My python Died

Another thing is, that you fed him every 2 days? Thats way to much!! You were suposed to feed him every 4-7 days. With a 2 day MINIMUM digestion period before handling. What did you feed him.

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Originally Posted by spiritbear857

I had a therm in the tank and kept the temp between 78 and 82

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78 IMO is too low. 82 Should have been the absolute lowest for the cool side and a high of 88-90 for his warm side. Did the room get really cold at night?

yes, I am afraid so, it did get cold at night

with that tho of temps and thta much food he probally couldent digest quickly enuf and died from ehtier extreme bodily stress or the food rotted in his stomach and spread throught killing him

Okay folks let's not jump on this person too hard here. Hon did the pet store tell you that those temps and that feeding schedule were how you were supposed to take care of this snake? Unfortunately those temps and the almost constant digestion process probably didn't help the snake any. How long did you have it before it passed away? You were feeding it pinks? mice pinks or rat pinks? Is this what the pet store said to feed it?

Most important thing is does your child know and is he okay. It's awful the snake has passed but worse that he will be upset by this. I just went through losing our son's snake (it escaped due to my own carelessness) so I know how awful you must feel.

But wouldn't the heat pad have kept him warm enough?

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Originally Posted by spiritbear857

But wouldn't the heat pad have kept him warm enough?

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If there's too much cold it's hard for the heat to stay at a steady temp. Best thing to do is get a space heater that has a t-stat to shut off at a certain degree. Don't feel too bad about this. These sorta things happen and we all live and learn. I think more pet store should be more informed about the pets they carry so if someone needs info they can be of help, and not cause trouble.

If the temps were between 70 and 80 then no, these snakes orginated in Africa, so its warm there. You wont be introuble, so you can tell us everything, its the only way to learn.

I do Feel awlful that MY carelessness killed it, MY SON DOES NOT KNOW AS HE DOES NOT LIVE WITH ME. HE WOULD BE DEVISTATED IF HE DID , he will not be returning to stay with me until simmer. ,HE IS SUCH AN ANIMAL LOVER LIKE HIS DAD. I was not aware that you only feed them every 7 days. he was being feed small pinkies. and I was not aware about the temp either.

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Originally Posted by spiritbear857

But wouldn't the heat pad have kept him warm enough?

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Ball pythons require specific basking and ambient temperatures. They need a hot spot of 92-94 to properly digest their food and an ambient temperature of 82-84 everywhere else in the cage.

Temperatures lower than this can cause stress, upper-respitory infections, etc.

If your ambient temperatures were dropping down to the mid to low 70s at night, there is no way that your heat pad would have been able to maintain the right tempertures for the snake.

Not trying to be mean or anything...I think it's obvious that you didn't have access to good information prior to coming here. Do some research - you're in the right place - if your son decides he wants another and you'll probably have better success next time. Go check out the caresheet, that should answer a lot of your questions.