Worrying behavior

Hello everyone,

My 10-yo ball python is showing worrying behavior. For the last two days, he's been spending the night in its water bowl, with only his head out of the water. The rest of the day he is in the hide on the warm side of the enclosure.

I know this is usually a sign of parasites / mites, and I checked the snake's body thoroughly and did not notice anything unusual. Also, no sign of an upcoming shed.

I use paper towels in my enclosure and I change them as soon as they're dirty, temps are normal (32°C on warm side, 26-28°C on cool side) and my humidity is around 50%.

Also, he's been refusing the pray I offered for about two and a half months now (I usually give small rats, about once every 10 days). I know this is nothing to be really worried about as they sometimes go on long fasting, but now I'm starting to worry.

Any clues? Thank you for your help.

What is the humidity in his enclosure? Does he normally go off food over the winter? (if he's gone off feed over the winter in the past, then it's just his usual pattern--if he never has before, then it may be time for a vet visit).

To be honest, I'm not seeing what part of this behavior is worrisome. BPs will sometimes use their water bowls as hides, and he could very well be moving around for part of the night, unless you're monitoring him the entire time. Warm side during the day = sleeping. Has he lost any weight from refusing food? If you don't have a scale to monitor this, I strongly recommend it. I have a male that hasn't eaten in ~3 months (and isn't breeding), and one that's only eating once per month right now - it's just that time of year. Double check your husbandry, sounds like you're good as far as mites, and make sure he has a cool-side hide in case he's feeling driven to choose his water bowl instead. My only other thought is - Are you sure he's a he? One of my females lived in her water bowl for a couple of weeks last winter while she was developing follicles.

Thank you for the replies. My humidity is around 50% most of the time (I have a large water bowl and I cover about half of the top of the tank).

He does sometimes refuses prey, but not for periods that long. He weighs 1.5kg, doesn't appear to have lost much weight.

I do have two hides, one on each side of the tank (the water bowl is in the middle, so it gets some heat from the UTH). And yes, I'm sure he's a male, I had someone do the popping last year :)

Would it be safe to just leave the prey in the tank for the night? I usually try in the evening, and after one hour I take the prey back. Also, maybe I should try unfreezing the prey by putting them in hot water? (I currently just let it sit on the heater for some time until it gets completely warm, maybe the wetness has something to do with it.)

[Edit: I know he stays in the bowl all night because I notice he is in the bowl when I go to sleep, and when I wake up he is still in there, yet I see no trace of water on the paper towels, so that indicates he didn't leave the bowl.]

Sure you can leave the food in all night so long as you remove it first thing in the morning (before it starts to rot) if he doesn't eat it. Have you had him for his whole life? If he usually eats a certain way I think it's safe to say that he's not going to change his eating preferences after 10 years.

Maybe he's approaching a shed and feels like soaking a bit? When was the last time he shed?

Changing his behaviors and routines can indicate that there's a problem and I think you should definitely keep an eye on him, but at least for now none of these behaviors seem overly worrisome. If you can get a fecal sample, I'd say take it in to be tested for parasites. If not, you can take him into a herp vet and have him swabbed, but that's no fun for anybody and it may not be necessary.

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

Sure you can leave the food in all night so long as you remove it first thing in the morning (before it starts to rot) if he doesn't eat it. Have you had him for his whole life? If he usually eats a certain way I think it's safe to say that he's not going to change his eating preferences after 10 years.

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Yes, I've had him for his whole life, but I did not switch to rats until a couple of years ago.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

Maybe he's approaching a shed and feels like soaking a bit? When was the last time he shed?

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Last shed was November 25. It could be a shed, although I'm not seeing any signs of it. I'll keep an eye on that.

Also, thanks for your reply!

(Sorry to double post, but it looks like I can't edit my posts for some reason)

Okay, he left the water bowl, and I saw little black particles at the bottom (the biggest were perhaps 1 millimeter in diameter). I took a picture, sorry for the quality but it's not easy since they're so small. Also, I change the water everyday and since I use paper towels, these can't be substrate or just dust.

http://uppix.net/b/e/9/2589136f0f451...231d01ef5c.jpg

Do you think these could be mites after all? (I of course made a deep cleaning of the tank and everything in it, don't know if this will be enough though)

Again, thank you for your help!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by erom2

(Sorry to double post, but it looks like I can't edit my posts for some reason)

Okay, he left the water bowl, and I saw little black particles at the bottom (the biggest were perhaps 1 millimeter in diameter). I took a picture, sorry for the quality but it's not easy since they're so small. Also, I change the water everyday and since I use paper towels, these can't be substrate or just dust.

http://uppix.net/b/e/9/2589136f0f451...231d01ef5c.jpg

Do you think these could be mites after all? (I of course made a deep cleaning of the tank and everything in it, don't know if this will be enough though)

Again, thank you for your help!

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Omigosh...I'm no expert but it sure looks like some kind of little identically shaped bugs to me.

I see legs on them.

Whatever they are, they can't be good.

:(

It's hard to tell from the picture (those buggers are hard to see, anyway), but it doesn't sould like the specs could have come from anything else. Check under his chin in the white creases and around his heat pits - they are easier to see there.

Look like mites to me, zoom in to the two larger ones in the picture and you can see legs, one of the larger ones is paler as it may have recently shed its skin.

sent from my phone to the internet to your screen.