The Feeding Log Comes First
For a ball python, feeding history is often the reason for the visit and the clue to its cause, so bring the actual log rather than a summary. It should show what prey was offered, its size and whether it was frozen-thawed or live, which offers were taken, and which were refused — and for how long each refusal lasted. A python who skipped three winter feeds and then resumed is a different patient from one who stopped eating after an enclosure change, and only a dated record separates those two stories.
Include weights alongside the feeding entries, taken on the same scale where you can. Slow weight loss during a refusal, steady weight, or rapid gain all steer a vet's thinking, and a single weight on the day proves very little on its own.
Sheds, Stools, and Everyday Output
Add his shed record: dates, whether each shed came away in one piece or in patches, and whether the eye caps cleared. Retained patches and stuck eye caps, repeated over several sheds, point a vet toward humidity or hydration questions, so note the humidity range you actually keep rather than the range you aim for. Record stools and urates too — frequency, anything unusual you noticed, and the date of the last one before the visit.
If he soaks often, has passed anything odd, or has had mites treated at home, write that down with dates and what was used in general terms. Leaving an embarrassing mite episode out of the handover helps nobody; the new vet needs the whole sequence to avoid repeating a step that already failed.
The Enclosure on Paper
Bring a short written picture of his home: enclosure size, warm-side and cool-side temperatures as you measure them, how heat is provided and controlled, humidity, and substrate. A photo of the setup on your phone helps the vet see hide placement and ventilation without guessing from a description. Note any recent changes — a new heat source, a move to a larger enclosure, a new snake added nearby — with dates, because changes that line up with symptoms are valuable information.
Also record his origin: breeder, shop, or rescue, roughly when you got him, his age and sex if known, and his morph if he has one. Note whether he has been kept near other reptiles and whether any quarantine period followed his arrival.
Past Problems and the Questions You Want Answered
List previous illnesses and vet visits, even at other clinics: past wheezing or bubbles at the nostrils, mouth problems, burns, regurgitation, or injuries, with what was found and how each episode ended. If old records exist elsewhere, request the transfer before your appointment so the new vet is not working from your summary alone.
Finish the handover with your own questions written down. Is his current weight where it should be for his length? Are the refusals you logged seasonal, in this vet's judgement? What change would they want you to call about promptly? Arriving with those questions gets them answered while his records are open on the desk.
A KinsLe Pet Passport keeps this ball python paperwork — feeding and shed logs, weights, enclosure notes, and past problems — together in one portable packet for the new vet.