Tiny rescue ball python: I may need help

[Ella_S]

So I just recently (September 16th) rescued a baby ball python that was going to be put down by the breeder (He said it was because she is slightly deformed, which is true, but I suspect there are other reasons as well).

She is assumed to be a female and was allegedly born in may, but she's the size of a hatchling, so I think I call bullcr*p. She has a slightly defomed head (one eye smaller than the other, only one row of fully developed bottom teeth, a very short tongue), a small kink in her neck and only weighs 49 grams. I left her alone for a week and then tried to feed her a hopper mouse (always f/t) twice, she refused. Then I tried a fuzzy because she's so small, not eating. Moved her to a slightly smaller enclosure (since the larger one seemed to freak her out), left her alone for another week, tried again, she refused.
I took her to the exotic vet shortly after that, she had an ear infection and was given antibiotics*. She was on Marbocyl for a week and seems to be more alert and active afterwards, but still hasn't taken a meal. I called the vet and he advised me to assist feed (as she is underweight and hardly has any muscle), which I did (once four days ago, a second time yesterday, she hasn't regurgitated so far). She doesn't seem really used to it, honestly... scared of the food, like she never had some before. I've never had a special needs snake before, especially not one that's this young, so I'm wondering:

Am I right in assuming she's probably younger than I was told?
When do you think it'd be the right time to go with larger prey? Only after she's eating on her own?
And most importantly: any ideas on how I can get her to actually eat?

*She apparently had had the infection for quite a while when I got her, I don't exactly know how long and the vet couldn't tell either.

Additinal Info
on the enclosure:
It's a 28 x 21 x 20 cm plastic tub, covered with a blanket to make sure the environment doesn't stress her out too much, Hot side is 30°C, cold is 25-26°C (UTH), humidity 60-80 %, two hides, water bowl, soft wood snake bedding.

Feeding:
I tried different thawing methods, different types of movement for the prey item (I use feeding tongs), but I unfortunately can't feed live (My roommate would raise hell), so I'm kind of dependant on f/t...

I really hope someone can help, I just want to do everything I can for her.

[wnateg]

You don't think those deformities may be too much for her to eat properly on her own, requiring euthanasia?

Edit: and that's a genuine question. I don't really know the severity of the deformities beyond what you've said, but it may be a consideration.

[Bogertophis]

Snakes that don't eat well do stay small, & it takes hatchlings a while to show growth even when they eat normally, because the younger (smaller) rodents they
consume don't provide as much nutrition, & it goes for "maintenance", not much growth. Also, all young snakes tend to stay slim looking because they'll grow just a
bit in length (that you won't notice) rather than put on width. Bottom line: her age is irrelevant anyway.

Please elaborate on this: " she had an ear infection and was given antibiotics" because snakes do not have ears.

With the defects you describe, it may have been kinder if she'd been euthanized: snakes need their bottom rows of teeth to pull prey into their
mouth, ie. to eat. While the deformities you can see may seem minor (or at least, survivable), such snakes often have other internal things wrong
that dooms them sooner or later, despite your hard work, & since they cannot express pain, so you may be causing her more suffering this way.

I do speak from experience...I had a similarly deformed baby rosy boa born many years ago (the result of parthenogenesis) & she was alert & drank
drips of water from my finger initially during her first week of life: she was very tiny & weak & her umbilicus was slow to close up...initially I didn't
even think she was alive...but she was. She got stronger, & despite having only one eye, a crooked head (bent neck) & a spinal bump (not bad)
further down, she had a good appetite. With minor help to line up her prey, she enthusiastically ate pinkies from my feeding tongs again & again.
She even shed a number of times without needing any help from me, & I named her Longshot (which she was). But one day, when she was about
8 mos. old, I found she had expired anyway. I was pulling for her, but obviously there were internal issues that could not be seen. So do think
about this some...I understand you mean well, but this may not end well despite your best intentions.

I'm not a fan of "assist-feeding"...personally prefer tube-feeding (liquid diet) in some circumstances (like when needing to give a non-feeding snake
the energy to get their appetite going) & if you want detailed instructions, I'll PM them to you. No matter what, I understand & wish you good luck.

