Ball Python not eating after shed?

[Sluněna]

Hello!
Last saturday I brought a 7 months old BP male home. The day I bought him, he was about to shed. He had some issues with it, and the whole shed on him was stuck, so today I gave him a soak in the morning and it all rolled wight of. I tried to feed him today as well, as the guy I got him from said he ate about a week ago (so 2 weeks now). He, however, doesn´t want to take the rat. I feed frozen. He seems interested in it, but doesn´t take it, he just slithers right past it no matter how I wiggle it. I asked the guy if he fed frozen too and he said that it didn´t matter, that his snakes eat everything.
He´s quite active, but love to hide in his log hide. Evn when hiding, he often peeks out. He´s not aggressive at all, just a bit skittish and tends to roll up to a ball when you suddenly touch him or just move in a way that spooks him.

This is my first snake and I really love him already, I´d hate for him to be sick or something. Any ideas what to do with him? Or is he just stressed from me messing with him to get the shed of?

[Caali]

He's just stressed. Try to feed him in a week.
You have to imagine: First you had trouble getting rid of your skin, then a huge being picks you up and puts you in water after you had to move out of your old home into a new one not even a week ago. I think I'd be very stressed as well.
You just have to leave him alone. Don't handle him until he has eaten at least 3 meals.
Also it does matter whether he fed live or frozen. Don't underestimate that!

[Craiga 01453]

Hi, first off, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping.

Unfortunately, the guy you got the snake from is full of crap. It DEFINITELY matters what the snake had been eating previously. It's always important to get a snake eating, and typically that requires feeding exactly what the animal was eating prior to coming to its new home.

Now, there are two major reasons a snake won't eat. Number one: HUSBANDRY. Is your husbandry on point?
What type and size is the enclosure?
What are your temps?
How are you heating?
Are your heat sources regulated by a thermostat?
How are you measuring temps?

Second is STRESS. If your husbandry is on point, then the snake may be stressed.
Are there 2 proper fitting hides?
Is the enclosure wide open and bright or are the sides blocked out and dark?
Are there plants, etc... to make the snake feel hidden and secure?

Factor in the recent move, the shed issues, the soak, etc... and you're looking at a stressed snake.

First off, make sure your husbandry is on point.

Second, make sure the snake feels safe and secure. A snake that doesn't feel safe and secure will not eat and be afraid of being eaten. They basically know "eat and don't get eaten", so a snake that scared will not take on the added stress of digestion or weight of a meal in order to be able to escape a predator if it needs to.

Lastly, refrain from handling the snake until it is acclimated and eating. I personally hold off on handling until a new snake has eaten 3 consecutive meals without refusal for me.
I know you want to love your new pet, but you'll have 25+ years to handle the snake, so keep handling to a bare minimum for now.

Good luck! Feel free to ask any questions, we're here to help.

I almost forgot, get everything situated and wait at least 5 days to offer food again. Offering too soon will continue to add stress and actually be counter productive

[Sluněna]

Firstly, thank you very much for the kind words and advices.
He has a meter long, around 45 cm wide glass terrarium.
I use a heating pad hooked up to a thermostat, his warm side is around 32C and the cold side 25C.
I have a thermometer from reptiland, but to be honest it´s not very accurate so I took a thermo-hydrometer I use to measure my room with and put that there, it´s a very accurate meter.
His humidity is around 60-70%

He has a big water bowl he can fit into and soak in on the colder side, his favorite tube bark hide is in the middle and there are two pieces of bark arranged on each side of the enclosure to make second and third hide - one on the colder side and one on the warmer side. This hide construction takes up around 65% of the enclosure, so the terrarium gets shady, darker spots. It´s placed on the floor, near the window so it gets daylight. There are no plants yet, I plan on re-building the terrarium and make it bioactive if possible.

I already got one snake from the same guy, an adult 2 year old spider, but he unfortunately passed away three days after I got him because he as sick when the guy sold him to me. It crushed me pretty bad when poor Dante died, I cried like a baby. I contacted the guy, telling him what happened, he apologised and gave me my money back. I thought it was just a coincidence and got Kryštof (my current snake) from him again, he´s one of the biggest reptile and amphibian sellers I´ve seen on Živá Exotica (biggest exotic pets event in my country), so I assumed he´s reliable...well, maybe not so much after all. I hope Kryštof is gonna be okay, I really don´t wanna deal with another snake death.
I think he´s gonna be alright tho. I was able to nurse a malnourished and neglected crested gecko I adopted to back to full health, so I´m hoping I can fix my little noodle doodle too.

Once again, thank you for your help.

[Craiga 01453]

You may want to look into different hides. The ones you are currently using are ok, but BPs prefer an almost fully enclosed hide that is fairly low and tight fitting with just one small entry hole. They almost like them to fit like turtle shells.

Other than that it sounds like you're in good shape.

I don't think you need to fix your noodle, just try to let him get acclimated, feel safe and secure and you should be good to go.