Help With Feeding

[DrBelvedere]

I have been having problems feeding my snake since the day I got him. He is about 10-11 months old.

A few weeks ago, I finally got him on a once a week feeding schedule, feeding him one fuzzy every Wednesday and that worked for a few weeks. But two weeks ago, I fed him a fuzzy that he bit but released shortly thereafter. Today, I tried feeding him again and he seems like he wants live mice. If I move it, it grabs his attention but he does nothing after I stop.

I don't know if the two problems are related, but he has also never fully shed his skin. I peeled most of it off one time becaue he looked like he needed help but his eye caps have not fallen off in months and he looks like he is shedding again. I try to keep the humidity in his cage from 60-70% and the temperature around 80 degrees.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong here?

[daniel1983]

Not eating is usually associated with one of two things: overfeeding or stress.

Since you are feeding fuzzy mice (ball pythons can eat at least hopper mice right out of the egg, fuzzies are too small), I doubt it is overfeeding.

Describe your enclosure with as much detail as possible and we will be able to help much better.

What are the hot and cold side temperatures? If your enclosure is just 80 degrees all over, it is too cold. Get a hot spot of 92-94 and a cool spot of 82-84. Ambient temperature should be 80 minimum. Improper tempatures are another reason for lack of appetite.

[Nikki0326]

Well to begin with, the prey sounds a little small. My girl is younger than yours by a few months and I've always feed her the regular feeders. The rule of thumb for prey size is to feed nothing bigger than the widest girth. So unless your little guy is really skinny (in which case you might want to take him to a vet to see if there is a health reason for him not eating) you should bump up the prey size. And if you are feeding f/t and he doesn't seem interested then try to switch to live, as long as you don't leave the mouse alone with him and supervise the whole thing there shouldn't be much of an issue. When feeding I tend to keep a pencil on hand in case of a bad grab where the mouse can actually get its head to where it can bite the snake, insert pencil eraser and you are fine. You could also try switching what you feed as sometimes a change in the meal type will entice them to eat, but don't choose anything you can't get on a normal basis or would get too expensive so sometimes once you switch you have to stay with that new prey type. Now for temps humidity I believe the ideal temps are 80 on the cool side, 95 on the warm side with about a 50% humidity for the majority of the time, but bump it up to 60-70% during shedding. If the eyecaps have been retained for multiple sheds you should probably see a vet about getting them removed, while you could attempt to do it yourself, it is extremely easy to injure the eye so a vet would be a safer choice. Many times when BPs go off feeding it is due to husbandry problems and/or stress. Other possible issues could be health related, overfeeding (which obv isnt an issue), but they are also known for going on fasts.

[DrBelvedere]

He is in a 20 gallon tank with a fake branch that sits across the tank and a water bowl that sits in the corner and is about 4"x4" big. There is a hiding spot for him on the opposite side with a heating pad under it. I don't have multiple temperature gagues so I couldn't really tell you what the different temperatures are, but I will go get some tomorrow. Above his hiding spot there is an infrared heating lamp that is left on 24/7. Oh, and the whole cage has aspen bedding in it.

[Nikki0326]

You should have two hides that are exactly the same, one for the cool side, one for the warm. As for the temp/humidity gauge I would invest in a digital as they are the most accurate, you can pick up an Accu-rite at WalMart for about $12, it comes with an attached probe so you can see the temp of the hot spot. Also for the UTH (under tank heater), you might want to see about getting a thermostat you can attach to it, to keep at a constant temp and not have to worry about it being too cool or hot.

[Kagez28]

i would defiantly get some a indoor/outdoor thermometer to tell the temps. are you using something to control the UTH? that is pretty dangerous just letting a UTH run full power w/ a heat lamp and not know the temperature.

[DrBelvedere]

Well there is no way to control how hot the pad gets in the first place and I have felt it and it is barely even warm.

[dr del]

Hi,


Well there are a few things you could get to control the heatpad - a dimmer (not recomended but might work if your room temps are stable) or a thermostat.


dr del