Need some help and advice.

So my ball python just finished shedding last week. I tried to feed him while he shedded but he didn't eat. I only offer him food once a week so I would expect him to be hungry so I tried to feed him today but he still wouldn't eat. I feed him f/t every other week and the weeks between I feed him live but it has been really cold weather outside with all the rain and stuff and I forgot that my window was open at night so he probably got really cold at night (my fault :( ).. But when I take him out to feed him I make sure he isn't cold and he is warm but could that affect his feeding if he is cold at night? He had a good shed also.

I'm surprised with all of these inconsistencies that you have had the past success that you have. I'm not hacking on ya, just making an observation.

First off, if he is taking F/T, don't confuse him or spoil him by switching to live every other week. What is the reasoning to that? And if you are going to feed live, what is the reasoning to feeding F/T?

As to the temps, you answered your own question.

As to moving him for feeding, that is Not necessary, you are actually lowering your chances of a successful feed by increasing stress on the snake.

Feeding in his enclosure will not make him more aggressive.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...12886a49cf.jpg

Pretty much what Reinz said. It's hard enough to get some to do f/t without making it confusing. And they aren't inclined to tank aggression, so don't worry about moving for feeding. How are you heating the tank...?

In my personal experience ball pythons can experience tank aggression, though with this past owner it could have been for many reasons as well as the feeding in the enclosure. I've always moved my snakes to eat and never had an issue, but again that's not for everyone.
Also not all balls like to eat while they're shedding, though I find they'll normally eat after their eyecaps have gone.
Do you have a heatmat or bulb to keep him warm, if not you may want to invest in one :)

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Originally Posted by Vanouri

In my personal experience ball pythons can experience tank aggression, though with this past owner it could have been for many reasons as well as the feeding in the enclosure.

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WoW let me jack this thread as all issues for the original poster have been addressed.
Moving your ball from tub to tub is only adding unneeded stress in that snakes life. I dont know your experience level but I would bet your collection isnt that large to justify your assumptions and your ability to be able to have multiple feeding containers.
I have yet to have a ball be cage aggressive unless ther is a rat heading into their tub.

Tank aggression is a myth. If you're going into the enclosure enough to do basic maintenance, the snake won't automatically associate the lid coming off with food.

What is your setup like? Temps, humidity? It sounds like there are a lot of inconsistencies there that could cause the snake not to eat.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

WoW let me jack this thread as all issues for the original poster have been addressed.
Moving your ball from tub to tub is only adding unneeded stress in that snakes life. I dont know your experience level but I would bet your collection isnt that large to justify your assumptions and your ability to be able to have multiple feeding containers.
I have yet to have a ball be cage aggressive unless ther is a rat heading into their tub.

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I've yet to have an issue moving my snakes, your opinion is cool and all but it won't change how I raise my reptiles. I do not have a large collection but experience is not based on how many snakes you have at one time.
I was stating an experience I had with tank aggression, just because you've never had it happen with yours doesn't mean it never happens with any snakes.
I don't really appreciate being attacked for how I raise my snakes, if you have a general concern over my snakes' saftey you could politely bring it up in a private message. Thanks!

People who have kept more snakes than you, longer than you, and especially those who keep large constrictors have confirmed that tank aggression is a myth, and the consensus in the hobby is that in-tank feeding is safer for the hobbyist (and as a by-product, nervous and sensitive snakes are more likely to eat in their own enclosure). You are giving information based on what seems to be pretty limited experience, and it is incorrect information. The OP deserves to know that the consensus in the hobby is that in-cage feeding is the way to go, and moving to a feed tank is unnecessary.

No offense, but your experience seems to be somewhat limited in time, research, and number of animals kept (and yes, number of animals kept does have some bearing on experience). I'm guessing by context in your other posts, but you're in high school correct? You would do well to actually listen to people on here and read through some past threads to see what people who have been keeping BPs longer than you've been alive have to say about certain topics.
Not everything everyone expresses is an 'opinion'; much of the time it is based on extensive research and experience.
Also, to be clear, I'm not talking about myself. I would consider myself quite knowledgeable with some of the species I keep, but I'm relatively new to BPs. None of the information I've given in this thread is based solely on my own experience, but from research, and the advice of others who have decades of experience keeping BPs and other constrictors.

EDIT: Reading comprehension fail. My page refreshed with your reply, but I didn't notice Pit had also replied and assumed you were replying to my post.

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Originally Posted by Vanouri

I've yet to have an issue moving my snakes, your opinion is cool and all but it won't change how I raise my reptiles. I do not have a large collection but experience is not based on how many snakes you have at one time.
I was stating an experience I had with tank aggression, just because you've never had it happen with yours doesn't mean it never happens with any snakes.
I don't really appreciate being attacked for how I raise my snakes, if you have a general concern over my snakes' saftey you could politely bring it up in a private message. Thanks!

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I don't do private and I wasn't attacking you.
I also never said experience comes with the size of your collection, I said IF you had a sizeable collection you wouldn't have the time to move them.
As far as moving them to feed with someone that is ALREADY having feeding issues, that is bad advice no matter how you look at it.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

People who have kept more snakes than you, longer than you, and especially those who keep large constrictors have confirmed that tank aggression is a myth, and the consensus in the hobby is that in-tank feeding is safer for the hobbyist (and as a by-product, nervous and sensitive snakes are more likely to eat in their own enclosure). You are giving information based on what seems to be pretty limited experience, and it is incorrect information. The OP deserves to know that the consensus in the hobby is that in-cage feeding is the way to go, and moving to a feed tank is unnecessary.

