Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I responded to an ad about a ball python that need a new home. Since I have been looking in classifieds to rebuild my collection I said "Ill take it".
So today the guy drove 2 hours from his place to mine to give me a 4 foot ball python, tank, lamp, 2 heat stripes, and hide... For Free!
Even better... As soon as the guy left I popped the snake and found out its female!! Its been awhile since I last owned BPs and bred them so Im super stoked right now!

But Im happy that shes with me because from the looks of the tank it looks like it never was cleaned. It stuck of mice pee and poo. Multi shed skin. And the water bowl.. Ha... Theres no words for it... Shes a little dehydrated and just went through a bad shed so shes not in too good of condition. But Im going to get her back into shape and help her feel good and comfortable. I only ask that she eats and takes it easy lol.

The tank was custom made by the guy so he cared a little bit about the snake but... the tanks where (and Im guess on the size) two 20 gallon tanks stacked ontop of each other. The bottum one was a wide. So I took it apart and am only using the 20 wide or low. Its more practical and easier to get to her.

I thought Id share with you all and introduce her. So enjoy everyone and thanks for looking!

The water dich that I through away!

Not the best picture but it shows how her tank used to look like, and also how big she is.

Random pictures of her. I'll take better pictures of her once shes settled in.

Thanks for looking again and take care!

Samantha

Congratulations...take good care of her. I always like to hear a good rescue story.
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I saw the first picture loading and saw the edge of the watter bowl and though OMG that poor snake, Good thing it was the water bowl, She should bounce back no problem. good thing the person was at least human enough to admit he could no keep her, Far to many die from lack of care. I never question a person that gives a snake away, there is a lot worse they can do. Keep us up to date.
Foot Hill Reptiles

Hey Jason and thanks for your comment. Yeah I didnt want to ask why he is giving it away but he did state that his girlfriend didnt like the snake and didnt want him having it any more so..
Im deffinitly going to keep you all posted on this girl. My only concern is feeding. He told me that shes eating 1 mouse every week... Now shes alittle over 4 feet long and I think she should be eating something bigger and more supplemental then just 1 mouse..
He also stated that she isnt the strike and kill kinda of snake, shes move of a coil around and kill kinda snake.. Im not really sure what he ment by that... But Im guessing that I should try and feed her a rat that is a size smaller then a small rat? I cant remember the term its been a while since I last was involved with Balls.

Haha... And!... The guy was like "I could take this snake to a show and sell it for $500 because of its markings" Dont get me wrong cause I love this lil girly but come on... lol. I just played dumb and was "oh okay"

Well Ill take a few more pictures of her and post them up. Shes doing real good. Soaking in her water. Shes laying more on the cool side but as long as shes comfy and healthy Im fine with it.

Take care!

Samantha

There is a sense of contentment & accomplishment that goes along with rescuing a ball (or any animal really). How lucky for her to have found her way to you!

The pic of her left eye looks like she might have a stuck eyecap. A little scotch tape might be in order after soaking her a bit more.

Enjoy her!
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www.heatsherps.com

Someone else told me that her eye looks like that but I guess I havent noticed cause her eyes are real dark? Ill check again tomorrow. I didnt really want to mess with her too much today cause she was roling around in the tank and in the back seat of his car with the windows down!!! So I know she was super freaked out and real cold.
So tomorrow Ill give her a good look over and inpect her more. Today I just did a quick glance and took a few shots with my camera. (I finally have a subject that I can use for my Macro lens) hehe

Thanks again and I feel real good that I can be a safe home for her. I cant wait to chubby her up!

Samantha

..to drink outof that water dish YUCK!

Nice job!

Id pay to watch that... hehehe.

I just wanted to ask... When I popped her.. There where no hemipens, but on each side of the vent there where two small white balls of gew... Is that a female sent glan?

I am not that great at popping, esp the larger ones, and I usually just probe them. I would wounder if they might be spermplugs though? Go to You Tube and Ralph Davis has a good popping video.

Ive watched that video a few times and also 8 ball pythons too. I think thats what they're called... But when I watched the 8BP's video... They popped a large female and it looked exactly like what I saw when I popped her..

I just popped her a again a few times to be sure and Im 150% possitive that shes a she! Im so blown away by this I dont even have any more words. Just excited!

Looks like you are good to go then. Congrats! Nice find and what a lucky girl you have from those conditions to being treated great. If I were you I would spend this year getting her tip top and put some more weight on her. I would get a accurate weight for her and then feed her and make sure she gains weight(a good indication she isnt loaded up w/parasites). Also, monitor when she goes to the bathroom that it looks good, whitish maybe slightly yellow urates and not diarrhea or really bad smelling (graphic sorry). She looks like she has really good weight already considering. Maybe you can pickup a nice male and have them both ready to go by the fall.