New to the Site :) Ball Python F 6-7 years 5+ feet

Welcome to the site! Beautiful snake:)

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Originally Posted by ChrisBowsman

Great looking snake!

I'd leave her alone for about a week, and don't offer any food in that time. Also, you should probably cover the sides and back of that tank. BPs like to feel claustrophobic, and clear glass doesn't help with that.

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Yes, covering the sides is a good idea. It would really help her feel more secure.:)

Hi Im new too! Great looking snake!

Welllllllll....... It's been almost 2 months with my girl Sammy.

She still hasn't eaten. I don't know what the heck the previous owners did, but I know that when I picked her up they asked me if I wanted the rat they had in a box because she didn't feel like eating that week. Now it's been 2 months and she still hasn't eaten.

I know it's somewhat normal for a ball not to eat for a few months, but I can't help but worry that maybe something is wrong.

Also, lately, she has been curled up on the hot side of the tank under some of the sticks in there and hasn't been active at night at all. Sometimes I stick my hand in there just to make sure she's still moving.

When I do pick her up she's super active and goes exploring all over me and acts like a normal ball, but in the tank she just sleeps constantly and won't eat.

I finally figured out how to get humidity up about a month ago. Every night I put a wet towel over 3/4 of the top of the tank and that keeps humidity around 60% the warm side of her tank is 85-90 in the daytime and the warm side is around 75-78.

So, as far as I can tell, I've got the temps/humidity fairly accurate.

Do girls just go through this funk once in awhile?

Also, she still has what looks like retained eye caps. I put mineral oil on them for a week and nothing happened. It's almost a cracked type look on the eye, though they are not dented at all.

When I do put a rat in there, she goes up to it, smells it, looks like she's going to strike and then veers off in another direction in la la land. It's pretty frustrating.

I hope my girl gets big like that!
I want that cat too, she's beautiful!

Hello!!

I am wondering if your tank still looks the same as in the picks that you posted awhile ago in this same thread??

Does she have a hide to fit her?
Also are the sides of her tank still exposed? I'm just going by the pics that you had posted, I know that they are over a month old, but if you haven't covered 3 sides of her tank you might try that. So much exposure and openness can make them feel less secure sometimes and cause them not to eat.

Also do you know what her feeding schedule was like before you got her? What size and type of prey and how often? Are you feeding her the same thing (rats vs mice, live vs f/t??) that the prior owners were feeding her?
Also, not an experience of mine but something I remember reading on this site somewhere, basically if they are overfed for a length of time sometimes they will fast to kind of let their bodies catch up. And again this is something that I read on this site, not sure if this would apply to your snake or not.

Also, what time of the day do you try to feed her?

From my own experience, my girls can be kind of picky when it comes to eating. One of my girls will only take mice (have you tried them?? you could feed yours multiple mice once a week... just a thought). And they will only eat late at night when the house is darker and really quiet. I feed live mice in their enclosures and place the mouse on the opposite side of the tubs than my girls are.

Another thought, have you tried prescenting her enclosure awhile before feeding her?

Well, yes the tank is pretty much the same. It's actually the same tank she's been in with the previous owners. We haven't covered the sides as of yet, but she's upstairs in our bedroom which we only go into at night to sleep. It's not a busy area, and we don't have kids or anything so she's left alone. I don't have a hide for her as she's quite large and if I were to put two hides in there, there would barely be any room for her to move around between the hides and the water bowl. She likes to snuggle up under the pieces of wood and they're in a fashion right now where they kind of push down on her as she's situated herself under them. If I ever want to get her out I have to remove all the wood to get her since it's around her.

I've tried rats and mice both get the same response. Once we held the rat by its tail over the tank and she went to grab it but just smacked it with her face and then went back down. She never opened her jaws. It's as though she sees it as a nuisance.

I've been feeding her at night time. I've also tried in the daytime the following day if I get the rat a Fri night and try again on Saturday.

I'm starting to think that I may not be suited to be a caretaker for ball python. I used to have cornsnakes and they were SO much easier and ate consistantly.

I also have two bearded dragons who are happy as can be but Sammy is my stress case.

Oh yes, and I had contacted the previous owners with questions about her previous eating habits, and they never responded to me.

Have a feeling they knew something was wrong with her and were just trying to off-load her.

welcome!

Justin

Soshanna, is there any place near you that breeds rats, like a private pet store, etc?

It's good she's in a quiet room but I would encourage you to get her hides. Her hides need not be all that big, basically just the size of her in a tight coil as BP's like to have that smooshed in feeling. Even if it leaves her not much floor space that's fine, the concept here is to get her feeling safe and secure enough to eat and hides can help with that.

I would at this point consider a visit to a qualified and experience herp vet or at the very least to have an experienced BP hobbyist or breeder have a look at her. The eye issues going on this long are a bit concerning. A check on her feces (or a vent wash if she's not passing any) would also be a good idea to make sure that she's not eating due to a load of internal parasites. None of this should cost you a fortune at the vet's office.

Make sure your temps and humidity are stable and within the range suggested.

Now as to the rat breeder thing - if she's well and her home is correct I would suggest a rat fuzzy or very young rat pup. That would be a rat between about 8 days of age but not older than 15 days of age. This age of rat doesn't have much for teeth yet and is quite safe to leave overnight with her. Some of these big adults go into a type of shock and that small, easy to catch meal may trigger her need to feed. A live fat fuzzy rat left in overnight with a snake has worked as a feeding incentive here quite often. If she'll take that you could slowly work up in size of prey but it would at least get her thinking about food again.

If you are concerned or feel you are in over your head, please feel free to PM me your location and I can try to see if we have a member near you to help or a rescue to take her in if that's your decision.