Two juviniles suddenly stopped eating

[bradthebanker]

I have two ball pythons in the same cage one male 250g and a female 450g in a 36x18x18 terrarium and been in there for about a month and feed once a week and as of 11/8/12 neither one of them will feed and offer it to them every 3 days or so got the terrarium on uth and it's right at 90 and ambient during day with basking lamp on is high 80s and red nighttime bulb in low 80s humidity is good and with constant spraying of terrarium. I don't know what to do this is worrying me. I just had a rack system built with 41 qt sterlite tubs and was going to move them into it separately. Is this normal for them not to eat?

[Anthony Renna]

Perfectly normal for balls to stop eating for a while, I had one that didn't eat for three months and ended up losing less than 10 grams the whole time. I like that your deciding to separate them cohabitation can cause a multitude of problems

[bradthebanker]

I just thought keeping them together or handling them would make them stressed out. And another they hadn't shed in a while. I'm just new to this and every little thing worries me.

[BHReptiles]

There are a couple of things wrong with your setup that I can bet is causing your issues.

1. Housing them together. Ball pythons are solitary creatures and can easily get stressed when they are housed together. I bet once you move them into the rack system, they will start eating.

2. Is your UTH regulated by a thermostat? How are you measuring your temps? It could be that your terrarium is too hot. Do you have any hides? two per snake (one on the hot side one on the cold)? If they don't have adequate hiding spots, they will get stressed out and stop eating.

3. The tank you have them in is probably too big. They like small tight spaces so an open tank is probably too scary for them and causing them to stress out. Make sure you have plenty of hides and other clutter to make them feel secure.

4. Just something to think about: if they are still babies, a 41qt tub is way too big for them. Make sure you add an extra hide or crumpled paper so most of the tub floor is cluttered (unless you have an enclosed rack where it's really dark in the tubs).

5. Trying to feed them every 3 days might be too often. Try only offering on your feeding day. If they don't eat, wait until the next feeding day.

I hope that helps! Hopefully once you get them into the rack and get it cluttered for them, they will start to feel secure and start eating again. Ball pythons can go months without eating. As long as they aren't losing too much weight, I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck!

[bradthebanker]

My uth is on a dimmer for a lamp since it stays at a constant temperature is didn't think a thermostat would be necessary. I am measuring the temperature with a laser temperature gun. I have 2 hides and 2 water bowls one under light to help with humidity and one on the cool side.

[BHReptiles]

I would say your biggest issue is them being housed together. I LOVE your rack, by the way! It'll be dark enough in there that you might not need any hides. I'd move them to the rack, give them a week to settle in, then offer food. I'd bet money that at least one will eat!

[bradthebanker]

Thank you for the comment on the rack I thought about making them and selling them but the only thing is its too wide to go thru a standard door so it would need to be assembled in the room it's gonna be kept in. I seen others on the net made of melamine and this one is made of 3/4 plywood so it can be stacked and the top is bigger than normal so I can put my terrarium on top of it. I didn't think putting them together would stress them out but like all new comers you learn as you go along. I just thought the weather was causing them to not want to eat being its breeding season.