One and a half year old snake, 50 grams?

[Pippers]

Hello community of experienced snake owners! I have quite the problem that I feel is unique to Pip, my axanthic ball python from petco (first problem right there I know.)

I got him in March of last year and they told me he was hatched a few months before, which makes him atleast a year old by now. Though he only weighs 50 grams, 60 since I took him to the vet a month ago.

Pip never had a problem eating, EVER. I'd feed him one fuzzy per week, and I tried 2 in one week but he wasn't hungry. I, nor he, has ever missed a feed, so I promise I'm not malnourishing him.

His Temps have always been fine, though it took about 2 weeks of tampering to get them right. He's at about 85 hot spot and 75 ambient, though now that winter is setting in, the Temps are fairly cold at night (working on a solution).

I've always been concerned about him being sick since his poops have always been a white liquid with a little tiny turd looking specimen accompanying it..I've had OCD about poor little Pip since I got him. I took him to the doctor once I realized he definitely was not gaining weight and that a hatchling weighs more than he does!

Hes only shed twice since I got him, both times it was super stuck and he was wrinkly and dry as a corpse. I feel so bad. The vet tested him for parasites and it came out negative, however he gave me a dewormer anyway alongside antibiotics. After faithfully injecting him for a month, he's gained 10 grams.

TLDR; 1 year old snake is 55 grams halp.

I'd be more than happy to provide answers to questions, I just need help understanding this problem. Thanks

[Eric Alan]

One question - fuzzy rat or fuzzy mouse?

[keebs]

Yikes, my girl who's just under 9 months old is 519 grams... you're definitely underfeeding him if he's that weight.

[LittleTreeGuy]

As stated above, if you're feeding him fuzzy mice, that is likely a big part of the problem. He should be on hoppers at least. at that weight, I'd give him a mouse hopper every 5 days for about a month, then some small/medium adult mice for a month, then to rat fuzzies or rat pups.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Even underfeeding if he is eating consistently should/wouldn't be 50 grams at a year.
Most of mine are over that out of the egg except the twins.

[Sauzo]

There has to be some mistake. How long is he? Heck I think when I got Dottie, she was about 90 or 100g and she was about 12" and I think about 3 months old. That was Nov '14. Now she is about 4' and I know blows the scales at over 1000g. haven't weighed her as my scales battery died and I haven't bought a new yet.

Also like mentioned, are you feeding fuzzy mice or rats? A fuzzy mouse is way too small. Dot was eating hopper mice and fuzzy rats every 3 days as a baby.

As for temps, 85F hot spot and 75F ambient is kind of cold. I keep Dot at around 85F ambient with a 90F hotspot. As for bone dry sheds, what is your humidity? They need at minimum 50%. I keep Dot at 50-70% humidity. Buy something like http://www.acurite.com/environments/...red-probe.html for temp and humidity. Cheap and work decently.

[200xth]

I'd feed him one fuzzy per week, and I tried 2 in one week but he wasn't hungry.
...
His Temps have always been fine, though it took about 2 weeks of tampering to get them right. He's at about 85 hot spot and 75 ambient, though now that winter is setting in, the Temps are fairly cold at night (working on a solution).
...
Hes only shed twice since I got him, both times it was super stuck and he was wrinkly and dry as a corpse. I feel so bad. The vet tested him for parasites and it came out negative, however he gave me a dewormer anyway alongside antibiotics. After faithfully injecting him for a month, he's gained 10 grams.

First, are you sure that's an accurate weight? Hatchlings are born bigger than 55g.

Second, fuzzy what? Both mice and rat fuzzies are too small, but mice fuzzies are much smaller and would be far more of a setback to this point.

Third, stuck shed and super dry is a sign of bad humidity. You need to get an accurate humidity reading. Try to get the humidity up to around 50% for starters.

Fourth, I would bump the hotspot up at least a couple of degrees. 85 is on the very low end. Mine are only around 87 or 88, but 85 is pushing it.

If the weight is accurate and he's not sick or has parasites, the size is due to major underfeeding. Good news is this can be corrected extremely easily.

[distaff]

Post a photo with a ruler next to him for scale.
Have someone else weigh him on a different scale. Are you sure the "units" are set to grams?

[Pippers]

He's always been on fuzzy mice, because he's never grown. He's ALWAYS been 50 grams in weight. My humidity is always above 50% as I always have a damp wash cloth on top of the cage, and a water bowl underneath his "night" light. I also have reflective tape covering most of the screen to keep the heat/humidity in. Both times he tried to shed I sprayed his cage to about 70% but trust me, no amount of humidity would have let him get out of that skin..it was as if his body knew he wasn't growing but also knew it had to shed, so it started anyway. The first time, he got it started on his head but that's it. The second time, nothing (and his condition looked about 75% worse)

When you guys say underfeeding, do you mean not often enough, or too small of food. I have fed him twice in one week, as well as twice in one night, and he became extremely constipated both times (had to take him to the vet).

I also forgot to mention last night when I posted this, that his hemipenes are sticking out of his body..at first I thought they were dingleberries but the vet told me those were his hemipenes, unlike me, he didn't seem shocked to see they were out of his body. I feel so bad for poor pip, and I have thought that I weened out every possibility by giving him the best chance possible.

I am not trying to question what you guys know so I will switch to hoppers immediately, 5 days a week, but in my gut I feel as if there is something larger at work here. Jesus do I hope it's just underfeeding. I'll share some pics of my set up and the little stunted guy.

The "Insert Image via Url" isn't working for me, so I posted screenshots of my pics:
https://gyazo.com/d0e1f49a939b18378e17bbde42e850b0
I have 75 watt bulbs, I may switch to 100 now that I realize he needs more heat, however I worry that 100 may be too hot? There is a UTH under his rock hide, and that's a water bowl on his right side

The container weighs 100.5 empty, 163.0 with him there. And yes, I'm sure it's set to grams.

https://gyazo.com/fc044c705ea7d9e58188b880f6e22ad5

https://gyazo.com/aac9603feddad3049a7ef98f0d9b380b

[PitOnTheProwl]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Post-Pictures

yeah and his junk shouldn't be just hanging out either...