Type of ball/is he too thin?

[200xth]

Thank you everybody, we are terribly worried about him! He still won't eat, so I was thinking about trying to force feed him. I don't know how to do that though... He is a very beautiful snake! The breeder said that he feeds his snakes weekly and that he was feeding them pinkies... I'm tempted to call the police and have him found and get his snakes taken away because they were all looking pretty thin.. I feel terrible for them! My boyfriend gets paid next Friday and I'm hoping the little guy can hang in there until then so he can go to the vet! Can anybody help me as to how to force feed? I really want this little guy to start eating! He does have wrinkles, but I'm wondering if that is because he is so thin. He does like his water! I will keep updated!

What have you been trying to feed him?

[Albert Clark]

Imo, I would try rehydrating him first with warm water. I would sit him in a shallow tub with just enough water to cover the belly scales. See if you can get him to drink the water by just monitoring him while he is in the shallow tub. Trying to force feed or assist feed before the animal is somewhat rehydrated is not the best procedure. Snakes absorb fluids through the cloaca so by just placing him in the warm water you are giving therapeutic fluid replacement that will help some. If he drinks the water then that is a added plus! Stay in peace and not pieces. Good luck.

[kaiden89]

Do you think animal control would do anything for this guy's snakes if I call and report him?

Also, I have an appointment with a veterinarian for my little guy this upcoming Wednesday, I hope he can make it that long! I'm going to put off on one of my bills for like a week so that I have the money to take him in. I tried finding somewhere to help me force feed him but nowhere had any openings today to help me out.

I feel so bad, I kind of just want to cry right now

I'm not sure where you are but I had a situation where we got our ball python from a so called rescue and all the snakes in this guy's care were in poor condition, improper heat/humidity and no water and improper enclosures it was disgustingly sad not only that but the place was filthy and there were young kids in the home... anyway ... we called the police and they involved the spca and fish and wildlife and forced these people to get their stuff together ... if you think his snakes are not being cared for properly make a phone call, at least that way you know you've done your part to help these creatures that cannot speak for themselves

[anicatgirl]

I am hoping someone on here can give you a good tutorial for force feeding, as it may need to happen ASAP. I haven't done it though so I wouldn't dare advise. However, pinkies for any but the littlest babies is too small. I (personally) would go after him for the conditions of his animals, whether with animal control, police, rescues, whatever it takes. I have 0 tolerance for abuse or neglect.

[Miranda2]

Have you tried a live small mouse before force feeding?
If they were feeding them pinkies that is way to small even for a hatchling.
Ive never had a non eater refuse a small live mouse, then switching to f/t once they are up to a reasonable weight.
Over the years Ive taken many non eaters, one having not eaten for a year(he was being broiled with too much heat). Anyway live mice are the ticket. Also make sure they are not to hot.That seems to be the biggest husbandry mistake people make is over heating the enclosure.

[KitaCat]

Oh dear, that boy is frighteningly thin... 40g?? That's light for a hatchling. Really hope you can help him recover. Please do keep us updated.

[rainmixaeris]

!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!

We kept our cage of adult mice next to Mr. Slithers's cage overnight and then took him with us to a local pet store this morning and they put him in a tub with a fuzzy. He didn't seem interested for the first few minutes but then we picked it up and dangled it in front of him before we were going to put him back in his travel cage to leave, and he ended up striking at it and ate it! He has had no trouble with water since we've got him, and we try to monitor the heat/humidity in our snakes' enclosures very closely. Being new snake owners we are trying our best to make sure we get things right.

I am extremely happy that we finally got him to eat! I am hoping that we are on a road to recovery for the little guy, as we were extremely worried about him! I know everywhere we read even the hatchlings didn't weigh as little as he does. We were thinking pinkies were too small, but weren't 100% sure; because of how thin he is it was hard to tell. I texted the guy and told him he needed to take better care of his snakes and that he needed to be feeding them bigger prey than that.

I called animal control but because he wouldn't give us his address and had us meet him somewhere instead they said that they couldn't do anything. I feel bad for the guy's snakes. He is really shady. When we first texted him with our concern he started talking about how he's had tweekers like us want our money back after buying snakes from him because they needed the money for more important things and so on even though we never once even said anything about wanting our money back. That was also his excuse for not wanting us to come to his house, because he's supposedly sold snakes to a tweeker at his house and then ended up coming home one day with his house broken into and cleaned out. He's just a really shady person and I wish that we could somehow get him caught. He had told us that the snake is two months old and that he was feeding them pinkies weekly but I don't know if I can believe that. I think he is neglecting them and trying to sell them as younger than what they are to people who don't know much about them since they are so thin.

Anyway, I'm glad he is eating and hoping that next week he will eat on schedule with our normal and pinstripe ball pythons.

On another note, our normal, Luci, shed her skin today after being in shed for a while! All of them like their prey live, and we are graduating our two females up to rat pups next week as we are sure they are ready for it. We don't have a name for our pinstripe yet as we just got her a couple days ago from a nice lady who is getting interested in three-gene pythons.

ALSO, after doing a bunch of research, we think Mr. Slithers might be a yellowbelly, because he has that beautiful vivid color and his stomach isn't white, but instead yellow. I don't know if that could just be a sign of him being unhealthy but I have read that yellowbellies can be easily mistaken for normals.

Thank you everybody for all of the advice and being so kind, I feel like I chose the correct place to ask questions and happy that nobody tried making us feel crappy about anything because of being new owners. I will continue to update occasionally on how Mr. Slithers is doing for anybody who is curious about his recovery, and if I have anymore questions I will definitely be on here asking them!

[Lizardlicks]

If the local authorities can't do anything then there are some things you can do to take a couple matters into your own hands. Where ever you first found this guy advertizing, post BOS (Beware of seller) warnings. Web classifieds, craigslist, face book, everywhere. If he is going to make a business of abusing animals, make sure he never gets business. When you do, be sure to include as much information about your transaction as possible; name, contact info, his whole operating MO. He sold you a thin, dehydrated normal as a healthy mojave, that is a man who shouldn't be anywhere near the herp hobby.

[anicatgirl]

If the local authorities can't do anything then there are some things you can do to take a couple matters into your own hands. Where ever you first found this guy advertizing, post BOS (Beware of seller) warnings. Web classifieds, craigslist, face book, everywhere. If he is going to make a business of abusing animals, make sure he never gets business. When you do, be sure to include as much information about your transaction as possible; name, contact info, his whole operating MO. He sold you a thin, dehydrated normal as a healthy mojave, that is a man who shouldn't be anywhere near the herp hobby.

Lizardlicks is right. There are ways. I personally would make a huge setup and have a friend buy something else, follow his butt, get an address, and sick the police on him. But for sure put up info on any place you can find about him and his shady dealings, not to mention animal abuse!


EDIT: Ahem, sorry... people like that make me see in all shades of red. I am very happy to hear that the little one has eaten now! Though you can just bring a mouse home and feed him in his home, IDK how far you have to go for mice. It will help him be more comfortable. Keep us posted!

[rainmixaeris]

We did want to set him up because it is upsetting that he would be doing this. I will definitely have to post some Beware of Seller stuff on this guy.

As for feeding, we get our mice and rats about 45 minutes away, and we normally feed at home but we took him with us to the pet store to find a good size to feed him and they let us attempt to feed him there so we didn't have to worry about taking live home just for him not to eat it. But since we got him to eat we will be feeding him at home from now on. We are going to start breeding rats so we don't have to travel every week to get them live prey.