Quote Originally Posted by westherocker View Post
yeah they're frozen pinkies, then I thaw them in warm water
Unless he's an incredibly small ball python, mice pinks are just not really going to cut it. They are really a tiny meal for most any size ball python, even a hatchling. You're going to want to go up some in prey size. If the snake is used to f/t prey you may want to stick with what it knows, at least for now. Settling a snake in is best achieved when you change as little as possible in it's feeding routines.

As far as the possibility of mites, you may not see them on the snake but here's an example photo of what a snake with mites looks like soaking in it's dish. Notice the things that look like black pepper flakes in the water dish...those are mites.