Is it possible my snake is not nocturnal

My bp is active during the day and hides at night is this weird? there are two hides, branch, leaves, water bowl and the correct temp/humidity.

They are naturally nocturnal, activity during the day is a sign of stress, If you describe your set-up in better detail we may be able to pinpoint a possibility...

It's a ten gallon tank lass the sides and back are not blacked out. Aspen bedding and two identical hides one on hot am one on cool side .. I will black out sides and back soon sounds like everyone does it he is my first bp so any help is appreciated :banana:

When you say correct temp/humidity, can you tell us what your temps and humidity are?

Humidity 55% when shed it's up to 65 and temp hot side is 88 coolside is 78

I know blacking out the sides helped a lot with the ones I had/have in tanks. Are the hides tight fitting? When they are inside them they like to be able to touch all the sides, makes them feel secure.

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Originally Posted by lasweetswan

When you say correct temp/humidity, can you tell us what your temps and humidity are?

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Yeah, and also how often are you feeding / what size? Also how big is ur ball ?

Could be roaming because he's hungry, but even when mine are hungry the day before or on feeding day it's always at night. What do you mean active during the day? Like just poking his head out or actively roaming and looking for an escape route?

He is 7months feeding hopper mice every 5 days and the hides i made and he fits like a glove. He is Around 17 Inchs I have yet to weigh him but I want to

If you can, try a rat fuzzie, then see if he's still roaming. Hopper mice are pretty small, only my babies get hopper mice....

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Could be roaming because he's hungry, but even when mine are hungry the day before or on feeding day it's always at night. What do you mean active during the day? Like just poking his head out or actively roaming and looking for an escape route?

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He just climbs all over the branch and just moves all over the place

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Originally Posted by LGray23

If you can, try a rat fuzzie, then see if he's still roaming. Hopper mice are pretty small, only my babies get hopper mice....

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When is not considered a baby he is only 7 months but has never refused to eat and eats every 5 days how big are fuzzies compared to hoppers

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

When is not considered a baby he is only 7 months but has never refused to eat and eats every 5 days how big are fuzzies compared to hoppers

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Baby is a hatchling. You should switch him over to rats a.s.a.p. they have 10% more protein, more calcium and more fat than mice. You should feed him a rat that will give him a good sized bulge and up the size when there's no longer a noticeable bulge.

They are bigger, and 7 months is not a baby. I have two 2011 balls that were born this summer that are eating rat pups like crazy with no problem, which are bigger than rat fuzzies. My female albino that was born last month is eating hopper mice...I think you should seriously consider at least trying a rat fuzzie. They may look big to you, especially compared to the hoppers, but I can guarantee that he will take it. If he doesn't take the rat, try scenting it with a mouse (I haveto do this to switch from mice to rats). Do you feed live or f/t?

Live but thinking of going frozen and it's feeding day tomorrow so I will try a baby rat and see what's happens as well as black out the sides of the tank

There's your answer

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7months feeding hopper mice

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Most hatchlings are started on hoppers and quickly switch to adult.

You BP is underfed which likely explain why he is constantly rooming including during day time.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

There's your answer Most hatchlings are started on hoppers and quickly switch to adult.

You BP is underfed which likely explain why he is constantly rooming including during day time.

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Ok so I will go to rat pups every 5days instead of mice hoppers every 5 days and see what happens

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

Live but thinking of going frozen and it's feeding day tomorrow so I will try a baby rat and see what's happens as well as black out the sides of the tank

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The way I switch from live to frozen is this.

Once they are eating consistently (which yours is), I get a f/t rat fuzzie or pup and thaw it out with a mouse in the same ziplock back. Once they are thawed, I heat them up in the same bag together. When I go to feed, I hold the rat with the tongs by the neck, so that it's being held as if it's alive and crawling towards the snake. Usually, once they catch the scent on the mouse, they don't hesitate. I've had pretty good success with this. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

Ok so I will go to rat pups every 5days instead of mice hoppers every 5 days and see what happens

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Actually as this point I would offer an adult mice and feed him adult mice for a few feedings then than attempt to switch.

Offering a different prey time as well as something much larger could be intimidating and lead to refusal.

You people may be advising larger meals, say rat pups, but regardless of his age... he only said his BP was 17 inches. Wouldn't that be far too stressful on him? I agree with upping the food size, but it seems like people have ignored that fact and jumped straight to ridiculously larger meals for his size.

Personally, I think the underfeeding is what lead to this size... My male BP is only 5 months old but he's around 26-27 inches and 385 grams, measured today. Really full & healthy. He can take a small rat because of his length, but going by the 10% standard, he can take 38.5 grams of food. Weaned rats for him... If you push it and do the 15%, then its somewhere around 45 grams thus the small rat. Not saying everyone follows this, but if you compare these numbers to something like a rat pup for a 17 incher, it just seems like way too much food. He said he hasn't weighed, but I'm guessing he's considerably less than my big guy.

based on this chart http://iansvivarium.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=75#p248
Rat fuzzies sound like the better choice with the standard 5-7 day feeding schedule.

