Help Blaze !

I recently got a new pastel bp and his name blaze. PetSmart fed him a lot for him to be so young yesterday was post to be my 3rd time feeding him but he's almost scared to strike. He seems to be hungry and ready but will be in striking position breathing heavy and shaking a bit. I'm wondering if that's normal because he's young and ate alot for his size already. Yet he appears to be hungry but maybe he isn't. Temps seem find also have a heating mat on the opposite side just in case. Any help?

So he will go to strike at it but then end up not? He defiantly seems interested then. How often are you feeding him? Typically you don't want to feed them more then once every 7 - 10 days. If you are waiting that amount of time and he still won't take then perhaps try and drop feed him instead. Just kinda make it dance around a bit to get him to notice that it's there then set it down in the tank and see if he'll go for it that way.

Also I was just a little confused about how you worded your whole heating situation. Is it you have a lamp or something on one side and a heat mat on the other or just a heat mat on one side?

I'm confused too. If you have just an under tank heating pad that's not enough. Also what do you mean pet smart fed him a lot for his size?

If you can post a pick of your setup that would help clear some things up. Also giving us some additional information such as how much does he way? What size of rat/mouse were they feeding him? What size animal are you attempting to feed him? This will better help us understand and assist us in helping you and Blaze.

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Let's start from scratch so we can help you out the best we can.

First of all, I doubt PetSmart was feeding him a lot. Most pet stores, especially big box pet stores, will basically maintenance feed. What this means is they feed enough for the animal to survive. This benefits the store in two ways. 1) They save money on prey items and 2) the animal stays smaller and "cuter". Also, snakes in these big box store often refuse food because their husbandry is poor.
Now the important stuff...

Tell us about your setup. You say "temps seem fine". Either temps are right or they are not.
How are you heating the enclosure? Are you running your heating equipment through a thermostat?
What are your actual temps? How are you measuring your temps? and where are you measuring temps?

What type and size enclosure?

How much does your snake weigh? What type and size prey are you offering? How often are you offering?

The more you tell us the more we can help. A few pics of your setup wouldn't hurt either.

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Originally Posted by BluuWolf

So he will go to strike at it but then end up not? He defiantly seems interested then. How often are you feeding him? Typically you don't want to feed them more then once every 7 - 10 days. If you are waiting that amount of time and he still won't take then perhaps try and drop feed him instead. Just kinda make it dance around a bit to get him to notice that it's there then set it down in the tank and see if he'll go for it that way.

Also I was just a little confused about how you worded your whole heating situation. Is it you have a lamp or something on one side and a heat mat on the other or just a heat mat on one side?

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Yes I have my heating lap on one side and when I turn it off I put a heating mat under the opposite side at night because my room is freezing. I did all that, pets Mart had him on a schedule where I feed him every Friday. They were feeding him eight Fuzzy's for him to be so young. He is quite big for his age, when I got him the first week I fed him 2 small mice because that's what they told me to do and then the next Friday I fed him once mice because that's all he'll eat. and then this Friday he gets in attack mode like he's ready but seems to be a little bit squeamish he's striked a few times but missed, yhe was breathing pretty hard so I got nervous I don't want to stress him out or anything and he was shaking. Also not forgetting I changed his bedding earlier this day so I have a feeling that might have be the problem but I'm not sure.So I left the mice in there for a little bit. Saturday I try to do it again he wanted to eat but this time he seemed scared still he just kind of sat in the Striking mode looking at it. And then when I went to get it out of the cage he was frightened of my hand. So I don't know what's exactly wrong. I looked up and some people say he might be constipated or just doesn't want to use the energy.

They were feeding him 8 fuzzies how often?

Your snake sounds stressed to me. I think you need to check out the stickies on this forum about all the basics. It sounds like you are putting a lot into what PetSmart told you. Unfortunately, you need to forget most of it and start re-learning here on this forum. Their employees are just that, employees. They are not snake keepers, they are not properly trained and just piece together some of what you need to make sales. They are also feeding on a maintenance schedule, keeping their animals in horrible husbandry and this is all they know.

If you want to share the info I asked about in my last reply it would really be beneficial to you and your snake.

Ok well swapping the warm side isn't necessary, the temps and humidity on your setup would really help us. Also if he refuses on Friday don't try again the next day wait a week. Also try not to mess with him on days that you plan to feed him. Also it's pretty normal for ball pythons to be timid and attempting to hide from us.

Like we've all said we need information. It is difficult to tell you what the issue could be with out knowing your husbandry.