[Cheesenugget]

Why do you think that the breeder was wrong about her hatched date and the decision to euthanize?

If it was hatched in April, that breeder invested about 6 months of food, time and other resources to get it to eat and stay alive. And to put it to sleep after all that... I can see why.

Some babies of all species are born to this world that simply 'fails to thrive.' It won't gain weight, even when forced fed (which I think the breeder did do to keep it alive this long but it was not growing still), it won't show interest in wanting to eat, its immune system is usually a mess, its internal defects that you cannot see are probably there, and the external defects you do see.. Well, the ones that are born to make it may also appear on the outside perfectly healthy. And when it wants to eat, it eats very well... You get hopeful.. And then they crash hard. That is just their body's way to saying, "I can do no more."

If you want to save her, she needs an experienced hand, like a rescue. Kind intentions are great and all, but completely worthless if you don't know what to do, how much of it and when it is time to stop. What you don't want to do is prolong its suffering. Starvation sucks... And babies are supposed to want to eat, and grow fast with proper nutrition.

In light of this, if there are no rescues available to help, or you choose to keep it, follow the sticky made by Deborah on how to get a baby to eat in the forums.

Honestly though, not trying to be negative but I had done enough foster work with baby animals to know that sometimes, you can do everything in your power and it will eventually pass anyway, for reasons you may not completely understand. That is nature, not all babies are meant to survive, and no amount of vet medicine can stop that.

[Ella_S]

I dont think the deformities are enough for her to eat on her own... If I or my vet thought so, I would have considered euthanasia already, but everyone in the practice thought we can make her pull through, so I'm trying to do just that.
If there was someone more qualified to take care of her that I knew of, I'd have handed her over, but the community in germany is pretty small, I don't know anyone who'd do better than me, and rescue shelters hardly know what to do with healthy adult snakes, let alone tiny problem snakes... and I do have experience taking care of impaired animals- been doing so since I was about 13, just not reptiles (birds, cats, frogs, hedgehogs etc, and except for one hedgehog, one frog and two birds they all survived).
I only brought up the age because another vet (not the one I usually go to) said she might be a lot younger than the breeder said and that she may not have taken more than maybe one meal before. So I thought you'd maybe treat a baby snake who hasn't eaten a meal before differently from a snake who may already be a few months old and used to another way of feeding.
Maybe a translation error on my part, sorry... what I meant is that the system they use to process sound inside their head was inflamed (it was so bad her head was actually swollen)... the vet explained it as being similar to an inflammation of the middle ear in humans.
She does have one fully developed row of bottom teeth and manages to pull in the food just fine (once the mouse's head is placed in her throat). She did have a pretty thorough examination and the vet said she seems to be okay on the inside, but you still could be right, there still could very well be something wrong with her system that is not overtly visible
I fully understand she may not make it despite my best efforts, but that does not mean I will not still do everything I possibly can.
I'd be really, really grateful for instructions on liquid feeding, as I'm not a big fan of assist feeding either (I only did it because I was told she might die otherwise)

Thank you to everyone who took their time to answer, I really appreciate it!

[FollowTheSun]

I commend you for having the compassion to be willing to take on this special needs hatchling . . however like some of the others said, maybe it's just not meant to live. It may just have too many issues.

I know snakes and humans are way different from each other-- but I work in hospice and I teach families to follow the cues of their loved ones. As a person declines (and it can take months) they eat less and less. This is because the digestive system slows down. Some families try to force-feed their loved ones, but it often leads to GI distress and choking. Or they will give IV fluids and the body goes into fluid overload because the heart/kidneys can't handle it. Sometimes the body just knows what it's doing and all the love and care in the world won't fix things.

My other thought with this little snake is that maybe it also has cognitive issues that it may not be able to mentally process things and learn to eat on its own. You may have a long road ahead of you.

Since you have taken on this project and have taken it to the vet already and probably are attached to it, only you can decide when it has suffered enough and when to let it go. Or, hopefully it will indeed turn around, but it sounds like it may always need some intense help to keep going.

I hope you update us on it, no matter what the end result is.