BP Won't eat?

Does anyone read the caresheet or use the search function?? How many threads are about this on the 1st page.

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Originally Posted by bman123

Does anyone read the caresheet or use the search function?? How many threads are about this on the 1st page.

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Idk could u use the search function and tell me?

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Originally Posted by seeya205

I have housed a baby in a 20 long, you just have to fill it up with plants and stuff! You can also use crumpled newspaper to fill up the empty space. You need two identical hides, one on the cool side and one on the warm side. The hides should be tight fitting and have one small opening. Only feed once every 5 days. If he refuses then wait 5 days before trying again. I would feed live until it has eaten several meals before attempting frozen. Babies like to hunt for the food! Cover the sides and top of the tank for added security. If they don't feel safe then they won't eat! You need digital thermostats to read belly temps or the warm(90-94) and on the cool(80-84) side! The ambient(air) temp has to be at least 75 degrees! It your temps aren't right then they can't digest their meals so they won't eat! No handling until it eats 3 or 4 times then only once a week to start! No handling until after 48 hours of a feeding! To thaw out a mouse, put it in a ziplock bag and put that in a sink full of warm(not too hot) water for an hour or so then take it out and give the head a blast from a hair dryer for a minute or two. The head should be a little warmer than the rest of the body so it can eat the head first! Good luck! Pics of your setup would help us better!

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Just because that worked for you does not mean it will work for all ball pythons. I've had many balls that won't eat in larger enclosures despite how much I filled the cage up. The ambient air temperature should be 80 or above, 75 is too cold.

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Originally Posted by Aerial

thanks for the replies. i usually only put it in the microwave for 5-10 secs after its thawed so it warmed up... hes like 23'' i think (not sure on that) i imagine hed pretty cramped in a 10??? i will definitely bump up the temps- how should i heat the mouse or is just thawing enough?

thanks for all the info
tim

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Get him a 15 gallon at that size. Don't use the microwave at all, just use a blow dryer if you want to warm him up after thawing him out. Putting it in hot water to thaw is a lot faster than just leaving it out.

Make sure you have a good ambient air temperature of about 80F and a warm side at 90-95F and the cool side at 80-85F. What are you using to heat up the tank? If it's a heat lamp, get rid of it and get an UTH and Thermostat combo.

How are you measuring your heat? What kind of thermometers? What are you using to measure humidity? (thermometers and hygrometers that are dial are extremely inaccurate and a waste of money, get some digital ones from the planting section in Walmart for 10 bucks. Get your hands on some digital thermometers with probes too to put UNDER the substrate on the glass to make sure it's not getting too hot).

What kind of substrate are you using?

For the feeding, turn off all lights, get an appropriately sized LIVE rodent, put it in the cage and leave him in quiet. Watching him with all the lights on in the room or any sort of traffic could be stressing him out. Also, do not move him to another enclosure if you are attempting to do so. His own enclosure is fine for him to eat in.

P.S. For appropriately sized, go with a rodent that is about as thick as the snake is at the thickest point on it's body. You could also do the 10-15% of it's body weight rule.

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Originally Posted by bman123

Does anyone read the caresheet or use the search function?? How many threads are about this on the 1st page.

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There is a caresheet.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

BUT that is besides the point. ALL of these cases are individual and may not be assisted with just caresheet information. This is an informational website that is meant for asking questions about problems people are having with their ball pythons. The more threads, the merrier.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Idk could u use the search function and tell me?

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There is no reason to be rude. If you are so inclined to be rude to other members, the door is open for you to go. That goes to both of you.

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Originally Posted by bman123

Does anyone read the caresheet or use the search function?? How many threads are about this on the 1st page.

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hey, thanks for stating the obvious. for your information, i actually lots of research, but did not find what i was looking for thats why i posted the question. the searchbar, my friend, is not the solution to all the worlds questions :colbert:

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Just because that worked for you does not mean it will work for all ball pythons. I've had many balls that won't eat in larger enclosures despite how much I filled the cage up. The ambient air temperature should be 80 or above, 75 is too cold.



Get him a 15 gallon at that size. Don't use the microwave at all, just use a blow dryer if you want to warm him up after thawing him out. Putting it in hot water to thaw is a lot faster than just leaving it out.

Make sure you have a good ambient air temperature of about 80F and a warm side at 90-95F and the cool side at 80-85F. What are you using to heat up the tank? If it's a heat lamp, get rid of it and get an UTH and Thermostat combo.

How are you measuring your heat? What kind of thermometers? What are you using to measure humidity? (thermometers and hygrometers that are dial are extremely inaccurate and a waste of money, get some digital ones from the planting section in Walmart for 10 bucks. Get your hands on some digital thermometers with probes too to put UNDER the substrate on the glass to make sure it's not getting too hot).