I'm no expert but it just seems like obvious stuff people are disregarding here.

So I was wrong he is about 24 inches I grabbed a ruler I guesstamated the 17 Inchs but still no weight. today is feeding day And based on the chart above I was thinking aboUt rat fuzzYs since they are a lil bigger and I will scent it with a rat. How does that sound :)

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

So I was wrong he is about 24 inches I grabbed a ruler I guesstamated the 17 Inchs but still no weight. today is feeding day And based on the chart above I was thinking aboUt rat fuzzYs since they are a lil bigger and I will scent it with a rat. How does that sound :)

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do you mean scent it with a mouse. And my babies from 5 and 6 month olds both eat small adult mice and are about as big as yours ( if it is indeed 24 inches) so a rat pup should be fine.

I too am switching to rats for the nutritional value just had to find the rats first.

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Originally Posted by pingure

do you mean scent it with a mouse. And my babies from 5 and 6 month olds both eat small adult mice and are about as big as yours ( if it is indeed 24 inches) so a rat pup should be fine.

I too am switching to rats for the nutritional value just had to find the rats first.

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Yes scent with mouse. And he is not very wide though so when I go get the food a little later I will see what they look like I'n person and decide. Is it true your can't feed the snake food that is fatter then it?

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

Yes scent with mouse. And he is not very wide though so when I go get the food a little later I will see what they look like I'n person and decide. Is it true your can't feed the snake food that is fatter then it?

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The reason he is not very wide is because you are underfeeding. You CAN feed the snake food that is fatter than it! You should attempt to feed food that is AS fat. If you think that's what you were doing before you really need to get a scale and weigh the snake then weigh the prey. At this age rodents that are 10% to 15% as much as your snake is a good goal.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

The reason he is not very wide is because you are underfeeding. You CAN feed the snake food that is fatter than it! You should attempt to feed food that is AS fat. If you think that's what you were doing before you really need to get a scale and weigh the snake then weigh the prey. At this age rodents that are 10% to 15% as much as your snake is a good goal.

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Dido

So I just put a rat Fuzzy I'n and he took it first try I ha the guy at the reptile store rub a mouse on it. I chose rat fuzzy ove rat pup because I saw the size of there rat pups and they were huge so I'm planning on fuzzys till I can use pups

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

So I just put a rat Fuzzy I'n and he took it first try I ha the guy at the reptile store rub a mouse on it. I chose rat fuzzy ove rat pup because I saw the size of there rat pups and they were huge so I'm planning on fuzzys till I can use pups

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After 2 or 3 meals with fuzzies, switch to rat pups, trust me, he'll be able to take it.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

After 2 or 3 meals with fuzzies, switch to rat pups, trust me, he'll be able to take it.

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Kk sounds good he ate it backwards which was funny and that sounds good I will do a few more rat fuzzys then go to pups. He is still not I'n his hide though he is on the side of the uth half I'n his water bowl temps are 88 an humidity is at 57 but just hanging out not as active but he just ate so that makes since.

And the sides and back are now blacked out :banana:

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Originally Posted by Bert Specht

So I just put a rat Fuzzy I'n and he took it first try I ha the guy at the reptile store rub a mouse on it. I chose rat fuzzy ove rat pup because I saw the size of there rat pups and they were huge so I'm planning on fuzzys till I can use pups

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Just some quick googling and I see that rodentpro.com lists rat pups at being between 20 and 29 grams. If your snake is 200 grams or more it should be able to handle a rat pup with ease. If I were you I would get a scale and go by weight till 800 grams or so. It may look big to you but your snake is built to handle this.

Want to get a scale I will look into getting one this weekend I wanna keep better records of it's growth

So I got a scale and he is 91 grams so I'm guessing that low if not way low.since he just had his first rat fuzzy I will keep him on rat fuzzies then rat pups as soon as he can have them and after blacking out the sides and back he has been hiding ever since . Thanks for everybody's help and any more info would be awesome

He definitely needs to gain weight. I've has hatchlings that weigh more than that at 4wks old. He will catch up quick now that he's on rats. He was probably roaming because he was hungry. The prey item should be 1 to 1.5x the diameter of the snake's widest part.

Got any pics of your BP and enclosure? That may help everyone help you.

I will post pics later today and I'm sure keeping him on rats and not mice will give him some nice weight soon

A 7 month old, 91 gram, 17 inch ball python? That just doesnt make any sense in my mind.

You should check your #'s and post some pics. It sounds as if he/she is quite underfed if not something more serious going on there.

I have a 2 month old that is about 165grams currently.

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Originally Posted by hig

A 7 month old, 91 gram, 17 inch ball python? That just doesnt make any sense in my mind.

You should check your #'s and post some pics. It sounds as if he/she is quite underfed if not something more serious going on there.

I have a 2 month old that is about 165grams currently.

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Yeah ive been feeding mice not rats he is now on rats an has taken them both times so far and he is now at 102 pre poo and I re measured him he is about 21in