Brought home a severely underweight BP baby. Please help me get her back on track

[Spoons]

Will I figured if she won't take the fuzzy, I figured I would go get a live fuzzy and offer that. I don't like feeding live mostly out of my own squeamishness and inconvenience but it's more important that she take something.

If absolutely necessary I would try force feeding, but only after I try the normal route! I will keep her water full and mist her tank to try and keep it a little more humid maybe.

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[Bogertophis]

I don't recommend force-feeding at all...and that's not the same thing as tube-feeding (though obviously, they don't "volunteer" for that either, lol).

And again, I'd try feeding her Friday night instead of Saturday if you'll be going away for a few days this weekend. That way you'll have a good idea
as to whether or not she keeps it down.

[Spoons]

Friday works a little better for me actually so I will try that. (And it's a day sooner, less for me to wait!)

I might have to learn something, my sick Kenyan Sandy in my other thread is refusing to eat again (stress of injections I expect) and is dropping weight real fast. Hoping she takes the pinkie left for her tonight!

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[Slicercrush]

Sad to see that the poor baby was so terribly cared for, hopefully corporate takes care of that swiftly, before any more end up like that.

Normally i'm one of the many that talks about not buying from big box stores, but I would've caved just like you if I saw one in that condition. The soaks are nice, and as said above add that neosporin. Hope everything is going well with her, her moving around a bit is hopefully an improvement, compared to your original description of how she was acting. That girl needs to rest for a good while, keep us updated if she eats. If she does, and manages to keep it down, she'll be on the right track.

Poor little noodle.

[Bogertophis]

...I might have to learn something, my sick Kenyan Sandy in my other thread is refusing to eat again (stress of injections I expect) and is dropping weight real fast. Hoping she takes the pinkie left for her tonight! ...

I'll be happy to give you instructions (it's really good to know anyway!) but for right now, try feeding the normal way, that's always preferable. And many snakes
undergoing medical care (injections or oral meds) aren't going to eat anyway...so don't be shocked...and if they do, they might toss it back up, depending on what
the med. is- did the vet suggest you feed on schedule or wait?

Rotten luck, two snakes needing extra care at the same time...

[Spoons]

She said to feed as usual, but it's hard timing wise. Injections are every 3 days, and you don't want to feed right before, and they're also not likely to take it same day post injection. She wants to eat, she takes the pink and moves it around but won't actually eat. I wouldn't be worried about missed feedings for a Kenyan but she's lost two grams, and she only started at 10. I have read that force feeding a segment of rat tail is quick, easy (slides right down), and has a lot of protein so that is what I am considering.

In my days rehabbing wildlife I had to tube/Gavage fed a wide variety of small fragile animals, so I'm no stranger. Just never done a snake! Usually birds and rabbits. I'm certainly leery.

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[Sallysmom]

Sunnieskies I got mine a month ago from Petco in Burbank and they said pinkies and pinkies only as it “cant be given anything bigger than its head”. The poor baby was so underweight is was scary to look at it at first

[Sallysmom]

And for the OP I got my baby from Petco in a very similar condition although he seemed a little less dehydrated he hadn’t eaten in a while and was fed on pinkie mice his entire life prior. He had a lot of wrinkly saggy skin but didn’t have any scabs and had a moderate energy level. I had a bit hightened humidity (constantly misting) for the first couple days and kept a very close eye on the temperatures. After I settled him in I made a point to not handle or bother him for 5 days to let him adjust after the move and then offered first F/T meal. I found the smallest rat pup (seemed like the most appropriate sized item for him) available at the nearby store and used the hair drier trick and he took it almost right away. I’ve been feeding him every 5 days afterwards and he’s had a wonderful appetite, shed after about two weeks and is now looking like a happy healthy snake after a month. I hope your baby recovers quickly and nicely too!

[Bogertophis]

Sadly, many pet stores ("big box" or otherwise) often under-feed their snakes so they stay "small & cute" & don't out-grow their display tanks. Most of their
employees are just minimum wage workers doing as they're told; even if they know better, they might not be rewarded for "doing better by the animals".

It's a very tough call, buying from such stores: they have no incentive to change when what they're doing keeps them in business. It's refreshing to find pet
stores where they truly understand snakes & do right by them, but they're in the minority. I've only gotten a couple snakes (out of countless # over the years)
from pet stores, so I have "no room to talk" about "never" enabling bad pet stores, and you still have to do a little "homework" buying from private breeders,
but that's usually the best option, as long as you check their references & ask questions. Experience to know what you're looking at helps too...snakes can have
very subtle symptoms.

[Spoons]

When I first got my first snake, a male BP, I wasn't sure what size to feed. I stood at the frozen fridge starting til an employee came and asked if I needed help. I said yes please, I am not sure what size food for a baby ball python?

Him and his TWO co-workers came to the concensus that I needed crickets, or something cricket sized, because they "can't eat anything bigger than the distance between their eyes."

I couldn't believe what they bad just said. I stared for a few seconds wondering if it was a joke. I don't even remember if I corrected them or not, but I often think back to it. If that's how little they know about the snakes, never surprised to hear the stories - and now see - the snakes in horrible condition.

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