Stress from moving or just a little brat?

I know this is going to be a post that this forum gets often, but I'm worried and it won't stop until I post.

We bought a new bp from Petsmart two weeks ago to the day. He last fed on December 23rd, frozen/thawed.
He's really calm, easy going and curious. We've tried feeding him about three times now with no luck. We've tried
in the cage and out of the cage.

So, details on his cage: temperatures around 77 on cool side, 95 on basking area. Toilet paper tube hide on cool
side, where he spends most of his time, and medium log hide towards the basking area, though not right in it.
Temperature gauge is on top of the substrate to get these numbers and he loves laying on that and considers it
his toy.

We've yet to get a scale, though that'll be this weeks investment. Visually, he doesn't appear to be losing weight.


Typically, I wouldn't be this worried. I had a bp throughout high school that I got from a previous owner. She was
about six months older than this one though and a good eater. She'd go off for a month or two during the years I
had her, but she was fine. My husband who used to work at Petsmart is freaking out. They tend to force feed their
snakes there after three weeks.

Please calm down my worries. Husband is trying to convince me it'd be best to return him because Petsmart return
policy is fourteen days, but I really don't want that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Konzo

I know this is going to be a post that this forum gets often, but I'm worried and it won't stop until I post.

We bought a new bp from Petsmart two weeks ago to the day. He last fed on December 23rd, frozen/thawed.
He's really calm, easy going and curious. We've tried feeding him about three times now with no luck. We've tried
in the cage and out of the cage.

So, details on his cage: temperatures around 77 on cool side, 95 on basking area. Toilet paper tube hide on cool
side, where he spends most of his time, and medium log hide towards the basking area, though not right in it.
Temperature gauge is on top of the substrate to get these numbers and he loves laying on that and considers it
his toy.

We've yet to get a scale, though that'll be this weeks investment. Visually, he doesn't appear to be losing weight.


Typically, I wouldn't be this worried. I had a bp throughout high school that I got from a previous owner. She was
about six months older than this one though and a good eater. She'd go off for a month or two during the years I
had her, but she was fine. My husband who used to work at Petsmart is freaking out. They tend to force feed their
snakes there after three weeks.

Please calm down my worries. Husband is trying to convince me it'd be best to return him because Petsmart return
policy is fourteen days, but I really don't want that.

---

77/95 are both too low and too high. I'd suggest adjusting that to 82/90

The reason your snake isn't eating is most likely due to it's husbandry. Can you take a pic of the setup?

The hot side is too hot. It should be 90F... using a heat pad, not a lamp. Ball pythons do not bask. The cool side is too cool. This is where a small wattage heat lamp can come in handy.... but low wattage. Just to up the ambient temperatures on the cool side. The cool side should be about 80F.

A toilet paper roll is not good enough. The hide should be closed all around with the bottom cut out and a small hole for the snake to get in and out. A hide should be directly over the hot spot (heat pad).

And force feeding after three weeks is a little dramatic for a BP. If the ball python is not losing any weight, force feeding is a last resort.