Shoot.

[musicalKeyes]

Noah got bit again. I wish he'd take frozen or stunned. I was even watching too, I feel horrible, but I think just the mouse's lower teeth caught him, and it just bent and bruised a couple of his scales, luckily nothing major. Put some neosporin on it and put him on paper towels.

Speaking of, and this may have been answered before, but why not with the pain reliever? Would it physically harm him or is it just bad for him? I had to scour the house for some without.


Definitely time to try f/t or stunned again, but he's still underweight from his last 2 month long refusal to eat (he's probably around nine months, and he lost quite a bit of weight then, he was at 241 when I weighed him tonight) so I don't want to push him too hard.

[mpkeelee]

how thin does he look? does he look healthy? you may want to check for parasites or something else. 241 sounds too small to me for 9 months. hows the husbandry?? hides??

[musicalKeyes]

He doesn't look too unhealthy, he's not triangular by any means, but his tail end still looks a little thin from his fast. He's currently in a tank with all sides covered and foiled/duct taped top with two others (I knowwwww, really, but the situation is far for permanent and entirely accidental. I'm in the process of building a rack at this moment, and it shouldn't take too much longer.) He has lots of hides to hang out in, six if you count under all the fake plants, and temps as good as I can get them in a tank (88-93F hot, 78-85F cool) And humidity sits around 46% non-shed. He hasn't refused a meal (as long as it's live) since he got off his refusal bit. I purchased him from a wonderful place that is absolutely nothing but helpful, and after a month of trying and talking to the employees (they know what they're talking about, not like the mostly fools at the major stores) they offered to take him back to get him eating, which took another month.

He's horrible at striking and only ever rarely gets the face, so a lot of times I have to hold the face of the mouse away from him until he's killed it, which he doesn't seem to mind since he's never refused after that. They do eat separately from the tank, but I haven't got any refusals yet, and it's always dark and quiet. when they have their own tubs, they'll get fed inside of them.

I cannot wait to finally have this rack done.

[musicalKeyes]

I don't want to bug him right now, but here's a picture of him from a little while back. Sorry I've only got one with the other two in it, and you can't see his body all that well. (Noah's the Spider):

[BPelizabeth]

Prekill right before offering!! That would be my suggestion!!

[Punkymom]

IDK. That weight might not be that bad. I think it would depend on his hatch weight. The snake I just got (Mr. Noodle) is just over 100 grams (can't remember exactly, I weighed him out of the box and then put him away) and is 5 months old. I'll go check out his chart but I'm pretty sure he's been fed regularly. I do think he's refused a few meals here and there when he was with the breeder. He was only 54 grams when he hatched. However, Elmo is 8 months old and weighs just over 400 grams. Elmo has also only ever eaten rats and has only ever refused 2.5 meals in his entire life (the .5 was a 2nd rat that he refused after he took the 1st one I offered). So in short, I don't think Mr. Noodle will be up to the same weight Elmo is by the time he's his age. There's a very good chance that he's just fine.

[Kaorte]

He looks pretty plump in that picture. If he is eating consistently besides that 2 month refusal then I don't really see what the problem is. Even a hatchling can go a month or two without eating and still maintain a fairly good weight.

He is a little small for his age but they all grow at different rates. He could just be a slow grower.

The pain reliever in neosporin is toxic to ball pythons (and all reptiles).

A bite here and there is not a big deal as long as it heals well and doesn't get infected. If he only takes live then give him what he will eat. When you move him to his new house, he will probably feel better about switching to f/t.

As for separating them, it would be very simple to get the tubs you want to use for your rack now and just set them up individually.

[musicalKeyes]

I'll try prekilled again, definitely. I too think he'll be way more calm in a tub, so maybe that will help him start on f/t. I'll see about getting lids for the tubs I've already got, since I got them from somebody who didn't have the lids, andlook into getting some extra flexwatt early. Thanks guys