Help!

[Quilivi]

I've lived in my apartment for nearly 5 months now, and I just found a baby ball python in the kitchen. It's ribs are showing.

I have it in a SHALLOW basin of warm water, with a dry spot. But there are no places open right now that sell mice or anything of the sort. It there any kind of food I can offer it as a emergency?

I have a 4 year old Female Ball Python I brought with me, would I be able to house them together?

[Highline Reptiles South]

post pictures! i can't think of anything you can get right now. You will have to find a place with live or frozen fuzzies in the am. Hope the little guy makes it. Where was he hiding out?

[Redneck_Crow]

I would not house it with your female. That would be a major infection risk.

I wouldn't worry about offering it food for a day or so. Most likely it needs warmth and hydration more than it needs food, even if it is skinny.

My suggestion is that you go and pick up caging for it tomorrow. You really don't want to run the chance that it has picked up some sort of respiratory infection or some other cootie that it could pass on to your snake. Plus, snakes are solitary beasties. Unless they have breeding in mind, which a baby surely does not, it would be stressful to both snakes to be caged together.

[Quilivi]

No camera, sorry. aside from being a skinny little bugger he looks alright, had some shed stuck to him here and there, I've got him in an old tupperware container right now with my females old water bowl, and I put her overhanging heater on it. going to let him drink and warm up before I pick the skin off. It isn't stuck firm to him, but it's still there.

Going to the pet store in the morning to get him some food.

[K2exotics]

my suggestion is hydration, security, warmth, and then a small meal, in that order... as far as the meal goes I mean smaller than you would normally give him, after not eating long enough to become emaciated his digestive tract will be very easily stressed. I would feed him a small meal and see how he does then offer him another small meal in 5 or so days if that all goes well.

good luck and keep us posted!

[Munizfire]

What are the odds on that!! Hope it survives!

[kitedemon]

I have been looking after a micro starving ball myself (31gms when I got her...) anyway the advise is great hydration first and security. Ignore the shed it isn't an issue at the moment with proper husbandry it will either look after itself or you can deal with it later after a meal or two.

DO NOT TRY TO FEED IT NOW!!!

badly dehydrated it may not be able to digest properly. and a re-gurge is stressful for a healthy animal for a starving one it is life threatening. Give it a few days before offering and offer tiny very very small at first, it that goes ok I'd offer every 4 days very small meals. Then build that up.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...149940-Arrrrrg!!!!

in case you are interested...

hydration husbandry and security then food it is way hard to do to hold an animal that is triangle shaped and you can see ribs and vertebrae I know I am just getting some weight on now. You really need to give it some time to calm down it is very hard but it really is best for the animal a few days is all it takes. Skillful neglect is the term that has been applied to this stress is a killer in all things stress of no food re-capture and humans again and improper conditions then prey on top could be too much.

[mestapho]

I'm surprised that I'm the first to ask this, but any idea where it came from?

I hope he gets better now that he's got someone took look after him!

[Jessica Loesch]

WOW that is insane that this happened! I'm going to x2 all of the advice you have been given here about not housing them together and getting him nice and warm/secure/hydrated before anything else. Hope things start looking up for the little one.

[lasweetswan]

I wonder where he came from? What a pleasant little surprise