newbie on bp

I got a bp gave to me from a guy a work.the guy said it got loose about 3 months ago and found it one moring in the dogs water bowl.he said it has'nt ate anything in about 3 1/2 months. i got it from him about two weeks ago.it was in a 29 gallon fish tank with a board on top bare glass on the bottom no hides. it did have a water bowl. he said he has never had a heat light or uth in it.i bought a new 29 gallon tank and put two hides in it with aspen on the bottom of the tank.and got a acu-rite thermometer.and a flukers clamp light with a infrared spot bulb. the high side is 87 and low is 82.6 hum is 61%. i tried to feed him last sat. he didn't eat so i tried to night he doesn't seem to be interested in the small rat. anyone have any advice???? he is 3foot 6 inches long. i have pics of him on my gallery and pics of his new set up too thanks chris

Try feeding him a mouse.

the guy said that he use to feed him a live mouse once every three weeks???? should i try feeding him a live mouse??

Jesus. You wanna feed him every 7-10 days.

ya i would like to feed him every ten days if he would eat ..? the guy that had him before me needed to check this site out. you guys have been a great help thanks

Welcome to the boards, and it sounds like you are really trying to take good care of this guy. I like your new set up, but didn't see any mention of an Under Tank Heater (UTH). Are you using one?


You want to try to get your warm side up to about 92 degrees and cool side around 82 degrees.

I'm going to give the same disclaimer that Jo gives - I am a relative newbie here myself, but from what I've learned I'd recommend that if he ate live mice before, I'd try to offer him that, but give him about a week to acclimate to his new home, then try offering him a live mouse in about a week.

Good luck!

Hopefully someone here with more experience can give some more (and probably even better) advice!

Robin

First, get your husbandry set properly. 92-94 warm side, 82-84 cool side. Your setup sound good, just get those temps correct. Once that is set up right. Leave the bp alone(no touching...put him in a quiet, low traffic area) for a week to settle in. Once the bp has settled in for a week, attempt a feeding. Feed a prey item that is as round as the girth of you bp. Once your bp has eaten 2-3 times in a row, you can start handling. The main thing to do in these types of situations (or with any new snake) is to limit the amount of stress on the animal.

thanks for the info. i am useing a light to heat the tank 75watt infrared heat glo spot lamp. i'll try these things hope they work thanks chris

Keep in mind that he was out for 3 months so who knows what he was eating, if at all. I would gather his first poop in the enclosure and take the poop and the snake to a vet to get a check up first thing. Even if your snake appears to be healthy it doesn't mean they are. Make sure that your snake has somewhere in the enclosure to hide completly, I would imagine that is what he needs right now considering that lack of contact he has had the last few months. The rest of the information on husbandry stated above is good information, use it. Other than that good luck with your new BP and feel free to ask ant question as this is a very good forum with lots of individuals committed to getting good information out. Welcome to the forum.

All I'll add is this, it's so tempting to want to touch a new snake but the settling in time that's been recommended to you is very good advice. I credit that advice, as well as the advice on proper temps & humidity, for helping both our ball pythons develop great feeding habits as well as both being just lovely snakes to handle.


~~Joanna~~

I wouldn't worry too much. BP are known to go off feed for extended periods of time. Reptiles and snake especially are very hardy creatures. I've heard of adult BP not eating for 6+ months and not loose an ounce of weight. Remember the bigger they are the less they'll move and less energy consumed means not having to eat as often. Even more so I you feed it larger prey like rats. You could also talk to a local vet. I've also heard if you expose the brain of its prey or soak the mouse in chicken broth it might coax it to feed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by carter96281

I've also heard if you expose the brain of its prey or soak the mouse in chicken broth it might coax it to feed.

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"Braining" is a technique used with pinky mice to coax hatchling corn, king, and milk snakes to take a rodent as their first meal.

Chicken broth is a technique sometimes used for getting wild caught arboreal species like green tree pythons and emerald tree boas, that sometimes consume birds as prey, to eat rodents in captivity.

Neither suggestion is realistically effective for getting a fasting ball python to eat.

-adam