Striking, but not latching or anytihng?

One of our friends has a small ball python that he got about a month and a half ago. She had just started shedding, and now she's almost done.
Now she's not eating. She's hungry 'cause she's roaming around at all hours of the day, and she strikes. We put a mouse in there and she'd strike at it but not wrap on it. He as another ball python that's in the same room, same set up, but that one's fine.

Some of our mice just had babies about a week ago and we took two pinkies down ... she had NO idea what to do with them. We're gonna wait till they have fur and look more mouse like ... but if she doesn't eat them then, what do we do?

When snakes are fine I know what to do, but when they're not doing "normal" things I dunno what to do Help!

What was she raised on/fed previously, mice or rats or soft furs or...? That can make all the difference, if she's not familiar with mice as food, that might be why she isn't eating them. Is everything else good (temps, humidity, hides, etc.)?

It sounds more to me that she's defensively striking. What's her set up like?

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Originally Posted by Ashleen Cook

One of our friends has a small ball python that he got about a month and a half ago. She had just started shedding, and now she's almost done....

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Are you saying that she has been shedding for a month and a half?

If so, your friend has some humidity issues....

There were humidity issues in the beginning, but now we think we've gotten them figured out.

I'll get pictures of the setup when I can. There are three hides, one in the heat lamp side, one in the middle, and one in the cool side.

She's been raised on live mice.

Hi,

It's hard to be certain but I also think she isn't hungry she is seriously stressed.

I would go redad the bad shed no problem sticky and see if that helps.

Constant roaming can be a sign of stress.

It sounds as though she is "defensive striking" not trying to feed.

Double check all the husbandry, make sure they have enough tight dark hides and that they leave the snake alone for at least a week after they deal with the bad shed.

Then, if the snake seems to have settled in a bit more, try and feed it a half grown mouse ( hopper sized ).

If it doesn't eat it leave it alone for another week and try again.


dr del

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

It sounds more to me that she's defensively striking. What's her set up like?

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Exactly. It sounds like it's stressed. Are they continuing to offer food? That'll just prolong the stress. Wait a week or two without disturbing it and then offer food again. It will most likely eat at that time.

Also even my hatchling babies are too big for pinky mice. Try not handling, fixing any setup or husbandry issues. And offering food once she settles down( min 1-2 wk) At this point the more hands on you are with her the more negatively it will affect her.

What are the temperatues on the cold and warm side. Id bet they are way too cold for your friends snake.

Thank you everyone!

I'll get the temp and humidity readings when we're over there next. He is offering food every 3 days or so 'cause he's worried. I'll tell him to give her time. She's looking okay weight wise so I'm not worried about her.

Yes offering too much can also stress them out more. It would be nice to directly hear from you friend. Bc he may know details that you dont. But try and get as many details as possible. I'd also relay all the infor given here. Either print it out for him or wrote stuff down. So that he can have the suggestions right on hand. Tell him to offer food only on his scheduled day.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

Yes offering too much can also stress them out more. It would be nice to directly hear from you friend. Bc he may know details that you dont. But try and get as many details as possible. I'd also relay all the infor given here. Either print it out for him or wrote stuff down. So that he can have the suggestions right on hand. Tell him to offer food only on his scheduled day.

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He doesn't have a computer or the internet. He's actually kind of technologically impaired ...

One of my other friends has a ball for sale for everything for $50 ... I'm gonna try to get that and trade that ball for my first friend's (boy, this is confusing!) tiny ball that I've been talking about. He doesn't seem to want to listen to advice much and I think I could get her back in shape with the help of this forum! Plus, I'd be able to post pictures, readings, etc immediately and accurately.

I'm sorry I don't think trading him a snake is ok then! If he's not interested in the HEALTH of his snake. He shouldn't be given a potentially perfectly healthy animal to do it again. He's obviously not going to change therefore if you want to take on his snake. Which obviously someone else should, don't give him another chance with another ALIVE animal to do this again. You may think this is harsh of me and because he's your friend you may not want to be harsh as I am. But I look at pet ownership of any kind as a huge responsibility. When a person takes on an animal it is their duty to that animals to do as much research and do anything you can to keep that animal in perfect health. Anything less is unfair to the animal. I personally would convince him to give up the snake bc he's having issues and doesn't want to learn to fix them. My .02c anyways. Please Dont take it personally.
Morgan

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

I'm sorry I don't think trading him a snake is ok then! If he's not interested in the HEALTH of his snake. He shouldn't be given a potentially perfectly healthy animal to do it again. He's obviously not going to change therefore if you want to take on his snake. Which obviously someone else should, don't give him another chance with another ALIVE animal to do this again. You may think this is harsh of me and because he's your friend you may not want to be harsh as I am. But I look at pet ownership of any kind as a huge responsibility. When a person takes on an animal it is their duty to that animals to do as much research and do anything you can to keep that animal in perfect health. Anything less is unfair to the animal. I personally would convince him to give up the snake bc he's having issues and doesn't want to learn to fix them. My .02c anyways. Please Dont take it personally.
Morgan

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I'm not taking it personally at all :)

Because he is my friend I wasn't thinking of it that way at all, but you did open my eyes to that.

I'm still buying the other ball and keeping it for myself.
I've also made more hides for the stressed snake, and am going to give him a smaller tank to house her in because the one she's in is too big to keep decently humid.
How long can a BP stay in a 10 gallon? (what I'm going to give him)

I'm a tub fan. But a ten g might be ok for a little guy but for an older bp a 20 breeder would work the best. Thanks for not taking it personally. My pet peeve is people taking on exotics and not understanding about them. Sounds like if you take both the snakes they'll be in good hands. Just make sure you qt both of them just incase of any potential health issues.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

I'm a tub fan. But a ten g might be ok for a little guy but for an older bp a 20 breeder would work the best. Thanks for not taking it personally. My pet peeve is people taking on exotics and not understanding about them. Sounds like if you take both the snakes they'll be in good hands. Just make sure you qt both of them just incase of any potential health issues.

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What size of tub would I need? How far away should the enclosures be for quarantine? The warmest parts of our house are the living room,dining room and kitchen and they're all sort of connected so they share the same air space.

I very much dislike people who have any type of pet and can't/don't take care of it. That's why I'm buying the healthy ball 'cause the owner got it cause "snakes are cool".

It seems that I'm starting a snake rescue around here haha

Well a small snake could go In like a 15qt and I use 34qt for my adult males. You'd have to modify it a bit by drilling or sodering holes to let heat and humidity dissapate slowly. But they work well. I have a lg Collection so I keep qts in a different room. But for a small collection provided no mites are seen on either, you could keep them in the same room. Review qt practices on the site. A uth for both and a thermostat to hook the uth's up to. I beleive hydrofarm is a relativly decent inexpensive one. Also people have used plug in lamp dimmers as a rheostat. Your have to fiddle with it a bit. But atleast the uth's would be controlled.

Thank you so much for your help! I'm pretty sure I'll be back with more questions, haha.