My snake won't eat, help!!!

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Originally Posted by squale

..... Anyhow, I put a little tub of water with a lid INSIDE his hide today.....

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Please explain this. If your hide is big enough to fit both a little tub of water and your snake.......it is probably too big. In order for ball pythons to feel secure, they generally need a hide that they can touch all sides and feel 'snug'. If you do have a too large of a hide, it can be one of the reasons that your snake is not feeding.

You do not need to have a hide/tub of water in the cage. A water bowl for drinking yes, but not an extra one that doubles as a hide. It's possible he just likes that hide better. Soaking is only needed if the shed is incomplete. As the others have said, the actually shedding occurs approximately 2 days after their eyes clear up. Some take a little longer, but just be patient.

the question no one has answered for you yet... how often to change the water...

the answer is daily.

it's hard being a newbie snake owner (i know i am one as well). we keep wondering if we are doing things right and worried we are going to kill the snake.

mostly importantly... if you temps are right, humidity is right, hides are small enough and you have at least two in there (one cool side, one warm side) - then your snake will start to eat.

here's what my breeder suggested when i brought dexter home:

"if you want to change to f/t - then let dexter have 3 or 4 live feedings, in his enclosure (not in a feeding box outside of his enclosure) and get settled in well before changing his food or habits."

so that's what i did and he's feeding great. never missed a meal and is eager to eat when i bring the mouse in for him. i've chosen to stay with live, but it's a personal choice really.

the other "problem" here is you are using a light to heat the tank. if you change to a UTH (under tank heating) which you can pick up at any pet store, and cover your screen lid 1/2 way with a nice warm towel or even saran wrap... your humidity will rise up. moving your water dish to the warm side, creates more evaporation, and this will also increase your humidity.

i hope some of these suggestions assist you.

in light,
aleesha

oh okay, I was not aware of that, I thought the eyes turned blue because the skin over the eyes was flaking off, and I figured once the shed was all gone, the normal eyes would come back. Can they see good when their eyes are that blueish color?

well maybe it's good he is laying in that container full of water with a lid on it now that I put in his hide.. I just wonder how often I need to clean that water if he is laying in it all day, I don't want him to get a bacteria infection or anything you know..

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Originally Posted by squale

Can they see good when their eyes are that blueish color?

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No, they are basically blind for the entire shedding process. But that doesn't matter much, because they don't have particularly good vision anyway.

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Originally Posted by squale

well maybe it's good he is laying in that container full of water with a lid on it now that I put in his hide.

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There's actually nothing good about that at all. Excessive soaking can lead to fungal infections under the belly scales known as scale rot. Better to have a dry flakey shed than to have your ball python spending too much time soaking. I've also seen ball pythons drown by spending excessive amounts of time in containers of water with lids on top.

-adam

about the hide, picture a little clear plastic container with water in it, then a lid with a hole cut in it. Then I take a green plastic flower pot, turn it upside down and put it OVER the entire plastic water container. There is a hole cut in the green flower pot, so the snake goes into the green flower pot and can either lay ONTOP of the plastic container lid or go INSIDE the plastic container which is filled with water. Since my AP cage hasn't come yet, I figured this is the best way to increase the humidity for him. Otherwise I can't keep the humidity steadily above 35% even with misting the cage a couple times a day. But I think the hide is too big, he can't touch all sides and there is a lot of headroom in the hide, probably about 6 inches high inside..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by squale

about the hide, picture a little clear plastic container with water in it, then a lid with a hole cut in it. Then I take a green plastic flower pot, turn it upside down and put it OVER the entire plastic water container. There is a hole cut in the green flower pot, so the snake goes into the green flower pot and can either lay ONTOP of the plastic container lid or go INSIDE the plastic container which is filled with water. Since my AP cage hasn't come yet, I figured this is the best way to increase the humidity for him. Otherwise I can't keep the humidity steadily above 35% even with misting the cage a couple times a day. But I think the hide is too big, he can't touch all sides and there is a lot of headroom in the hide, probably about 6 inches high inside..

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Yup, containers with lids with holes cut in them ... a buddy of mine lost 6 ball pythons before he figured out that sometimes they panic and cannot figure out how to get out of the container and drown inside. I've been doing this a long time and seen a lot of things ... I'm not kidding you.

You're right, your hide is way to big if you can fit anything inside it besides your ball python .... and now, by putting a soaking container inside the hide you've taken away your snakes ability to choose a dry secure place to hide.

-adam

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Originally Posted by squale

I thought the eyes turned blue because the skin over the eyes was flaking off

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Their eyes turn blue because of the fluid between the eyes and the eyecaps that are about ready to come off.

well I got home after work yesterday and he has shed in his water container hide. Then I thawed out a weenling mice in hot water and he ate it right up no problems. Now he is back in his hide digesting I suppose. How long should I wait before holding him? I have had him for 2 weeks now and last night was the first time I fed him.

48 hrs after feeding :)