Why wont my snake eat?

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

Your snake's enclosure should be 80-84 on his "cool" side and 90-94 on his "warm" side. This can be achieved with a UTH (under tank heater)--a reptile heat mat, or Flexwatt heat tape. All of those things should (ideally) be controlled by a thermostat (Ranco, Johnsons, Helix, Herpstat are your best bets), to prevent overheating your baby and to keep temperatures constantly correct.

Humidity should be 50-60%.

Heat rocks are a BIG no-no for any reptile--as they can have VERY high heat spikes and can burn your snake.

Um...I think that's it? If I missed something, someone else feel free to chime in :)

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with our new snake Ozzy.... they gave us a UTH... but it only heats the side it's on?

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Originally Posted by krazi0469

with our new snake Ozzy.... they gave us a UTH... but it only heats the side it's on?

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I think you said that your snakes are living in tanks? I've never used a tank to house a snake. I'll also be the first to admit that I've been a BP owner for one solid day now, and I only have had his tub up and running for about a week.

As someone new to BPs and their setups and requirements, I'll say that this site is the motherload as far as information. If you search the forums, you can find such a wealth of knowledge. I've been a member since...November? And this site taught me all I needed to know about good husbandry... I know that I'm not an expert at all, and the information I'm passing along to you is information that I've read here or in Kev McCurley's book "Ball Pythons in Captivity".

For my BP, I have him set up in a tub. The UTH (I'm using Flexwatt) provides the proper warm spot, and covers enough of the bottom of the tub (about half) to provide a warm side, and a heat gradient--meaning that my cool side temps are right where they should be. I'm not sure how it works for tanks, I know that there are other variables.

I might suggest that you post a new thread, asking your husbandry questions there. This one's a little long--and with a new one you might get more answers. You can give a run-down of what your current set-ups are (what you use to heat the tanks, what you measure temps with, what you use for substrate, what your temps/humidity are) and I'm sure people will be glad to give you pointers (and they will--for sure--be more experienced than I am.).

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

Um...I think that's it? If I missed something, someone else feel free to chime in :)

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Sounds good; other things to keep in mind are:

1) Try to avoid keeping him in a high traffic area of the house; a bedroom or office is a good place. They like it peaceful and quiet as opposed to people running in and out every few minutes. This may not be an issue, depending on how many people live in your house, but it is in mine. I have three siblings.

2) Keep at least two hides that are identical and, ideally, touch the snake on all sides. Half log ones won't do, and oversize cave ones aren't optimal. If the tank is too open, you can add more hides, fake foliage, or whatever, as you see fit.

3) Probably already been mentioned, but please try to refrain from holding him for at least two days (48 hours) after a meal, especially if it's a big meal. Him regurgitating is the LAST thing you want him to do.

4) Please refrain from handling too much while he's in shed, especially in the blue stage. Their eyes cloud over in the blue stage, and I don't think he'd like to be held when he can't see a thing.

Good luck with getting him to eat!

thanks Jason... we have the snakes in our bed room... so hardly any traffic in it... so i got that part taken care of... and we dont handle them after we feed them for ... like you said 2 days or so.... one more question..... how often do snakes shed?

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

Sounds good; other things to keep in mind are:

1) Try to avoid keeping him in a high traffic area of the house; a bedroom or office is a good place. They like it peaceful and quiet as opposed to people running in and out every few minutes. This may not be an issue, depending on how many people live in your house, but it is in mine. I have three siblings.

2) Keep at least two hides that are identical and, ideally, touch the snake on all sides. Half log ones won't do, and oversize cave ones aren't optimal. If the tank is too open, you can add more hides, fake foliage, or whatever, as you see fit.

3) Probably already been mentioned, but please try to refrain from holding him for at least two days (48 hours) after a meal, especially if it's a big meal. Him regurgitating is the LAST thing you want him to do.

4) Please refrain from handling too much while he's in shed, especially in the blue stage. Their eyes cloud over in the blue stage, and I don't think he'd like to be held when he can't see a thing.

Good luck with getting him to eat!

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Originally Posted by krazi0469

thanks Jason... we have the snakes in our bed room... so hardly any traffic in it... so i got that part taken care of... and we dont handle them after we feed them for ... like you said 2 days or so.... one more question..... how often do snakes shed?

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It really depends. I think hatchlings start out at once a month or so, providing that they're eating every week. The timespan gets larger and larger as they get bigger. I've owned my ball python since September, 2006, and he's shed once, not long after I got him. He's due to shed again in about a day or two, and he weighs approximately 200-220 grams. He had an irregular feeding schedule for a while, though, so he probably would've shed one more time since then if he'd eaten every week. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a full grown ball python to shed 2-3 times a year.

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Originally Posted by krazi0469

with our new snake Ozzy.... they gave us a UTH... but it only heats the side it's on?

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Ball Pythons use belly heat to digest their food. UTHs are very nessicary. What are using to heat your other two enclosures? If the temps are only getting up to 84, you are running a great risk of Respitory Infection, which can spread to all of your animals. I also recommend quarentine for any new animals to avoid the spread of diseases they may carry.

well all we are using right now is light bulbs to heat up thier tanks..... i'm going to a pet store this next weekend to look for 2 more UTHs

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Originally Posted by casperca

Ball Pythons use belly heat to digest their food. UTHs are very nessicary. What are using to heat your other two enclosures? If the temps are only getting up to 84, you are running a great risk of Respitory Infection, which can spread to all of your animals. I also recommend quarentine for any new animals to avoid the spread of diseases they may carry.

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