New Baby Spider Ball Python

Hello all, this is my first post here and I have been a ball python owner for little over a week now. I have to tell you she is absolutely gorgeous and the kids and I really enjoy having her around....no so much the wife though..lol.

Well I was told to feed her in about a week after I bought her and to feed her small mice. The people where I got her from told me she was raised so far on live mice. They told me she was about a month old. So after a week I went to my local pet shop and bought a small mouse (live) to feed to her. I put her and the mouse in a separate bin and watched them for about an hour. The only thing that happened was that she tried to get out of the bin and move as if the mouse was never there at all. Now, since I bought her I have been handling her daily and she if very active and not really shy at all. Her setup is about 95 degrees on the hot side and low 80's on the cool side. Heck, I even tried putting the mouse in the enclosure to see if being in her home made her feel more comfortable..nope...didn't work.

Can someone please assist me with some sort of direction? I have googled this to death and all I get is if the python won't eat dead then feed it live. Well, tried that. I understand that a Python can go quite a while without food...does that include the month old ones also? I'm afraid she is a little underweight or maybe the small mouse is to big. Just really need someone with experience to give me a reassuring hand is all.

95 is a lil hot for a hot side. Try to get it a lil closer to 89-90.

Also she is probably stressed out. When you bring a new np home you should give it a solid week of no handleing, just water changes, and then try to feed.
Also feed inside her tank. Cage aggression in bps is a myth. I feed all mine in there tubs and no signs of aggression. Moving to feed just causes unneeded stress.

What is your set up like? Does she have any hides?

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Originally Posted by PorcelainxDoll

95 is a lil hot for a hot side. Try to get it a lil closer to 89-90.

Also she is probably stressed out. When you bring a new np home you should give it a solid week of no handleing, just water changes, and then try to feed.
Also feed inside her tank. Cage aggression in bps is a myth. I feed all mine in there tubs and no signs of aggression. Moving to feed just causes unneeded stress.

What is your set up like? Does she have any hides?

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Thanks for the reply!

I have turned the temp down to 90 now on the hot side as recommended and I kind of figured it might have been stress but was and still am unsure since she isn't that shy. I have her in a 40 gallon breeder since I had it from my bearded dragon of 12 years whom passed. I have a hide on both cool and hot sides of the tank plus a water dish she can soak in fully and also a few pieces of drift wood that take up a lot of the tank. I use and under tank heater with thermostat 24 hours and a heat lamp during the day. I use coconut fibers as substrate.

Let me know what you think and what steps you would take now....should I wait a week with no handling then try to feed her inside her cage. Since the mouse is live should I hold onto the mouse when feeding or let it run free in the snake cage? I'm not sure now, so looking for the guidance! Thanks!

Your set up sounds good. I would go to a dollar store or craft store and maybe pick up some fake leaves to scatter around the tank since it is a little big for a baby bp. You could also just use crumpled paper.

What kind.of thermometers do yoy have?


He may seem very.unshy but they can still get syressed easy. After you have given him a week of no.handeling just drop the mouse in. and give.him about 30-45 min. If he.doesnt.eat then you start the no handeling week over again till he does eat.

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Originally Posted by jsttryin

Thanks for the reply!

I have turned the temp down to 90 now on the hot side as recommended and I kind of figured it might have been stress but was and still am unsure since she isn't that shy. I have her in a 40 gallon breeder since I had it from my bearded dragon of 12 years whom passed. I have a hide on both cool and hot sides of the tank plus a water dish she can soak in fully and also a few pieces of drift wood that take up a lot of the tank. I use and under tank heater with thermostat 24 hours and a heat lamp during the day. I use coconut fibers as substrate.

Let me know what you think and what steps you would take now....should I wait a week with no handling then try to feed her inside her cage. Since the mouse is live should I hold onto the mouse when feeding or let it run free in the snake cage? I'm not sure now, so looking for the guidance! Thanks!

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hi just wondering why u need a heat lamp during the day if u have under tank heating?? Or is it as a source of light??

Sometimes people need heat lamps to keep up the ambient temp.

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Originally Posted by PorcelainxDoll

Sometimes people need heat lamps to keep up the ambient temp.

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yes but surely its colder at night???

if your struggling with ambients it would make more sense to ditch the heat mat and run a statted heat lamp 24hrs IMO

Not really because bps thrive better with belly heat. So they need the heat mat, and if your ambient is too low then you may need a secondary heat source.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by PorcelainxDoll

Not really because bps thrive better with belly heat. So they need the heat mat, and if your ambient is too low then you may need a secondary heat source.

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Im not saying theres anything wrong with doing it your way and i dont know how cold it gets where u are but im in the uk and im sure pretty much everyone who keeps em in vivs over here just go with a ceramic bulb and no under belly heating. I really dont think its a necessity although i maybe wrong (i use mats myself as i keep em in tubs in a heated room but if you just got 1 or two its pointless heating the whole room so standard practice is to ditch the heatmat and replace it with a statted ceramic bulb. Most people are able to achieve a sufficent temp gradient with just the one heat source with out any ill effects too the snake! Although perhaps if its real cold where u are its not enough for u guys idk?