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I'm going to upload a video to youtube to show you him and explain more! Okay, that's good news to me! Ill forget their stuff and look on here for answers. I purchased him June 22 and need to feed him June 23. He ate 2 small mice, because they told me to upgrade to small because he could eat 8 fuzzies. June 30 he ate only 1 small mice and wasn't very hungry for the other. So then the 7th of July comes around and when i went to buy ood the did not have small mice so i had to buy fuzzies. I cleaned his cage and then tried to feed, he tried to strike the last small mice I had and soon gave up. So then I tried a fuzzie which he turned down the same. He seemed stressed (breathing hard and shaking) so i gave up. Next which is saturday i tried again with a fuzzie and he did the same just very stressed but hungry ? He tried to only strike it once then gave up again just sitting their stressed i left it in the cage just to see if he would go but he didn't move muscle when i came back. I took it out and when I did he was scared and flenched. So im guessing hes super stressed.

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I'm going to upload a video to youtube to show you him and explain more! Okay, that's good news to me! Ill forget their stuff and look on here for answers. I purchased him June 22 and need to feed him June 23. He ate 2 small mice, because they told me to upgrade to small because he could eat 8 fuzzies. June 30 he ate only 1 small mice and wasn't very hungry for the other. So then the 7th of July comes around and when i went to buy food the did not have small mice so i had to buy fuzzies. I cleaned his cage and then tried to feed, he tried to strike the last small mice I had and soon gave up. So then I tried a fuzzie which he turned down the same. He seemed stressed (breathing hard and shaking) so i gave up. Next which is saturday i tried again with a fuzzie and he did the same just very stressed but hungry ? He tried to only strike it once then gave up again just sitting their stressed i left it in the cage just to see if he would go but he didn't move muscle when i came back. I took it out and when I did he was scared and flenched. So im guessing hes super stressed.
I'm going to upload a video to youtube to show you him and explain more! Okay, that's good news to me! Ill forget their stuff and look on here for answers. I purchased him June 22 and need to feed him June 23. He ate 2 small mice, because they told me to upgrade to small because he could eat 8 fuzzies. June 30 he ate only 1 small mice and wasn't very hungry for the other. So then the 7th of July comes around and when i went to buy ood the did not have small mice so i had to buy fuzzies. I cleaned his cage and then tried to feed, he tried to strike the last small mice I had and soon gave up. So then I tried a fuzzie which he turned down the same. He seemed stressed (breathing hard and shaking) so i gave up. Next which is saturday i tried again with a fuzzie and he did the same just very stressed but hungry ? He tried to only strike it once then gave up again just sitting their stressed i left it in the cage just to see if he would go but he didn't move muscle when i came back. I took it out and when I did he was scared and flenched. So im guessing hes super stressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg2TGseNH_I

Okay I watched your video and I would really recommend some changed to his cage. First off the substrate, I don't know for sure but it looks like aspen and from what's I've read aspen isn't the bed for BPs because of all the dust, and even if not that it isn't the best for humidity. When you use a glass tank with a screen top and a heat lamp, I have it the same way, the substrate I use is Eco Earth mixed with moss. It does wonders for my humidity and looks pretty nice as well. Also for humidity I would consider putting some tin foil on a part of the cage, leaving only room for the lamp and a opening on the opposite side for ventilation. There are lots of good tutorials online for that. Next the temps, for one anything over 90 is much too high. The temps should be 85 - 90 on the hot side and around 80 on the cold. On that note I would also recommend a thermometer for the cold side and a hydrometef as well. The way I do it is I have a thermometer and hydrometer in one on the hot side and just a regular thermometer on the cold. He also needs at least two hides, one on the cold and one on the hot. His cage is just far too open, I'm sure a lot of this might be due to him feeling so exposed, that's why he is moving around so much and trying to burrow. The hide you have should be fine for him, he should want to ball up in it not stretch out and for ball pythons the smaller the better as far as they are concerned. The light you are using for the lamp is no good either, the constant bright light over them is very stressful, I use a noghtime bulb from petsmart or co, and leave it on at night as well so you can go without the pad underneath as well. If you do still want to use the pad I would only use it on the side the lamp is on, his hot side and have some sort of way to keep an eye on the temperature. Those things are notorious for malfunctioning and burning the poor little things. As for the main problem at hand, feeding one mouse should be fine once a week for a feeding. His food should be no larger then the thickest part of his body. He does look healthy however, he's not overweight or anything like that. Ill try to get a pic and post it on here of my setup sp you can see all the stuff I've been talking about, if I can figure out how to get them to post :P


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Omg I want to go smack that employee! Lol. Ugh...gives us employees a bad rap! 8 fuzzies? Who does that!

Im glad you are here to get the proper help you need.

