Please Help! New BP Owner!

Ok, so I bought a 15-16 inch, pastel ball python July 6th. I've fed her 3 times so far. She has never turned down food until now. She has been VERY active since I got her and tolerates being held a few minutes at a time. But the past 2-3 days, she has just sat curled up in a ball for the most part. I have a heating pad on one side, humidity gauges, thermometers, and etc. I can't find any reason for her to be stressed, but she is very unactive and won't eat. It is around the time she is supposed to shed, but her eyes aren't milky blue and her scales aren't flaky or anything. Why is she acting this way? I'm super worried! :( She won't stay in the warm half of the 45 gal. tank either. I checked to make sure it wasn't too hot and the humidity was ok. She just wants to stay where it is cool, I guess. But now she won't let me hold her. She's being very irritable. Please help me!

By The Way:
I checked her underbelly and it looks perfectly normal. No rotten scales or anything. Why could she be acting this way?

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Originally Posted by NightOfTheRaven

Ok, so I bought a 15-16 inch, pastel ball python July 6th. I've fed her 3 times so far. She has never turned down food until now. She has been VERY active since I got her and tolerates being held a few minutes at a time. But the past 2-3 days, she has just sat curled up in a ball for the most part. I have a heating pad on one side, humidity gauges, thermometers, and etc. I can't find any reason for her to be stressed, but she is very unactive and won't eat. It is around the time she is supposed to shed, but her eyes aren't milky blue and her scales aren't flaky or anything. Why is she acting this way? I'm super worried! :( She won't stay in the warm half of the 45 gal. tank either. I checked to make sure it wasn't too hot and the humidity was ok. She just wants to stay where it is cool, I guess. But now she won't let me hold her. She's being very irritable. Please help me!

By The Way:
I checked her underbelly and it looks perfectly normal. No rotten scales or anything. Why could she be acting this way?

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First off take a deep breath... The 45 gallon tank is way to big for a baby ball python. Also is your heat pad being regulated by a thermostat? If not you need to get one asap an untill you do you will want to stop using it. It can over heat an burn the snake. There are a number of things that it could be as to why she is not eating. One being the tank being to big. If your going with a tank she should be in a 10 gallon with two hides one on eat side a hot spot of 88-90 an ambient of high 70s low 80s. Did she darken up at all? She may be entering shed an reffusing to eat. Does she have any hides? If not shes more than likely really stressed from the large enclosure. Ball pythons are not very active. They will come out for water an cruz there enclosure for a meal other wise they pretty much sit still. Some will stay on the hot spot some prefer the cool side an move over to the hot side when needed. What kind of pinkies are you feeding it? A ball python should be started on mouse hoppers or something of a similar size. Pinkies are way to small. I feed my hatchlings mouse hoppers an switch them over to rats pups an so on as they grow

It could be her tank is too big. If their enclosure is too large it can stress them out. When I was getting my 20gal long tank I was warned it might be too large, so a 45gal is way big for such a young bp. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know. Got my girl back in January and I'm still learning new things. Hope you get it figured out soon. :)

I was told by three different people when I got her that a 20 is too small and she can't digest anything bigger than pinkies just yet. She does have a log to hid in.

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Originally Posted by NightOfTheRaven

I was told by three different people when I got her that a 20 is too small and she can't digest anything bigger than pinkies just yet. She does have a log to hid in.

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Three people were very very wrong. Pinkies are never a suitable meal for a ball python, even right out of the egg.

Check out this caresheet please.

Log hides are not very good for ball pythons. Being open on both ends they don't offer much security. Get you snake a hide with one door and that is a snug fit. Best if the snake can touch all sides when inside. It can be hard to find a small enough hide so filling a larger hide with moss will help make your snake feel snug and secure in it. This way you could also use the hide longer.

They mentioned the whole "food needs to be about the same size as the snakes widest point" which the pinkies I feed are. I still have three pinkies left. Should I feed her two a week instead until I can buy bigger ones? And I take my snake out of her original tank and put her in a small tub during feeding time. I give her about 20-30 mins to adjust, then feed her and put her back after she completely swallows it.

Moving your snake to a different tub is not needed and only causes stress. If it is being picky feed it in its home to cut down on stress. Feeding in its cage will not make it aggressive.

You could try two but I would offer the appropriate feeder starting with the next feed. I wouldn't want to miss a meal just cause your snake doesn't want pinks.

I move it, because feeding it in it's original tank is dangerous. It can teach your snake that when the lid comes off, food is comming. And I don't want to be bit. But the food problem doesn't explain her being so aggresive lately.

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Originally Posted by NightOfTheRaven

I move it, because feeding it in it's original tank is dangerous. It can teach your snake that when the lid comes off, food is comming. And I don't want to be bit. But the food problem doesn't explain her being so aggresive lately.

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That is one of the most common myths in this hobby. I promise, they won't act any differently if you fed in the enclosure.