Care of a formerly neglected BP

[burgandy82]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have recently taken in a 16-year-old ball python that was previously neglected by its owners. We're actually not sure of the sex, but we typically refer to him as a male. In his previous home, he often went months without feeding, and when he did eat it was always live rats. He was never handled, aside from feeding times. His previous terrarium's humidity and temperature were not correct or stable and it was almost never cleaned appropriately. He sometimes refused to eat. When we took him into our home, we set him up nicely with a great terrarium with two hide boxes and appropriate humidity/temperature. He seems to be starving now! We decided that we'd try to feed him pre-killed food, although we were worried that he wouldn't eat it as he had always had live before. He ate it without a problem. He has since eaten maybe 5 pre-killed rats easily and very very quickly after we have offered. They're probably medium-sized rats. We're planning to buy bigger rats, but we bought a whole box of these frozen ones due to astronomical shipping prices. We haven't tried to handle him yet as we've been trying to get him acclimated to his new environment with as little stress as possible. Most evenings (and sometimes during the day) when we walk over to his terrarium to check it out, he gets excited and seems to be looking at us like we're prey, coiling up, etc. We fed him four days ago and then last night he seemed to be looking for prey so much that we thought we'd try again and he ate it immediately. From what I've read, he really should only be eating once a week or so - but I have had trouble finding information on snakes that had been previously neglected. I am wondering if he might need to eat more than normal at this point; maybe because of having low body weight? He is a big guy - maybe 5 feet long and he doesn't look extremely skinny or anything - of course we haven't weighed him yet as we haven't been handling him.

So I guess my questions are: how often should I be feeding a snake that has been previously neglected (eating only every few months - almost always at least every 2-3 months)? Is more than once a week too much to start out with if he is often searching for prey? Is this normal for a previously neglected bp to seem so hungry even right after eating? How can we eventually get him not to think of us as prey whenever we come over to his terrarium? We bought some long gloves that we (at least my husband!) plan to handle him with in case he thinks we're prey and bites us during handling. I don't know.. this is all new ground for me as I've never had experiences with snakes of any kind. Whatever information you might be able to share with me would be helpful. Thanks

[mackynz]

Take a look here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...thon-CARESHEET

Go slow with the feeding, too much too fast will cause regurges. I would get a scale and get his weight.

What are you using to regulate his UTH?

[DooLittle]

Ball pythons can go on food strikes for months at a time, generally with out any ill effects. So he may not be as bad as you think. I would skip the gloves, that might just freak him out. Getting bit by a bp isn't as bad as you think. The anticipation of it happening for the first time is worse. Always wash your hands after handling rodents, and he won't confuse you with prey. You need to get a scale and weigh him, that will be best way to see if he is under weight. If he wants to, and will eat every 5 days, I would feed him. If a bp wants to eat, let it. Also, once they are settled in, and have proper temps and food, and feel secure, he may start to mellow. When you start handling him, just do it confidently, start with 5 minute handling sessions to get him used to you. Don't have a death grip on him, let him explore as he wants, moving through your hands. What are your temps, how is your heat controlled, and what are you using for hides? Pics of tour set up would be nice. If all this is in place, he should settle in. Congrats on your bp!

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[kitedemon]

Make sure your husbandry is spot on. Give him a week or so to settle in and then offer the same food (live rat) he was offered originally. I would start small a weanling perhaps. It will ease his digestion back to working. A week after offer again but offer 10% of his body weight or so. When he is feeding regularly you can switch to F/T if you want. I would also suggest a vet visit for a check up. Even if he is healthy it will help to establish a base line for the future. Fecal exam too.

[gsarchie]

Make sure your husbandry is spot on. Give him a week or so to settle in and then offer the same food (live rat) he was offered originally. I would start small a weanling perhaps. It will ease his digestion back to working. A week after offer again but offer 10% of his body weight or so. When he is feeding regularly you can switch to F/T if you want. I would also suggest a vet visit for a check up. Even if he is healthy it will help to establish a base line for the future. Fecal exam too.

OP stated that he has already had something like 5 meals and want to make sure that they aren't feeding him too often, which would seem to be every 5 days at the moment. He is currently eating F/T medium rats.

I've heard of people not reading entire threads before posting but not even reading the whole post in question before giving advice? I think that's a new one. LOL Sorry, I had to say it.

[BallsUnlimited]

Try an get a picture up of the snake. If it is real thin feed every 5 days then when it puts some size on an is no longer thin looking you can feed once every 7 days. you wont need those gloves. Continue feeding every 5 days an give it some time to get use to its new home. You then can start handling him a few mins at a time at first to get it use to handling. Seems like your on the right track with it an I wish you the best.

[Annarose15]

OP stated that he has already had something like 5 meals and want to make sure that they aren't feeding him too often, which would seem to be every 5 days at the moment. He is currently eating F/T medium rats.

I've heard of people not reading entire threads before posting but not even reading the whole post in question before giving advice? I think that's a new one. LOL Sorry, I had to say it.

I have never seen kitedemon give poor advice, so I think the snarkiness is a bit unnecessary.

To the OP - I know you described the rats as "medium", but do you know their actual size (aka weight)? It's already been mentioned, but you should get a digital kitchen scale and weight both him and his rats. Most adult males do not need anything larger than one small rat per week (by small, I mean 50-80g). This is most likely smaller than the 10-15% "rule" that people like to throw out there, but that only really applies to growing hatchlings/juveniles. Just keep him on a weekly schedule and he will gain weight appropriately. If you feed him too much, he will excrete the nutrients instead of using them, and you will basically be wasting food.

[angllady2]

I have had an identical enough experience.

A snake that has been starved over a long period of time will stuff themselves to the point of bursting if you let them. As hard as it is, keep the schedule steady and the food consistent and just wait it out. My female spent 6 months snapping viciously at anything that moved. Eventually, she worked it out that the starvation was over and she did not need to stuff herself in anticipation of being starved. Once she worked that out, she eventually relaxed enough to go on a little seasonal feeding strike for me.

If you have ever dealt with, or seen someone deal with a starving stray, they often gorge themselves to the point of choking on their food, laying over it and growling and snarling at anything that comes near. They are so fearful of the food going away again, they loose all reason. Eventually a regular feeding schedule almost without fail helps them relearn their food obsession. But it does take time.

You can overfeed this snake, and end up doing more harm than good. Stick to every 7 days, and don't go too large on the prey. A medium size rat is fine for him. Stay consistent, and he will gradually learn he doesn't need to stuff himself.

Gale

[kitedemon]

Right answer wrong thread... sorry my bad. I really need to either work or post not both... Just board to tears of what I am doing at the moment...

[burgandy82]

Thanks, everyone, for your useful posts. angllady2's previous experience makes a lot of sense to me - we will feed him once a week on the same day to allow for consistency. I will try to get some pics up in the next few days so I can get some more of your feedback!