HELP! - Baby BP won't eat for months

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Yes it is. Ball pythons in the wild live underground and they hunt at night. They like dark, humid, tight-fitting places. They typically don't do well in open tanks, and they get stressed to the point of not eating because they are exposed, don't feel secure, aren't warm enough, and are too dry. People who keep and breed a lot of them keep them in tubs and racks not so they can keep a lot of critters into a small space, but because the snakes thrive in that environment.

Of course, the folks at the pet store won't tell you this because they would rather sell you a heavily marked-up tank than tell you to go to Walmart and buy a Sterilite latchbox for five bucks.

I also don't see where you were sold a thermostat for that under-tank heater. What is the surface temperature of the glass over top of it?

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Ok, I just wrapped the sides of the tank in dark colored towels, maybe it will help him feel more secure. Are you asking me what the temperature is outside of the plastic tank? Because it's somewhere around room temp normally around 73-75 degrees.

Also, thank you all for trying to help me :)! <3

Unless I missed it, there's a couple of unanswered questions:

•what was he eating before you got him (mice or rats, live or frozen)?
• do you have a thermostat connected to your heat pad?


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BPGator

Unless I missed it, there's a couple of unanswered questions:

•what was he eating before you got him (mice or rats, live or frozen)?
• do you have a thermostat connected to your heat pad?


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- Apparently he was eating these frozen rats before I purchased him http://imgur.com/a/o2hM9.
- No I don't, but I can put the tip of the temp measuring device on top of the thin layer of wood chips of his hide that has the heating pad, and it is usually around mid 90s. The heated area is very slightly warm to the touch.

If the top of the wood is mid 90s that's too hot! The glass under the substrate should not exceed 90°. You really need a thermostat if you don't have one


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by assistancerequired

- Apparently he was eating these frozen rats before I purchased him http://imgur.com/a/o2hM9.
- No I don't, but I can put the tip of the temp measuring device on top of the thin layer of wood chips of his hide that has the heating pad, and it is usually around mid 90s. The heated area is very slightly warm to the touch.

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A thermostat isn't a thermometer. It regulates the heat pad from getting above a temperature you set. You plug the heat pad into the thermostat.

Heat pads can be mid-90's or mid-100's if it's not plugged into a thermostat, which is hot enough to burn a snake.

There's herpstat (google it) which is the best in the hobby. If you are on a serious budget, there's hydrofarm thermostats on amazon. They can get pretty inaccurate in the long run, but it's better than nothing.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

A thermostat isn't a thermometer. It regulates the heat pad from getting above a temperature you set. You plug the heat pad into the thermostat.

Heat pads can be mid-90's or mid-100's if it's not plugged into a thermostat, which is hot enough to burn a snake.

There's herpstat (google it) which is the best in the hobby. If you are on a serious budget, there's hydrofarm thermostats on amazon. They can get pretty inaccurate in the long run, but it's better than nothing.

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The heating pad underneath one of the hides is literally barely warm, right now i'm getting only 87.5 reading there with my reptile thermometer. When I first purchased the heating pad, I actually went to return it because I figured it was defective because of the unimpressive amount of heat it produces, but turns out that's how it was supposed to work. My snake spends a lot of time under there and his skin looks super healthy. He has a 2nd hide with no heating underneath and he spends time there as well. Is there still cause for concern? And if so, how likely is it the reason he's not eating?

Some of the time when I go to feed him he seems completely disinterested, but a lot if not most of the time he is just scared of the dead rat... If I accidentally drop the dead rat with my tongs near him he'll make a sudden movement and back away.. Don't get me wrong, I have also tried being very patient and just slowly dangle the rat near him but he just sticks out his tongue and becomes a bit curious, and for a moment I get the feeling like he'll actually bite for once, but no, after some time he is disinterested again.

Get a thermostat. That's the number one thing to do. I have also had success feeding something a hair smaller than normal meal size for some of mine when they decide to get picky. No expert here but it has worked for me many times. They take two smaller meals in a week then the next week they have bumped right back up. How often are you trying to feed it?

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psqcouxfgn.jpg

Fix your husbandry first.