I have rescued a ball python..HELP!

[blackorchid1015]

Hi, I have recently taken in a ball python, with very little background information, and only what I have read so far online. I dont even know the breed he/she is. Stu, is approximately 2 feet 3 inches in length, and thats only going by the length he stretched out alongside the aquarium wall. I have yet to hold him, as I just got him last night and was told that he hadnt been fed in close to a week and a half, (got him a live mouse this morning, in which he inhaled! lol). I do plan on making sure this is the last home Stu has. Oh, and I was told he was approximately 11-12 years old. Again, I have very little background info on him. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! -Marla

P.s. I have a pic of Stu on my profile if that helps any.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I am assuming you meant feet not inches. I looked at the picture and he has to be the healthiest looking rescue snake I have ever seen unless I am flat out missing something.

These are easy animals to take care of but you have a lot of reading to do. You can start here.

[blackorchid1015]

Ok, Let me explain what I mean by rescue, The person I got him from has had him in a small outdoor lawn mower building, that reeks of gas and oil and had only fed in once in the month that hes had him. The original owner (the person who had him before the person I got him from) took very good care of him from what I was told, but got arrested and will be gone for a long time. I couldnt see him stuck in a small building where the only heat he got was from outside.

Oh, and yes, I meant feet. He is approximately 2 feet and 3 inches long.

Would you by chance know by looking, what breed he is? (I say he, but that just a guess lol)

[redshepherd]

Ball pythons don't have breeds, so that won't be a problem. They're all just ball pythons. If you mean his morph (which is just genetic coloration), he looks like a normal!

He also looks very healthy and chubby. Seems like he eats often and has a good appetite LOL. Either that, or I'm also missing something.

How often they eat also goes by their weight and age. If you have a scale in grams, you can weigh him. On average, adult ball pythons do eat only one meal every 2~3 weeks. The correct prey size would be if the width of the prey's torso is the same or slightly wider than the width of the widest point on the ball python. In this case, I think "same width" would be better, since Stu is super chubby.

That ball python caresheet link is the easiest thing to go by!

ETA: Replying to the post just now, adult ball pythons are totally fine going MONTHS without feeding and without losing much weight, if they happen to go off feed for any natural reason (besides incorrect husbandry). It seems like the original owner fed him very often. To put it bluntly, Stu's a fat guy. Going one month just now without food probably hasn't affected him at all, so no need to worry.

[JodanOrNoDan]

A "breed" with ball pythons is known in the hobby as a morph. Get him outside in some natural light with some side and belly shots and someone will be able to tell you for sure what morph he is. I have my suspicions but the lighting is too bad to be sure. At that age and 2 to 3 feet my bet would be that its a boy but that is impossible to tell for sure without sexing the animal. If it is a girl she is extremely small.

The environment that he was recently in is definitely not good but he honestly does look healthy other than being small. Please read the care sheet and get him in a good environment as soon as you can.

[Willowy]

Haha, yes, that's a fine fat shiny snake! Although if he's truly 11 years old he's very short, or maybe you're just underestimating. It can be really hard to get a length---they don't usually cooperate by lying still all stretched out! If he's a full adult he can have small rats, if you feed mice he'd probably need 3 or 4 depending how big they are. So it's easier and probably cheaper to buy a rat. If you continue to feed live make sure to supervise until the rodent is dead; a ticked-off rat can really tear a snake up if left in the enclosure unsupervised.

Congratulations on your introduction to snakekeeping!