What kind of substrate are you using?

For the feeding, turn off all lights, get an appropriately sized LIVE rodent, put it in the cage and leave him in quiet. Watching him with all the lights on in the room or any sort of traffic could be stressing him out. Also, do not move him to another enclosure if you are attempting to do so. His own enclosure is fine for him to eat in.

P.S. For appropriately sized, go with a rodent that is about as thick as the snake is at the thickest point on it's body. You could also do the 10-15% of it's body weight rule.

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can you tell me some more about the "UTH and Thermostat combo"? i mean, whats a good kind/brand and where do i buy one? :oops:

i measure heat with a stick-on thermometer, which looks pretty accurate to me but what do i know...

substrate is newspaper which i replace weekly or if it gets wet/soiled.

again, thanks for all the info guys. i did a lot of research but couldn't find much on this particular stuff :(

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Originally Posted by Aerial

can you tell me some more about the "UTH and Thermostat combo"? i mean, whats a good kind/brand and where do i buy one? :oops:

i measure heat with a stick-on thermometer, which looks pretty accurate to me but what do i know...

substrate is newspaper which i replace weekly or if it gets wet/soiled.

again, thanks for all the info guys. i did a lot of research but couldn't find much on this particular stuff :(

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A thermostat is something that controls the temperature of an object. In your house, it is the temperature of the air, but with reptiles, it is the temperature of the heat mat. When left unregulated, a UTH can heat up to dangerously high levels. A thermostat is put in place to keep the UTH from getting to these dangerous levels.

The stick on thermometers are actually well known for being INaccurate. I would recommend buying the accurite digital weather station with indoor and outdoor thermometer and hygrometer. It is the only unit you will need for a single setup. It allows you to monitor the temp of the UTH with the external probe, the ambient air temperatures, and the ambient humidity. It is sold at the home depot, lowes, and walmart for around $11.

As for thermostats and heat mats. I prefer the zoomed heat pads for individual setups and the reptitemp 500r thermostat to control it.

Stick on thermometers are good for measuring the temp of the glass... that is about it.

You want to use a thermometer that either goes in the enclosure (for air temps), use a infrared thermometer gun, or a thermometer with a probe.

Newspaper is fine for substrate.

As far as UTH and thermostat, its really wide open. Most thermostats are rheostat like while others are completely digital. If you can use a rheostat thermostat and set it correctly they do the job just fine. As for UTH you can use any of the zoo-med stick on ones, or you can use heat tape or heat cable as well. It just depends on what is available to you.

ah, ok i am using both a heat lamp and a UTH- however i don't really think the tank will be warm enough with just the UTH? before i added the heat lamp (and the ball python...) the temp was around 73 with just the UTH, the heat lamp keeps it around, like i said, 84-86 depending on the air temp of the house. also, is the floor temperature, like where the UTH is something i need to be aware of?

If your house temperature is below 75* normally then you will probably need a low wattage heat lamp or a space heater for the room. The only downfall to heat lamps is that they sacrifice humidity which is already hard to maintain in a glass tank.

Please get a reliable digital thermometer like the one I mentioned so you can actually see what your temps are. Completely forget what those dial thermometers say.

You need to know the temperature on the floor right where the UTH is. Since you are not using a thermostat, it is probably hot enough to cause a burn. They run up to 120* unregulated and if your snake sits on that too long, it will cook itself. So yes, you need to be aware of that temperature.

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Originally Posted by Aerial

is the floor temperature, like where the UTH is something i need to be aware of?

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Absolutely. That is where the Accurite Indoor/Outdoor thermometer comes in. It has a probe on it. Place that under your substrate, on the glass above where the UTH is. This is the hottest part of your tank. You don't want that to ever get above 95F.

You plug the UTH into the thermostat(i.e, ReptiTemp 500R), then the thermostat into the wall. Adjust the thermostat setting, so that it maintains the desired temp. The ReptiTemp does not have a number indicator, just a Cool-Warm wheel. Adjust that to keep the thermometer probe reading (Outdoor reading is the probe reading. Indoor is ambient temp) 90-92F. The thermostat will continually cut power off and on to the UTH to maintain your temp.

An unregulated UTH (one without a thermostat) can reach temps of 110-120F. So be careful! This will literally burn your snake.

Also, I had the same problem as you. I keep my apt very cool, ~68. So I use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter). It is like a heat bulb, but... does not produce light. Just heat. I have a 15g terrarium, and I use a 60w CHE. This keeps it ~81. It does hurt the humidity a bit, so I had to foil the screen top. If you slide your water bowl a little to the warm side, and have a water bowl with a larger surface area, it will also increase humidity. A slight misting never hurts either :)