No offense, but your experience seems to be somewhat limited in time, research, and number of animals kept (and yes, number of animals kept does have some bearing on experience). I'm guessing by context in your other posts, but you're in high school correct? You would do well to actually listen to people on here and read through some past threads to see what people who have been keeping BPs longer than you've been alive have to say about certain topics.
Not everything everyone expresses is an 'opinion'; much of the time it is based on extensive research and experience.
Also, to be clear, I'm not talking about myself. I would consider myself quite knowledgeable with some of the species I keep, but I'm relatively new to BPs. None of the information I've given in this thread is based solely on my own experience, but from research, and the advice of others who have decades of experience keeping BPs and other constrictors.

EDIT: Reading comprehension fail. My page refreshed with your reply, but I didn't notice Pit had also replied and assumed you were replying to my post.

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I'm a bit older than you give me credit for. I may have less experience but I do what works best for my snakes and I. I've never ever had an issue with feeding in a seperate enclosure, but I have heard of people who do. I did say in my original post that it wasn't for everyone. The one experience I had where someone fed the snake inside the tank, the snake developed aggresion. This could have been caused by a multitude of factors, but I call it "tank aggresion" because he would only strike when he was in the enclosure. After he was removed, he became more sociable and never bit. I may have limited experience but it is still my experience and I will apply it until there is an issue.

I was just going by your post that said you hoped to go into biology one day. It sounded like the sort of thing someone looking through colleges might say.

Applying limited experience can be an issue, but if you plan on ignoring every bit of husbandry advice from people with more experience, I personally don't see the point in being on a forum. I've been keeping snakes for over a decade, and I still ended up changing a ton of stuff for my BP due to advice I got on this forum, and it's only ever been beneficial.

Regardless, back to the point of the thread: Recommending someone who's already having trouble with the snake not eating to feed outside the enclosure is not a good idea. However, based on the original post, my hunch is that something may be off with the husbandry, especially temps, that is causing him not to eat. The snake being about to shed doesn't help either. Mine always eats during shed, but some won't, so it may be nothing to worry about yet.

To LuciferPhantom, the OP, please don't be afraid to respond and ask questions to your own thread. You will Not be attacked!
Sometimes discussions can or appear to be heated between members. Opinions can be strong.

We do care about you and your snake and do want to help you out.

I don't know what to tell you because my snake is having a hard time shedding but he is still eating. He is a baby


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*pokepoke* OP update, questions, comments, complaints, concerns?

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Originally Posted by cocokj

I don't know what to tell you because my snake is having a hard time shedding but he is still eating. He is a baby


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Start a new thread with as much information as you can think to put in about the snake's setup, what it's been eating, anything. No one is going to see this to respond in the middle of another thread like this.

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Originally Posted by cocokj

I don't know what to tell you because my snake is having a hard time shedding but he is still eating. He is a baby


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I usually bath my snakes to help them shed, but others have pointed out flaws with that. I've heard of rubbing the snakes with a type of natural oil may help. Or making a humid hut for them to go into. I've also seen sprays at the pet store to help a snake shedding, though I've never tried them and I'm not sure How they work. Try one of these if you keep having issues!

Please dont bathe as you are washing away the oils that your snakes body produces to release the old skin.

Please dont use any oils on your snake and they were not produced by your snake and could cause problems.

Please fix husbandry so you dont have these problems.

At best those spray type things are useless, and at worst they can be harmful. Even though they're marketed to help snakes shed, I've never seen any evidence any of them work. If your husbandry is on point, you won't need that.

I have to side with Reinz, stick with either live of f/t, don't alternate. I have 3 of mine right now that insist on live so they get one live mouse every Sunday, all the others love pounding rats. If he is being a picky eater then feed right in the tub, don't stress him out unnecessarily by moving him. I'll avoid the aggression discussion but will say I started out feeding in a separate tub for convenience. I could clean their tub while they were out feeding then return them to a nice clean tub after wards but now that I have several racks going and I use paper not aspen anymore I don't bother and just feed them in their tub and is't so much easier.

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Originally Posted by Vanouri

I usually bath my snakes to help them shed, but others have pointed out flaws with that. I've heard of rubbing the snakes with a type of natural oil may help. Or making a humid hut for them to go into. I've also seen sprays at the pet store to help a snake shedding, though I've never tried them and I'm not sure How they work. Try one of these if you keep having issues!

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I have tried that but he is still having a hard time



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Originally Posted by cocokj

I have tried that but he is still having a hard time



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Like the others suggested maybe you just need to fix the humidity :) what kind of substate do you use? And what kind of enclosure is your snake in?

I use the wood subs are and he is In 15 gallon tank


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Originally Posted by cocokj

I use the wood subs are and he is In 15 gallon tank


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There are many 'wood substrates' you could be talking about. What is the product name on the bag you bought it in?

What is your humidity? Unless you've modified the tank by covering parts of the top with tin foil or cling-wrap my guess is it's probably pretty low.

I don't even know tbh


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Originally Posted by cocokj

I don't even know tbh


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Well since you could be talking about aspen, cypress mulch, repti-bark ect. that's really not enough info... Can you post a pic of the setup? We can tell you what bedding it is.

Also, what is your humidity at now?

I don't have a picture and I'm not able to take one right now


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Originally Posted by cocokj

I don't have a picture and I'm not able to take one right now


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Well, what does it look like? I mean, other than telling you to put a humid hide with wet sphagnum moss in the tank, I don't know what else you want us to tell you with absolutely no information about the setup.

I'm beginning to suspect you don't have any sort of humidity gauge or hygrometer since you keep ignoring my question about what the humidity is...