Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

A few days ago a call came into our clinic that someone was looking to place their 3 year old female ball python "free to a good home". Interested, I agreed to talk to the owners & take a look at the snake. It was the standard *son bought a snake, son went to school, snake stayed with parents, parents don't want snake* scenario. I took one look at her & almost groaned out loud.. she's covered in patches of dry shed, was not kept in proper humidity, had absolutely no temp gradient, and was fed one small mouse every 6-8 weeks. In short.. I need help helping her!

She seems very sweet, doesn't mind being handled at all. I gave her a good soak this morning to get off some of the dry shed, cleaned & fixed up her enclosure, set up the proper heat gradient & all that jazz. She eats live (until I switch her) so I fed her one adult mouse this afternoon. As an example of how skinny she is.. he left a decent sized lump! Anyhow I was wondering if feeding her too often would be a problem at this point? I want to get some weight on her, but I don't want to stress her frail little body too much.

She is currently being quarantined at my work (vet clinic) until I'm sure she's free of anything contagious so I can bring her home. She's in the enclosure the couple gave me with her, so she hasn't got too much to adjust to except of course proper humidity/temp & regular meals.

Anyone with any experience with malnourished rescues? Help!

Thanks in advance,

-Tami*

In my opinon you are doing right. I would just feed 1 adult mouse every 7-10 days until you see major improvement in the health of the snake. Make sure it has fresh water every day and just let it get healthy again. I had a rescued snake a few years ago and fed her like a horse. She started regurgitating and the health went down. I slowed down the feedings and thing got a lot better. It's not a race, take it nice and slow.
Link

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www.fbballpythons.com

I'd say fatboys got it right....feed normally once a week.

I have lots of experience with rescues, and you have the most common type. You will be amazed at what a little extra care with husbandry will make. Your BP won't need "extra" food to put on weight. Also, I would suggest trying F/T now. Because she is prob hungry, and struggling, I have found that some will switch right away. Do not however press the issue. If you are willing to put out the few extra dollars, offer a F/T for half hour. If shes not interested, give her an hour, then give her a live. After a couple tries, you may get lucky. Just don't stress her by pushing too hard. Thats the last thing she needs.

Good for you, for taking her in, and ask, ask, ask. The people on here are great for advice! I know I am happy to help any way possible!

Good luck!
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James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

this is a great opportunity to switch to f/t.
i've found, and this may sound funky, when a neglected animal suddenly starts getting stability in it's life that the feeding response is huge. now's the time to offer f/t. if in fact she is as skinny as you say, you can bump her feeding up to every 5 or 6 days, since you're only offering mice. 10-12 mice from now, try the move up to weenie rats. i'll bet she grows like a weed.
good luck, seems like you're on the right track.
ck

The only thing I have to add is along the lines of constrictor keeper... I'd go with every 5 days until she's back to looking normal, then cut back to every 7-10. It's amazing what feeding just a couple days early will do!

Best of luck with her!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

My advice is the same as everyone else - if it were me I'd try every feeding small meals ever 5-7 days. I'd also take this opportunity to try switching her to f/t wean rats while she is good and hungry.

Thanks for taking her in!!!!

Good luck!
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Tosha
JET Pythons