Purchased a very thin ball python baby- how to properly get him healthy?

[doganddisc]

I purchased a Russo from the White Plains show today for $50. I know this is rather low (which is why I took the gamble in the first place) and am guessing that part of the reason why the price was so low is because this snake is very thin. The person selling the snake was VERY helpful though and gave me a lot of good information on getting him back up to a good weight. He stated that the snake is thin because he does two weeks of attempted frozen feeding, then one week of live, and apparently this snake was only taking live (not a problem for me as I raise mice and rats).

I've included some photos on this thread. What are your opinions and what should I do to get this guy back up to size? The person who sold him to me said he ate yesterday.

His current weight is 62g.

[Kaorte]

Start feeding it what it will eat: live. Every 5 days would be a good idea.

That is a little strange that the vendor fed the snake the day before the show. I don't think this is common practice.

A cute little one though! Too bad he was only being fed once every 3 weeks

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[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I would keep him on live until he's over 100 grams. Small frequent meals. Either hopper mice or rat pinks if he will take them. He's smaller in weight than most of the BPs I hatch. I wouldn't bother trying to switch him to FT or prekilled until he's eating very regularly for you.

I don't know why the breeder would have allowed him to stay this way. He should have fed him live if that's what he wanted. Sometimes it takes a few months and some growing to kick in the feeding response strong enough to really begin having any success with FT switching. Until you get to that point why allow the baby to practically starve?

[doganddisc]

Thank you guys! I will be feeding him a live mouse bub every five days or so.