First Ball Python

[clay]

I just got my first ball python from petsmart. I have it in a 75 gallon aquarium. I noticed 2 things about it when I got home. #1 petsmart said they have had this snake for 3 months and that it was doing great, in my opinion it looks pretty emaciated. #2 they said that the snake is 4 months old.  I'm no expert but 2 ft long is a little big for a 4 month old snake. I've had this snake for 6 hours and it has eaten 3 pinkie mice and drank a lot of water. Is this normal or is petsmart just horrible?

 

[monahan95]

Hmmm i'm not the biggest expert on snakes but I do work in a pet store that sells them. It does sound like you snake has been underfed, he may need to move up a size in terms of the mice you are feeding him. If the pinky is smaller that then widest part of the snake body (generally between the eyes) then he needs moved up to fuzzy's or even fluffs. Keep the freshwater coming as its unusual for a snake to drink "a lot" of water. Hope this helps somewhat as i'm just going by some of the knowledge I have from working in a pet store 

 

[MBOU]

If he is genuinely 2ft long then its more like a few years old not a few months! And sounds like it needs much bigger food. My Royals/Ball Pythons were eating small mice by the time they were a year or so old! And they weren't anywhere near 2ft long!
 
Have you got photos?

 

[clay]

Here is a picture. He is doing better. He sure is drinking a lot less water. 

On a side note I'm also in the process of setting up a green tree frog and green anole vivarium/paludarium. Any advice on those?

 

[MBOU]

Yeah.... not 2ft long lol.... 1ft long maybe! He is still a youngster... though pinks are too small, he should at least be on fuzzy things by now, and try and get him used to both rat and mouse while young as it will stop him getting fussy. He isn't in bad condition though, normal shape for a snake that age, you'll notice him bulk up quickly enough

 

[dgwebster]

Looking at the size of his head compared to your pinky finger id say this guy can chow down what wed call here medium mouse easily enough. Ball pythons are amazingly capable of smalling something much larger than their head and even more so than more common kingsnakes or cornsnakes can manage.when buying your need feed, use your little finger as a sizing indicator. Same or a little bigger will be good.