Stressed out ball

Hey all! Brand new to the forums... and I have a couple questions. I recently adopted a ball python from a foster home. The little guy has been through a lot to say the least, RI's and bad treatment. Anyway, his foster 'parent' and I were in communication, and she shipped him overnight to me. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions or some such bull, the poor guy wasn't delivered on Friday morning... he was delivered on MONDAY morning. He was in the box for four days and nights. I didn't have much hope that he would make it... but, low and behold, he survives on. Now, the question I have... his foster 'parent' said that he had never been nippy before and that even her children could handle him. Yesterday, however, when I got me out of the box, he bit me. He bit me again when I was putting him into his tub... and struck countless other times. I've left him alone since then. I'm hoping if I leave him alone for a week or so, maybe he'll go back to his normal temperament. The foster agrees. She thinks he's just completely stressed. What do you guys think? Good idea? Any other suggestions?

Stess is usually the reason most problems occur with ball pythons. I would suggest leaving the guy alone for 2 weeks without any handling. Get him eating steady, then start handling. Make sure your husbandry is correct also. 92-94 warm side/82-84 cool side with a hide spot on each side.

wow, i would be pretty cranky to. i get pretty nasty on a rainy day when i have to stay inside my home let alone a box for 4 days. poor little guy. keep those temps right on like daniel said and give him lots of time to settle in. i cant stress enough that he has hides in his home. try a trick that i was told about on this forum that seemed to help my bp get used to his new suroundings. take paper balls and have them all over the cage so that the snake has something to crawl through when venturing out to drink, or switch hides. it diffenetly wont hurt. good luck

No kidding cranky! I don't blame him a bit! I love the little guy for all the spunk he's shown. Just wanna give him a good home after what he's been through....

Best of luck getting the little guy to settle down for you. That crumpled up paper trick has worked for a lot of people. Even putting paper bags around the outside of the tank to minimize movement from just walking by might help. Don't expect anything to happen overnight. Just give him time... :D Congrats on the adoption.

We just adopted a rehomed snake as well so congrats to you for giving this lil fella a new home!

I'd only add to all this good advice (that balled up newspaper trick is a sure winner btw) to maybe put his enclosure in a very quiet, reasonably low light area of your home, maybe like a bedroom or back room and then just leave it be other than changing water or removing waste for a good week or two. We have our rehome tucked in our bedroom (4 kids = noisy house) until we have a clear vet visit and a nice pattern of eating, pooping, peeing, shedding, etc.

Poor snake stuck in that box, no wonder it's striking and stressed. Did it have access to water those extra days? I'm sure with slow, steady steps you'll get this sweetie back on the right road.

Best of luck and welcome to this forum. It's a wonderful resource (and they don't seem to mind tons of questions either LOL)


~~Joanna~~

Nope, no water in the box. I feel like he's dehydrated... he hasn't touched his water since he's been here. He just curled up in a ball next to the heat pad and has stayed there. I want to soak him, but don't want to disturb him. I'll try the balled up paper thing. Thanks!

Only thing I can think of is I'd make sure he has two hides (as well as the balls of newspaper), one on the warm side, one on the cool side and put in two nice heavy low water dishes really near the hides so he can just dart out and grab a drink till he feels safer. You might have to watch the humidity with two water dishes but I'd think re-hydrating him would be most important right now. I'm a newbie so this is just instinct rather than experience talking so pls take that as it is.

Perhaps one of the more experienced people here can comment on how to check for dehydration and some ideas to help. I don't know about snakes but most animals can go awhile without food but not nearly as long without water.


~~Joanna~~

Most animals you can kinda pull up the top layer of skin. If it doesn't immeditately snap back in place you may be experiencing some degree of dehydration. If when you pinch and the skin remains there...that's extreme dehydration. Of course with you're situation the skin pulling thing maybe a little stressful, so I would make sure you have a full bowl of water available. Keep it close to the hide they're in and keep an eye out. Make sure there is lots of cover so he doesn't feel like he has to give up security in order to reach the water. He may have already had a drink or two when you weren't looking so don't stress out too much, although I know how difficult that can be! ;)

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

Nope, no water in the box. I feel like he's dehydrated... he hasn't touched his water since he's been here. He just curled up in a ball next to the heat pad and has stayed there. I want to soak him, but don't want to disturb him. I'll try the balled up paper thing. Thanks!

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I'd soak him in a small rubbermaid container half filled with water for 1 hour a night every other night for a few days .... He'll get nice and hydrated! ;)

-adam