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Thats my set up, sorry about the lighting. My boyfriend is sleeping in the same room so I made due with some christmas lights

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That's my thermometer/hydrometer I have on my hot side. My temp was a little too hot as well >_<

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My cold side. As you can see just a normal thermometer and the log is quite similar to yours

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The night light

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How the light looks when its dark

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How I have my foil arranged at the top of my cage for humidity. Its a little torn at the moment.


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I also have all that greenery in there to help him to feel less exposed, he can move all along his cage without ever having to be fully out in the open if he wants. O and I would also go for a larger water bowl if I were you.


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those UTH are NOT meant to be removed. if you read the instructions you would have known this. you have probably damaged the internals and it is most likely very dangerous. there is absolutely no reason to ever remove it "because it's daytime." a thermoSTAT will regulate the temp thus making removal unnecessary. get a new UTH, get a THERMOSTAT like NOW, and use it.

throw away that analog thermometer. it is worthless in terms of accuracy. also i don't see how you're measuring humidity. get a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo for $10 at walmart.

ditch the bulbs. light stresses beeps out. get a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) instead with a ceramic socket.

that water dish is ENTIRELY too small. the animal should be able to fit in it.

you have a hide that's open on both sides, and only one. two identical cave-like hides is standard. that hide is no where near secure enough, hence why you never see him use it.

stop saying "that's what they told me." you need to do your OWN research and actually LEARN about your new pet. we're trying to help but only you can decide to research and seek out the knowledge. this should have been done before bringing an animal you don't know how to care for home. not trying to be harsh, but we see so many noobies maim and almost kill their pets from their ignorance EVERY year.

PLEASE go to the husbandry section on the forum and read ALL the stickied threads (on mobile can someone send the link)?

good luck.

to add: a thermostat is the single most important piece of equipment you need and will ever buy for your animal, bar none. YOU. NEED. A. THERMOSTAT. for ALL heat sources used.
i use a rheostat for my CHE but have to monitor and adjust it during peak daylight hours. this is another solution to consider.

All the information BluuWolf gave you is perfect. Follow it. The only thing left out was don't worry about your Ball feeding this week. He had 2 mice last week and may not be that hungry at this time. Wait till next feeding day. At that age 1 appropriate sized mouse a week is plenty. I actually went to a feeding every 2 weeks on my snakes due to the hit / miss eating. The yearly feeding average still equals out for me. The only snakes that get 2 a week are my Gophers but they are pigs and gophers will tend to over eat anyways. (The lady I got them from was feeding each 6/week. way too much). My larger 2 Balls (over 3 foot) sometimes take 2 also but one has refused to eat for 6-8 weeks before. Yesterday was the first time everyone ate in a looonnnggg time. As far as bedding goes, I use the coconut bedding myself. Aspen is used only for my Desert King just so he can burrow in it. He is a wild born I caught 2 months ago so the aspen suits him better. That type doesn't need the humidity the Balls need. Hope this helps a little better. Oh, yes, throw the pad away. it is no good once removed and if ever one is used, put it on the side of the tank and not the bottom on the same side as the lamp (warm side). You don't want to cook your snake which on the bottom it can do.

Yeah I realized after I finished it all that I forgot about the waiting about a week thing :P The only time I have ever fed two was when the place I normally get my mice from were out of the larger size I normally get so in a pinch I just fed him two smaller sized ones until they could get more in. I have read a few places about them feeding their Balls two mice to get them to bulk up faster but that isn't really necessary in this case so I would just go with one. So wait about a week and try again, don't worry they can go quiet a long time without food and often go on hunger strikes so another week won't hurt. Try and pick a day that with be convenient for you most of the time then feed him that day everytime around the same time. It will work best for you both that way. Like for example I feel mine on Fridays at around 3:00. This isn't super necessary but it does help him get used to a good feeding schedule and it will help you never to miss a feeding. Sorry if these seems irrelent or like common knowlage, I remembered that particular face helped me a lot when I first started out.

I hope this all has helped you


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Ok, after watching the video, there is a LOT to learn. Like tttaylorrr said, please look over the husbandry section of the forum. You are currently running temps way too hot, your equipment is insufficient, your hide is wrong and there should be two, food and feeding is wrong, those stick-on dial style analog thermometers are wildly inaccurate and basically useless,...etc...etc...

The way you are set up now is a danger to your snake. Please do some more homework and make things right for your snake.

Omg! I just saw this whole post and this is the info i really need! Thank you so much

Yes I know! She thought he was a girl and I don't know much about snakes but i can tell the difference between a girl and boy and I'm not the one even working at petsmart! Lol

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Originally Posted by 10mollykate

i can tell the difference between a girl and boy

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How so?