Ball python hasn't eaten since adoption

[g928]

Sorry for the long post, but I want to give as many details as possible.

I've been looking for threads that are similar to my situation, and although I have found plenty of threads on the topic of not eating, all of them have had their snake eat before. I'm a first-time reptile owner. I bought a male desert spider ball python about five months ago, in late March. Since then, he has denied food. I'm unsure of his exact age, but he is an adult that was previously used for breeding so I figure he's at least a few years old. I know that denying food for such long periods of time is common in ball pythons and is normal for adults, but the fact that he hasn't eaten at all for me yet makes me wonder if there is something wrong with my husbandry. I have researched ball python husbandry heavily and I can't seem to find any problems. His previous owner told me that he was a good eater and that he had eaten a few days prior to his adoption. The part that is confusing to me is that the breeder told me he had been eating crawler mice. At the time, I was not particularly educated on the sizing and names of mice so I thought nothing of it. So, a week after we adopted him I bought a live crawler and was surprised at how small it was. I tried to give it to him and he didn't seem to pay any attention to it at all. The next time I attempted to feed him, the employees at the reptile store and I both agreed that he should be given adult mice instead. He seemed much more aware of the adult, but still did not go for it. This continued for the next few months. I have tried both live and f/t mice. Recently he seems much more interested in the prey items, live and f/t alike, but still has not actually eaten. I'm going to try a live hopper mouse next with the hope that he might be willing to eat something that isn't as big as the adults. I attempt to feed him weekly.

He lives in a 40 gallon terrarium. He has two hides. The one he spends the most of his time in is one of those black plastic box hides. It has a heating pad underneath it. Next to that is a water bowl, and on the opposite side of the tank is a half-log hide. I only see him in the log hide in the morning, and he usually moves into the plastic hide between 7am and 9am. The ambient temperature in the terrarium is usually between 78F and 81F while I keep the hot side of the tank between 85-91F. That is maintained by an overhead black light heat lamp. The humidity is kept between 55 and 65% and I raise it to 70-80% while he's in shed. I use a digital thermometer and hydrometer to record these numbers. He's kept on paper towels at four or five layers thick.

His behavior seems normal. He stays in his hide for the day and comes out at night. He will be in and out of his hides and he doesn't seem to have any problems. He does have a spider wobble that is very noticeable but I don't believe it's the cause of any problems. The first couple months of him being here were clearly stressful for him, however. He was in shed when we adopted him and within the first two weeks he got moderate thermal burns from a heat pad that we've since replaced. We took him to a vet as soon as we could so no infection occurred. Still, the fact that we had to take him out daily to put the antibiotic and the ointment on him stressed him out as well. This resulted in a very bad shed. There were pieces of shed coming off of him for weeks. The burns have since healed completely. A few weeks ago he had a pretty much complete shed, which was a great sign. He doesn't seem to be as stressed anymore. I only handle him about once per week, when I'm cleaning out his cage. I usually clean it after a failed feeding because the mouse pees and poops everywhere. Then I handle him and let him roam around the room for a few minutes, then he's put back into his cage.
If anyone has any advice, it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[BPGator]

The fact that he got burned tells me you didn't have a thermostat. Do you have a thermostat now or did you just get a weaker heat pad?

Also - toss the log and get a matching plastic hide to put on the cool side. The logs don't offer much security and he may choose to be in the plastic hide during the day even though he wants to cool down.


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[g928]

We had a thermostat when he got burned so the heat pad was probably too strong. We have a weaker one now.

Thanks for letting me know about the log, I'll get the new identical hide as soon as possible.

[PitOnTheProwl]

We had a thermostat when he got burned so the heat pad was probably too strong. We have a weaker one now.

Where is the probe for the thermostat?
It would not e the fault of the UTH source if it is properly regulated.

[g928]

Sorry, I meant we have a rheostat. With the new heater we haven't had any problems and it's on the low setting.

[BPGator]

Sorry, I meant we have a rheostat. With the new heater we haven't had any problems and it's on the low setting.

You really should be using a thermostat instead of a rheostat. You may be able to dial in your rheostat, but if the air temperature in the room changes then the heat pad temp will change too.


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[PitOnTheProwl]

So what is the temperature of the glass the UTH is attached to UNDER the substrate?

[g928]

I'm not sure of the exact temperature but I'd estimate that it's 80-90.

[John1982]

His previous owner told me that he was a good eater and that he had eaten a few days prior to his adoption. The part that is confusing to me is that the breeder told me he had been eating crawler mice. At the time, I was not particularly educated on the sizing and names of mice so I thought nothing of it. So, a week after we adopted him I bought a live crawler and was surprised at how small it was. I tried to give it to him and he didn't seem to pay any attention to it at all.

A crawler mouse is too small for even a hatchling ball python. This might be as simple as "rat" getting mixed up with "mouse" somewhere along the way. Have you ever offered a crawler rat?

[g928]

I was thinking he may have mixed it up as well. If my snake rejects the hopper I'm going to try a crawler rat next.
On that note, do you think the store would take the hopper back? I was able to return a mouse before, but that was only because it happened to be pregnant and ended up giving birth before I could feed it to my snake. There's nothing wrong with the hopper and if my snake eats the rat crawler I'm not sure what I should do with the mouse, as I wouldn't want to keep it.