I picked up a rescue ball python from a pet store I formally worked at. I had been working when someone dropped it off Saturday in a filthy cage. He said he fed 'Juicy' a mouse every two weeks. My reaction to taking the snake out was she felt skinny, triangular cross section, and she's floppy, ie not great at holding up her body weight. The manager thought she wasn't that skinny (part of the reason I was leaving.) She isn't that bad if you're comparing her to the stressed out ones in the store. (My mother who's exposure to snakes is only my pets even said she looked skinny.)
Monday was my last day and I forked over a $5 adoption fee to take Juicy home. I really want to know what the $5 was for. No one had cleaned the cage. Someone gave the snake water and turned her heat on, that's it. She was being kept in the room with the overstock mice, and was constantly scenting the room.
I swapped out her nasty cypress mulch for aspen and removed all of her cage furniture. She couldn't hide under any of it, she was too big. With the cage furniture out of the way she is about 3 feet long. The guy dumping her said she is 5 years old. She patrolled her clean cage a little then went in her hide.
She doesn't appear to have any parasitic or bacterial conditions. Her mouth is clear, her belly looks good, and she has no stuck shed, or wrinkled appearance. Though they weren't cleaning the cage, it was dry rather than wet, though the glass was covered in smeared feces. I think it is just a lack of food working on her. She is still sitting in ISO for a minimum of 30 days, I might push it to 90 if I'm overly cautions. I have another ball, some corns and a small boa to worry about.
Yesterday she was out again around sunset scenting and poking at her cage cover. I decided to give feeding a shot, as she has been a very laid back snake and at no point has acted panicky or stressed. I assume he was also feeding her in the cage, which I prefer not to do. I put her in a bin and defrosted a mouse. The only thing I have on hand is large mice, as my other ball refuses to swap to rats. I expected a little tempting to be needed as she was eating live, but nope. I dropped the mouse in and she ate it. I consider that an excellent sign. On to my question.
How often should I be feeding her to get her up to a more normal condition? Assume I'm feeding large mice, as i have plenty of them right now, and she seems to like them. I don't have a scale, so am unsure what her actual weight is currently. When you pick her up her backbone is very prominent. She gets around the cage fine, and can hold up herself to reach the top, she just doesn't seem muscular. I am however comparing her to my 7 year old chunky ball python.
Meet Juicy.
