New Ball Python

[Mistwalker]

Went to the pet shop today, meaning to buy an asian water dragon, but I ended up with this instead:

My first snake. Lovely critter.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Gorgeous! Looks nice and fat and generally pretty incredible for a pet shop ball. Do you know if it's captive bred or WC or what? Hopefully not WC, though even if it is...a ball that round must have already fed a few times, so you shouldn't have THAT classic set of problems. (At least I think it looks fat, it's hard to see if the spine is visible from this angle. A healthy ball is almost perfectly round, the spine shouldn't "tent" up at all.)

If this is your first snake and kind of a surprise purchase, how much research have you done? I've had my ball Rorschach since August and have all sorts of good links and information saved up that I'm always happy to hand out to new ball python owners. I had a ton of help when I was getting started, I think I should return the favor.

 

[Mistwalker]

The body isn't entirely round. Sort of teardrop shaped. Hard to see in that shot, though. Does this mean he's underfed?

And he is captive bred. Thanks.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

The body isn't entirely round. Sort of teardrop shaped. Hard to see in that shot, though. Does this mean he's underfed?

And he is captive bred. Thanks.

Captive bred? Good, you've avoided a ton of awfulness that way. And yup, if he/she's sort of teardrop shaped, he's a little underweight. Should be easy enough to fix. What size prey is he on? Looks like he could take a thawed adult mouse.

I'd wait at least a week before trying to feed him, don't handle him more than necessary, let the stress wear off. Feeding too soon or while stressed risks feeding problems or actual regurgitation, which is REALLY awful. A good non-disruptive way to feed at that size is to get an empty poptart box, put it on its side in the enclosure with the f/t mouse in it, and leave it overnight. If it's still there in the morning, toss the mouse, wait 4-7 days, and try again.

Rorschach got pretty teardrop-shaped for a while because the breeder had been feeding him hopper mice, I kept feeding him hoppers (eventually 2-3 per meal as he grew), and he just would not accept a bigger mouse for the longest time. But he missed a meal because I took him home for the holidays, and then around Christmas he inhaled a f/t adult I got from a local pet shop. He's eaten another adult since then, and is putting the weight back on as quick as you please. I have to start feeding him every ten days or so now, in fact, because they're so very filling that he isn't even hungry after just a week anymore!

As long as you have a captive-bred ball in good health, a little thinness should be absolutely no trouble to fix. It probably just didn't want to eat in the big scary-smelling pet shop.

You didn't say whether or not you had some good care sheets on hand. A captive-bred ball is not particularly difficult to take care of, but the simple mistakes that can be made by owners that just didn't know what could cause problems can be well and truly devastating. If you don't have stuff, it's no shame, I will be glad to give you all the links you can stand. They're totally awesome little snakes, everyone deserves a good experience with them.

 

[ReptileMan27]

Cute BP , much better choice then a water dragon IMO. Good luck

 

[TheReptileShop]

Awesome!! Do you know what gender it is?

 

[Mistwalker]

I actually gave him a mouse yesterday, nailed it instantly. Wasn't frozen, but I killed it beforehand.

Hasn't regurgitated it as of yet, hope that doesn't happen.

Seems to be exploring his tank a lot, haven't bothered him since he's eaten, as I've read they might regurgitate their prey item if you do.

Was a smallish adult mouse that I fed him.

And according to the pet shop, it's a male.