Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just thought i'd tell about my new lil female BP. I wanted a normal to start my collection, so I went to this local guy that I found on the internet, he was operating from his home rather than from a store.

I just went to have a look but when I saw that this BP was being kept in a container barely big enought for the snake and its water, I just knew I had to take her home. The other thing was she looked so small for a April/May03 born python. I just got some scales today and she weighs a little over 150 grams :/

The other thing was that he told me was that she was a difficult feeder and I got the impression she "might" take freshly killed. Once I got her home though I made sure she had proper hides etc and offered a F/T mouse two days after bringing her home. I warmed it right up and left it in front of her hide at the warm end.. it only took about 5 minutes before she was stuffing it down!

So my question.. with her lenth being appr. 2 ft (I havn't been able to do it acurately) and weight 150gr ... Isnt this is seriously under weight ? I thought I would offer a mouse every 4 days to start with to try and get her better.. is there anything else I should do ?

Below is a picture of her just when I got her home and out of the bag, shes all 'balled' up, but was quite relaxed when I handled her tonight for the first time. She also looks kinda grubby on her sides, I'm hoping that will look better after a bath and a shed.

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0.1 Royal Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
1.0 African Grey (Parrot)
1.1 Love Birds
0.0.2 Gold Fish

From the pic, she doesnt look too bad. A mouse every 4 days will work fine, but you will want to get her started on rats, probably rat pups as soon as possible as mouse feeders tend to be a pain in the neck. Also, I wouldn't handle her a whole lot, perhaps 10 min or so every few days, until she gets acclimated to her new home.

I agree with dr grim.

She seems fine for almost a yearling, different bp's grow at different rates.
Try to get her on rats ASAP. I had a 2 yr old bp that was about 2-2.5 ft once I got him on rats he grew 1-2 feet!

Do NOT feed every 4 days! A ball pythons metabolisim is really slow! and the food will not be digested by the time you offer food again!. Feed a large mouse every 7 days and if you want to bulk her up put her on rats!

if he was operating from his home he was most likely someone called a breeder .

Breeders tend to keep their BP's in slightly smaller cages than most (besides other breeders) would prefer. As long as she had water and was not on pine or cedar and was regularly fed (besides her refusing) then it was fine.

You should probably leave her alone, for alteast 2 weeks. except for spot cleaning as to reduce stress. Whether or not she seems stressed she most likely is. BP's stress easily.

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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn