aurora.

hello! welcome to Seattle and welcome to BP.net! that BP doesn't look too bad but i'm glad u could take it in. i'm sure it is better in your more experienced hands rather than some uninspired kid.

good luck and i hope u enjoy the forum.

Edit: anyways for live feeders - there's The Little Amazon in the north end of the city as Sunnie mentioned above and Sierra Fish & Pets or Midway Tropical Fish & Pets in the south. Petco and Petsmart sells them too, but they make u fill out a pet adoption form or something (even if u intend to feed off the mice/rat). farther north, there are dedicated reptile shops like Hewitt Reptiles in Everett and Reptile Snack Shack.

Thank you for letting me know which shops have live feeders! I was looking online to see if I could find any, but none that have it listed on their websites. Since we just moved here and live in Downton where it is freakishly expensive to park, we haven't bought a car yet, so the shops that are really far north of the city probably aren't an option but I will definitely check out the city based ones if it comes to it.

I'm relieved to here he doesn't look too bad. My previous babies were little chunkies as I got them from breeders and they were feeding well. He does look significantly skinnier than the old photos I have of them as hatchlings, which was why I was worried.

Then I am the closest store for live feeders to you. Hop on the D line to Interbay Petco. Petsmart doesn't sell live mice for feeders anymore from what I hear. My mice on average weigh about 19g.

Tried to feed the little dude today and sadly no luck :( Warmed the mouse up with the hairdryer in his vicinity and nothing. He gave it a few little sniffs before starting to zoom around his tank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by embers

Tried to feed the little dude today and sadly no luck :( Warmed the mouse up with the hairdryer in his vicinity and nothing. He gave it a few little sniffs before starting to zoom around his tank.

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That's too bad...but you haven't had him for long, so maybe wait at least a week & try again. He might also be going into a shed cycle...they know before we can tell,
& often refuse food at that time. Try not to worry too much. Also, it's better to wait until night-time (their normal hunting time) to offer food, and especially if they are
in their hide, peeking out: BPs are ambush-predators so that posture often suggests they are waiting & hoping for some clueless prey to happen past their hide. You
may just have been offering at the wrong time of day, & if he was out & about, he felt too insecure to eat food. BPs are shy snakes, this matters to them. Did you use
feeding tongs? (please do) It's also important to keep the wiggling motion of the prey subtle, and moving past or even away from the snake, never towards the snake-
shy snakes like BPs don't usually appreciate seemingly bold rodents that "volunteer" to get eaten...;) This was probably just too soon for him to feel secure (often it's
best to wait 2 weeks for a new snake to settle in before offering food); you haven't been handling him, I hope? (that can put a BP off from eating quicker than anything)
Just in case, you want to wait until he has fed 3 times "easily" at normal intervals before you start handling him...eating comes first, always. :snake: Also, don't offer food
too often (more than once a week) as that tends to stress some snakes (like BPs) into refusing meals also.

BTW, I know you're not new to keeping BPs, but sometimes it helps to review, & not all snakes are fussy about the same things.

I got him on Friday last week, so I wanted to offer after a week. He was in his warm side hide when I started trying, so I hoped that would help him feel secure. He sniffed the mouse from his hide then took off :( I'm going to give it another week, and if he still won't eat the f/t, I will go to Petco to get live.

I definitely use feeding tongs! My spider girl was almost 3kg when she passed, and I absolutely did not want that thing flying at my hand especially since she always had a bit of a wobble.

I haven't been handling him at all, but I am a little worried that my cats are stressing him out. He's in my office, and I have not been leaving the door open so the cats can't get in when I leave, but they are *really really curious* about him, and keep popping up next to the tank and jumping on top of it before I shoo them off.