Gaining Weight

Question
I recently rescued a Burmese python from a friend-of-a-friend. The poor guy had an infected, blistering sore on his mouth that discouraged him from eating, among other things. With a double prescription from the vet, the infection is controlled and the blister is almost gone, and he's finally eating. He can handle juvenile mice, but seems to prefer the "pinkies," so that's what I've been giving him, one every other day. Considering that he's still in recovery, how much can I feed him so that he'll start gaining weight? He's about 3 ft long and just under a pound. I can see his spine through his skin, but not a pinky mouse, so I'm not sure how long they take to digest.

Answer
The problem with pinkies is that they contain no calcium as their bones havent formed yet. Snakes fed only on pinkies will be very underweight and can lead to bone problems. He needs to eat more appropriate sized adult mice so that he can get calcium from them. A probiotic reptile supplement for the water is also a good idea, ive had success with that myself my rescue snake that was very sick. Feed larger amounts less often, feeding ever other day will mean that the snake will always be digesting food which isnt good for the stomach and its not that natural as snakes eat large amounts in one go. They can usually mangae more than we think and underfeeding is just as serious as over feeding, keep working him up a size every few weeks until hes eating a normal amount of food, he should really only get fed once a week at the most. Keep up the good work and well done with the rescuing!