New to being a python owner

[noctevena]

HI guys, I recently rescued a little Ball Python who had prolapsed twice. I have no clue how old he is, but I've known him since november. I adopted him in february. He is 109 grams. Recently he had an edema on his side and I brought him into the vet but they didnt seem very experienced. When I took him out today to give him his injection for his antibiotics, his skin was super wrinkled and dry looking. He's been shedding and flaking little pieces off when I soaked him. He went a really long time without shedding (a couple of months) because he didnt eat when recovering from the prolapse. He's been refusing food this past week because I'm assuming the meds and shedding.

I have a few major questions:
1. His humidity is a big struggle. It stays at 10% and I dont know what substrate to use to keep it up. He has 3 water dishes in his 20 gallon tank (I know, small for now, but he's so tiny still).
2. Should I be really concerned about this wrinkling? what should I do to fix it?
3. He hasnt gained weight. I feed him 1-2 mice pinkies every 4 or so days. Should I be doing something else?

This is him as of yesterday, his name is Frederick.

[AlexisFitzy]

To answer your first question you can mist the cage with water to increase the humidity but for glass tanks I recommend wrapping the screen top with foil. This thread has instructions on how to do it.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial

When they are in the shed process they get wrinkly, it's probably also due to how low the humidity has been so we definitely need to get that up. Also don't soak him when he begins his shed process only do so if he's having a bad shed (shedding in pieces). When you soak then before they actually start shedding it washed off the oils in their skin that they need to shed in one piece and it usually results in bad sheds. To remove a bad shed here's a good thread on it.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem

To answer your last question he is not growing because you are underfeeding him. A mouse pinky is wayyy to small of a meal for any sized ball python. Start feeding him rat pups and he should start growing significantly more than he is now.

This is also a good thread about setting up a glass tank

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...p-w-pics-*DUW*

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[noctevena]

To answer your first question you can mist the cage with water to increase the humidity but for glass tanks I recommend wrapping the screen top with foil. This thread has instructions on how to do it.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial

When they are in the shed process they get wrinkly, it's probably also due to how low the humidity has been so we definitely need to get that up. Also don't soak him when he begins his shed process only do so if he's having a bad shed (shedding in pieces). When you soak then before they actually start shedding it washed off the oils in their skin that they need to shed in one piece and it usually results in bad sheds. To remove a bad shed here's a good thread on it.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem

To answer your last question he is not growing because you are underfeeding him. A mouse pinky is wayyy to small of a meal for any sized ball python. Start feeding him rat pups and he should start growing significantly more than he is now.


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Im feeding him only pinkies because he had the issue with prolapsing. When he ate a mouse fuzzy it caused him to prolapse again so I'm worried if I feed him too big it'll happen again. Also any recommendation for bedding?

[CORBIN911]

Aswell Like he said, Humidity wrap tank! spray 1-2 times a day night and morning, And i suggest using CoCo husk (eco earth) bedding its it extremely absorbent, holds humidity well and unlike aspen it doesnt Mold when its damp for to long, very easy to spot clean aswell! Spot clean and change out every 1-2 months, its very inexpensive so you can throw away and replace aswell! Good luck with your BP

[AlexisFitzy]

Im feeding him only pinkies because he had the issue with prolapsing. When he ate a mouse fuzzy it caused him to prolapse again so I'm worried if I feed him too big it'll happen again. Also any recommendation for bedding?

Ohhh ok I can understand that. I don't have any experience with prolapses so I'll have to look up some info on it. Hopefully some people on here that do have more experience with it can chime in and tell you how you can feed your bp without it having the prolapsing issues again. And I agree with the other comment use a substrate that will help with humidity like coco husks, Cyprus mulch, I think there are some others but I can't remember my minds going blank lol. But you can also buy Sphagnum moss, dampen it and place it inside the enclosure and it will help with humidity as well. I hope all this info is helpful! Keep us updated on your little guy! He is very very cute 😊


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[Zach Cedor]

Im feeding him only pinkies because he had the issue with prolapsing. When he ate a mouse fuzzy it caused him to prolapse again so I'm worried if I feed him too big it'll happen again. Also any recommendation for bedding?

by prolapse do you mean he regurgitated the meal? if so sorry never heard anyone refer to it that way, but one thing to remember even if there have been several instances of the regurge occuring you can start with a smaller prey item mayber mouse fuzzy or even a small mouse but you will NEED to increase his prey size so that he can continue to get the proper nutrition he needs!BTW good for for taking this snake in and giving it a home good to see still plenty of people out there that care!

[noctevena]

by prolapse do you mean he regurgitated the meal? if so sorry never heard anyone refer to it that way, but one thing to remember even if there have been several instances of the regurge occuring you can start with a smaller prey item mayber mouse fuzzy or even a small mouse but you will NEED to increase his prey size so that he can continue to get the proper nutrition he needs!BTW good for for taking this snake in and giving it a home good to see still plenty of people out there that care!

No, by prolapse I mean his cloaca and some intestine popped out his vent. The veterinarian had to stitch it up until it healed so it would stay inside. he's never ever regurgitated food and I usually handle him 24 hours after feeding.

[AlexisFitzy]

by prolapse do you mean he regurgitated the meal? if so sorry never heard anyone refer to it that way, but one thing to remember even if there have been several instances of the regurge occuring you can start with a smaller prey item mayber mouse fuzzy or even a small mouse but you will NEED to increase his prey size so that he can continue to get the proper nutrition he needs!BTW good for for taking this snake in and giving it a home good to see still plenty of people out there that care!

This is what prolapsing is.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...apsed-Hemipene!


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[Zach Cedor]

Got it sorry just looked prolapse up. Little over a year into keeping and havent experienced that yet sorry to hear about it but I would definitely attempt still to slightly increase prey size

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[Zach Cedor]

This is what prolapsing is.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...apsed-Hemipene!


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Just read this! Lol

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