Underweight Ball Gal

[Nicole N]

So we adopted a gal yesterday and may just be fostering, it all depends on if I can get the husband to fall in love with her. But for now she's in our care. The former owners were not snake people and were feeding her only one medium rat a month, not realizing she needed more. I took her to the vet today and she weights 938 grams She is 3 feet long and an adult of 3 and a half years.

What can I do to increase her weight healthily? Should I try a rat every two weeks or give her larger meals? Should I do smaller rats but give her more of them?

They've also taken her to the vet to be checked out and there is nothing wrong with her. She HAS had a few bad sheds, chunky pieces and not whole one piece sheds but right now her skin looks healthy to me.

[SatanicIntention]

Definitely not bad at all. I rescued one female who was 780g at 3 years old. She was being fed one mouse twice a month.

I would start slowly with her and try one small, weaned rat once per week. The rat only needs to be around 40-50g. See how she does on those for a few weeks, and if she looks like she wants more, give her a second rat the same size(right after the first one on the same feeding day).

I also would get her checked for internal parasites, just in case. Take a small sample(teaspoon size) of her fecal matter and place it in a ziploc baggy, then refrigerate it until you can get it to the vet(preferably within 24 hours, but up to 48 is fine).

[Nicole N]

I'm definitely waiting on her to pass her last meal. I asked today and they said to try to bring it in within 15 minutes if I could, which I can do as long as she doesn't wait until the evening when they close.

Our vet isn't a herp specialist but he does like them a lot, it is just that he doesn't get too many. He serves a lot of boas and other reps at least.

I'm glad she isn't too underweight It had me worried.

[adizziedoll]

She isn't that bad at all. I find that the bps I take in that haven't been fed properly eat the best and gain weight rather quickly She should be just fine! Congrats, and good luck with her!

[Ginevive]

Poor kid I am sure that she'll turn out ok..
I had some females that were relatively slender after laying their eggs.. I know that it is a different dituation than being underweight because of underfeeding, but they gained their weight back faster than I would have thought.

[frankykeno]

Not so bad really. Our worst rescue was about that length and barely 600 grams (she hadn't eaten in 8 months to a year or more). Take heart, our snake is now a big, healthy girl and yours can be too with time, careful feeding and a very low stress life. Stress is, in my opinion, by far the worst thing other than flat out ill health, that any snake faces, especially adult rescues.

Definitely have a fecal done to rule out any issues, it's well worth it. If you can't get it in right away, just pop it in a ziploc baggie and put it in the fridge (not freezer). I'd also put her in a very quiet place in the house, observe strict quarantine rules and feed her as suggested by Becky. Small meals every 7 days in the evening, increasing as she needs or wants it. She really will never need a big rat like a medium, even my biggest 3,200 gram female never gets more than a big small (or small medium however you want to look at it but it isn't a huge rat by any means and much smaller than her girth).

I wouldn't even bother her much and not handle until she's had a month or so of good meals in her and is settling in properly. Once she's eating nicely and properly hydrated you'll likely see a nice, steady weight gain. Don't be surprised if you see some quick shed cycles. Rescues seem to need to shed a bit more often at first as they come back to full health then settle back into a more "normal" adult shed pattern.

It's wonderful you've given her a home, good for you! Take pics now so you can smile later at how far she's come.

[Nicole N]

I forgot to mention I think she was HUGELY stressed inside of a 6 x 4 x 2 foot enclosure with ALL open wire sides. I think that contributed to the bad sheds, since there was no humidity. She was also on a heat rock. We've solved all of those problems and gave her a 15 Gal tank until I can get to office depot and buy their long underbed Iris storage box that I think will be perfect for her. She is very active inside of it and seems pretty happy.

Thanks for the support guys! I'll be hopping in with pics later once the digi cam is charged.

[frankykeno]

You will love that big Iris underbed storage box. Iris make the best quality there is (at least as far as I'm concerned). Do add either luggage straps or really big strong binder clips here and there as any give and even a big snake can squeeze between the lid and the box. A nice set of vent holes and you'll have a lovely and very easy to manage home for her that will easily keep heat and humidity levels for you. I'd suggest you hit WalMart and grab an Acu-Rite (plus 1 AAA battery). They are usually found in the outdoor thermometer/weather station area or in gardening. A very nice digital way to get those temps and humidity readings for less than $12.00 usually. Just pop the actual unit in the cool end, lead the probe over and tuck it into the warm side hide, push a couple of buttons and bingo...you've got IN temp (cool side, what the unit reads), OUT temp (warm side inside the hide, what the probe reads) and overall humidity.