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?

I use only heat mats for my tubs, and I use only a heat mat for my tank so I understand completely what your saying. Just.some people prefer both.

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I use both the heat pad and heat lamp when it gets cold. However, since I live in Florida, I only run heat lamps to up ambients when it is colder, and more often than not only at night,...mostly because I don't want to run the heat in my house. (Since we get so little cold weather anyway...I love it when it's cold.) Now, it is generally accepted that BPs do better with belly heat, so I wouldn't do away with the heat pad.

However to the OP, you may want to consider running your heat lamp only at night when it is colder. Unless! You are like my stepfather who lives in New England, who only runs the heat in his house at night, thereby making it colder in the house during the day. :rolleyes: Whatever works best for you. I have to say though, if you don't have an infrared temp gun, you should consider getting one. That way you can monitor surface temps, and check temps on your feeders if you ever switch to frozen. It was probably the best purchase I have made in terms of controlling temps for my reptiles. Just a suggestion. :D Congrats on your new BP!

EDIT: Oh! And I meant to comment on the setup. Aside from the size of the enclosure, your setup sounds good. Like was already mentioned, you want the hot side surface temps around 90 rather than 95. The biggest issue I see that could be contributing to her lack of desire to eat would be the size of the tank. A 40 gallon breeder is much too large for a baby BP. The sheer size of it is stressing her out and making her feel insecure. You should consider covering three sides with black construction paper or a decorative tank backing which makes those sides opaque, and add an extra hide or two on each side in addition to a bunch of fake leaves and things to give him or her more cover. It will help with the security issues in such a large tank. For reference, I have my 3 1/2 ft red tail boa (BCI) in a 40 gallon breeder right now and even she was slightly uncomfortable at first. :) So yeah...definitely give your baby more hiding spots and that should help her feel secure enough to eat. Also, what size mouse did you try to feed her? A small adult might still be too large. What you're looking for is a Hopper mouse for a BP that young. It could be that her food intimidated her so she decided not to risk trying to take it down.

Hey guys! Thanks for all the helpful information! I run the heat lamp during the day with the heat mat because it does help with the light, plus I'm just used to having a heat lamp when I had my bearded dragon. I don't really have any problem keeping the tank to the correct temps either at night or day. Though the bp could maybe enjoy basking ontop of the hot hide once in a while...lol..guess she wouldn't since she is a nocturnal reptile...but I like giving her the option.

The mouse is about hopper size (2") minus the tail. I tried to figure out how to upload pictures to show you my spider ball and the mouse size but no luck as I am computer retarded. I'll keep trying to get the pics uploaded cause heaven knows pics are one of the best things about forums. I'll defiantly be adding some plants. I was just trying to find the most cost effective place to get them (online or etc...). I have zoo med digital thermometers and a hydrofarm thermostat (got it off amazon) that work really well so far.

I guess, I could take the bp and the mouse to my local pet shop to verify if I have the correct size, but from youtube vids of others feeding their baby bp's i think it should be fine. The only time I saw people on youtube feeding smaller was when they were assist feeding.

Question, how long should I keep doing the wait a week then try to feed, until I go get some smaller mice to assist feed? Probably won't come down to this and your ideas will probably solve the issue but I want to ask now so that I can cover all bases.

Thanks guys!

You should keep doing it till he eats. You may also wanna refrain from handeling till he has eaten 3+ times if he is that picky of an eater.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by PorcelainxDoll

You should keep doing it till he eats. You may also wanna refrain from handeling till he has eaten 3+ times if he is that picky of an eater.

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OK. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll be trying to feed her again on Saturday since that would have been a week since I tried last. And I won't handle her or disturb her till she develops a routine which makes perfect sense. With exception of cleaning and water bowl fill ups.

Thanks and I'll update you this weekend!

The rat/mouse should weigh about 15% of the snake's weight.

Check out craft stores like Michael's. They have vine type fake plants for $5-10.

Well, just wanted to thank you all for the advise. After leaving the bp alone for a week and reducing as much stress on her as I could she ate today! Was really a sight to see and a great feeling of relief! It did take her a little while to find and start swallowing the head once she released her death grip but she did great and I'm proud of her....sounds dumb...but I am!

Also, both daughters (4 & 8) did well with the live feeding so thats also another plus. Thought they might freak and never want anything to do with her once they saw this but I only had a hard time getting them down off the enclosure..lol

Well, thanks again everyone for keeping me calm while I was a but worried! I'll keep everyone updated....I just bought a scale and after I giver her a few days to digest I'll way her to see how big she is and report back.

Doesn't sound dumb, we all do : D that's the joy of a reptile forum, we can all relate.