Zatarra not eating, what could be wrong?

[shelliebear]

My brother and his fiancee have been having problems getting their BP to eat. One week he will eat, but then the next 5 weeks he'll refuse. They've been feeding him live mice, but he usually refuses them.
We took him in today for a little while, and are going to keep him for a few days. We cleaned his tank, put new bedding in, changed his water, and he's blue, so we put a towel on his tank and sprayed the heck out of everything to keep humidity up. After he sheds we'll do the tin foil treatment to his screen lid.
It's rather cold in Brandon and Karee's apartment right now, probably 70 degrees or lower. They've had heat lamps on Zatarra, and their other BP will eat but not him.
So, what could be wrong? We looked him over, no mites. His feces has been looking pretty normal according to my brother, no diarrhea or watery stools or anything. Actually, Zatarra hasn't been peeing hardly at all. :/
So I'm very puzzled. We'll try to feed him tomorrow when our other snakes eat. He's in quarantine right now, no handling or anything for him except to examine him for health issues if any should arrive.
Any speculations as to what's going on? I know there's hundreds but I was just wondering what you all were thinking.
Thanks
Shellie

[FatBoy]

It is usually a security issue. What type enclosure is he in.

[DLoc]

Assuming all the husbandry issues are good, it may just be because it's winter. Ball pythons are known to be picky eaters. I'm going through it right now. Last year when I got mine (in January) she had just started eating. And this year as soon as the weather changed outside, she quit eating.
1) temps?
2) humidity?
3) hides?
4) any clicking or poping sounds?
5) When you say "blue" are you talking about pre-shed IE in blue?
6) Did you move her cage? different room? Did you rearrange the cage?
7) Changes in behavior or patterns? resting head on hides?
Here is the best suggestions I have.
-If Zatarra is in blue it's not uncommon for ball pythons to skip a meal before shed.
-Seasonal (hibernation) Is she/he burrowing?
It's not uncommon for them to go a couple of months without eating. When breading for example.
Check out- http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

The breeding process is a year long cycle. During the spring, summer, and early fall, my snakes are housed separately, kept at optimal temperatures, and fed every two or three weeks. In about October or November, I stop feeding the snakes and leave them at regular temperatures. After a few weeks without food, I move my two males and three female adults together into a 60 Gallon aquarium (30x18x18 inches). The tank has three hide boxes, one of which acts as the water bowl. I provide regular temps in the high 80's during the day and until about 2:00am. At 2:00am, I turn off the lights and let the temperature drop into the low 70's or even high 60's. The light comes back on at 11:00am and warms things back up. Some breeders have had success offering 12 hours of light and 12 of dark, but mine seem to do OK. I continue to offer food to the females every three or four weeks, but I expect that they will choose not to eat. Some breeders have also suggested providing more humidity during the mating season, but again mine seem to do fine without worrying about that factor.

[shelliebear]

Zatarra has a plastic half log for a hide. I want to get him a different one, and actually a second identical one to put on the other side.
I did rearrange his tank for quarantine purposes--I took his little piece of driftwood out and moved his waterbowl to the middle. I want to get him two identical hides tomorrow and replaces his. He had already not been eating prior to when I did this, before we had him in our care.
Sometimes he rests his head on his hide, it seems a little more than with my other snakes.
Ambient temps are roughly 80 degrees (we use a heater in my room to keep them up). Hot spot is probably the same as he doesn't have a proper heat mat--they bought him two small ones and put them side by side, instead of a large one, so they're not putting out hardly any heat at all. I want to get him a 20 gallon size heater also.
Humidity before we got him was probably crap. He and the other snake at their house have to be assisted in shedding regularly, and right now the other snake has a bunch of skin stuck on her face that won't come off. I won't even attempt to guess how low the humidity is over there. :/ At our house, we work hard to keep it up, and I'm going to aluminum fol his lid for that purpose also.
No clicking or popping sounds yet, but I haven't held him much (I'm trying to avoid it to keep my other snakes healthy).
Blue=yeah, in shed.
Yes, we moved the tank from my brother's house over to my parent's house where I live.
They bought him from Wendy Childs at Reptile Addictions. Now I'm not trying to start anything, but they were told Zatarra was being fed F/T mice, by Wendy, and he WILL NOT eat F/T. The first time, in the summer, when they tried to feed him F/T he refused for WEEKS. I think she might have lied about that, because he still won't take them, and we tried a lot in the summer time, so it wasn't cold....
He's too small to be breeding, we've kept him by himself. He's only 200 grams tops. Real little guy, and he's not growing much because he's not eating. He's not losing weight either, which makes me think he's relatively healthy. But he never did eat well, not since they got him. The other snake they got from a local pet shop eats better than Zatarra. :/
No burrowing. I put in extra Aspen just in case but, nothing. He sits under his log and pokes his head out.
As for security, he seems like he feels safe. He doesn't act stressed, and he's usually in his hide most of the time.

[shelliebear]

Huge update--I believe Zatarra has an RI. I heard a high pitched noise in his tank, picked him up and took him somewhere quiet and held him up to my ear. Sure enough, more wheezes when he breathed. Poor guy is sick!!! Does it sound like an RI? He doesn't wheeze EVERY breath but every third one or less he lets out a high pitched wheeze. I can definitely tell it's coming from far inside him around his lungs.
What should I do? He was sitting in his water bowl when I checked on him last. The temps in my room are about 80 degrees or so, and I know raising temps can help. These are significantly higher than the apartment he was being kept in.
Sapphire the other snake can't be much farther away from getting an RI too if this is one.
Does he need antibiotics? Is a vet visit in order? Will he make it? I'm fairly certain it's an RI.
Thanks.

[shelliebear]

Has bubbles in his mouth too (Zatarra). should he go to vet?

[eracer]

Has bubbles in his mouth too (Zatarra). should he go to vet?

Um....yes.

[shelliebear]

I'm pretty sure the vet has no appointments til next Thursday. :/

[rabernet]

I'm pretty sure the vet has no appointments til next Thursday. :/

How can you know this? All vets take emergencies without appointments. Walk in with him today to a qualified herp vet - they'll see him.

[Jay_Bunny]

Just thought I'd mention this. You can't really say a breeder lied about whether a snake will take f/t, live, or p/k unless you know for sure. Your temperatures are low for ball pythons and ball pythons are KNOWN for being picky eaters. It could be the low temperatures causing him to not want to take f/t. If you bump up the temperatures, get him over his RI, and provide the proper housing requirements and he still doesn't eat, then you can question the breeder's information. And sometimes, snakes just switch which kind of prey they'd prefer. I have snakes that have eaten f/t countless times and then all of the sudden, only take live for a long time, then they are back to f/t.

How long have you had him? 200g for a 10 month old is very very small. You NEED to get those temperatures up and get proper hides and other equipment for this animal. You cannot take on the care of an animal if you are not prepared to provide the proper environment.